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There’s an elite group of current NBA players who are Nike athletes with signature sneaker lines: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker and Ja Morant. An argument can be made that none of those future Hall of Famers has the best Nike sig on the market at this exact moment. There’s a strong case that Sabrina Ionescu, the New York Liberty sharpshooter, currently holds the heavyweight belt.
Ionescu took the hoops world by storm in college and put together one of the best amateur careers ever. She was the first player in NCAA history with 2,000+ career points, 1,000+ career rebounds and 1,000+ career assists; she shattered the NCAA triple-double record; she broke the Pac-12 (RIP) all-time assist record…and those are merely a handful of her many accomplishments while starring for Phil Knight’s pride and joy, the University of Oregon.
Sabrina’s been killing shit for so long, and it’s scary to think she’s just now entering her prime. She’s proved that she belongs in any conversation in which the greats, men or women, are being discussed. She further solidified that when, after setting the all-time WNBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Contest record in 2023, she went toe-to-toe with Stephen Curry at this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.
Ionescu fell just 3 points shy of Curry in what was the first-ever NBA vs WNBA Three-Point Contest, but even a blind man could see that Ionescu was right where she belonged—under the brightest lights, front and center on a basketball court, representing both a group of women who’ve arrived and a group of young girls who are on the way.
“Just to be able to have this be the first of this kind of event and come out here and put on a show but understanding what this means,” said Ionescu. “I’m excited to change the narrative and be able to do it alongside the greatest to ever do it.”
It wasn’t just Ionescu’s sweet stroke that captivated the eyes of viewers; her kicks did, too. She was sporting her Nike Sabrina 1s in a clean colorway of Liberty hues.
On a few occasions, Ionescu spoke to the idea of the Sabrina 1s embodying a story about defying those who doubted her ability to play basketball, let alone with boys, when she was growing up.
Well, defy she did. With the Sabrina 1s, Nike and Ionescu laid the foundation of a gold mine for her signature line, as they quickly became one of the more popular on-court picks among the basketball community.
“Not a women’s basketball shoe or a men’s basketball shoe, but just basketball,” Ionescu said to ESPN this year, when describing the Sabrina 1s. “Being able to tell that story and have people authentically buy in and respect that, I think the time is now in terms of wanting that to be pushed.”
Everywhere you look(ed)—high school, college, the WNBA, the NBA, your local basketball gym—you are/were sure to see a fair share of feet in various colorways of the Sabrina 1. The model was the fifth-most played in sneaker in the 2023-24 NBA season, with players clocking a total of 17,209 minutes played in the silhouette.
And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Ionescu and Nike are running it back and running it up.
Sabrina and the Swoosh launched Ionescu’s second sneaker, the Nike Sabrina 2, along with an apparel collection this past June. Instead of a complete design overhaul, they built upon the first silhouette, maintaining a similar shape, cut and cushion.
“At the center of the collection is the Sabrina 2 signature sneaker, built for players who want to accelerate and cut with quickness,” the brand said. “Nike design teams partnered closely with Sabrina to combine the best of the Sabrina 1 with fresh upgrades that create a sneaker that’s 28 grams lighter and doesn’t sacrifice support, stability or comfort.”
Some of these “fresh upgrades” include a Cushlon 3.0 foam midsole (the first ever in a Nike Basketball sneaker), a Nike Zoom Air Unit in the forefoot, an updated band system around the midfoot and a new “S”-inspired pattern that provides multidirectional traction for quick cuts. Additionally, select colorways will showcase mirror-finished Swooshes, which Nike explains are “an affirmation from Sabrina to the next generation to see themselves in the shoe.”
At first glance of the Sabrina 2, and even the Sabrina 1, it’s obvious where Ionescu’s inspiration comes from. Two sneakers in, and her signature line has drawn early comparisons to Kobe Bryant’s.
Throughout her storied college career and early years with the Liberty, Kobes were Ionescu’s go-to sneaker. The fact that Ionescu’s line is mentioned in the same breath as Bean’s says a lot about the WNBA All-Star’s cultural appeal, but more importantly, her ability and commitment to leading the push to elevate the women’s game to national, and ultimately global, mainstream relevance. It’s a vision she and Kobe shared.
Ionescu first met Kobe in 2019 when he and his daughter Gigi pulled up to watch her Ducks dismantle the USC Trojans. Ionescu developed a close relationship with the Bryant family shortly thereafter. Kobe kept tabs on her throughout the season, often sending words of encouragement as she continued to etch her name in the history books. That summer, Ionescu trained with Gigi and even helped Kobe coach his girls’ team, of which Gigi was a member.
“If I represented the present of the women’s game, Gigi was the future, and Kobe knew it,” Ionescu said during her tribute at Kobe and Gigi’s Celebration of Life service in 2020.
It’s over four years later, and Ionescu still “represents the present.” And at only 26 years old, she represents the future, too. Think Kobe rocking No. 8 for the purple and gold.
“I grew up watching Kobe Bryant game after game, ring after ring, living his greatness without apology,” she recalled. “I wanted to be just like him, to love every part of the competition, to be the first to show up and the last to leave, to love the grind, to be your best when you don’t feel your best and make other people around you the best version of themselves. And to wake up and do it again the next day. So that’s what I did: Wake up, grind and get better. Wake up, grind and get better.”
If you see Ionescu walking through the tunnel before a game, scroll through her Instagram feed or observe her demeanor during interviews, you’ll see a charming personality that everyone likes being around. But underneath that is a fierce competitor who approaches her craft with utmost seriousness and focus, with a long list of results to show for it.
As we go to press during the Olympic break, the New York Liberty are hitting on all cylinders and have the best record in the W by a comfortable margin. Ionescu is averaging 19.8 points, 6.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1 steal playing a career-high 33.7 minutes per game.
Ionescu’s impact on the court is undeniable, and her influence off the court is just as powerful. On the heels of the Sabrina 1 and with the latest release of the Sabrina 2, she continues to push the boundaries and create waves for those coming after her, like fellow Nike signature athletes A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark—each reported to have their first signature sneaker coming soon.
Ionescu is programmed for greatness—all she has to do is continue being confident and unapologetic about who she is and what she brings to the table, just like Kobe.
Ionescu is a blessing to the game of basketball, and her presence will transcend well beyond her playing days, just like Kobe.
Once, while in college, she said Kobe texted her. “Be you, it’s been good enough, and that will continue to be good enough.” He wasn’t lying.
“I wanted to be a part of the generation that changed basketball for Gigi and her teammates,” said Ionescu in her tribute, “where being born female didn’t mean being born behind, where greatness wasn’t divided by gender.”
From her consistently dominant play to the huge success of the Sabrina 1 and now the 2, there doesn’t seem to be a height that Ionescu can’t reach. For the younger generation who wasn’t lucky enough to watch Kobe in real time, just watch how Ionescu, one of his closest mentees, dissects her opponents with a relentless will to excel.
And in her new Sabrina 2s, she’s gonna look magnificent doing it.
Photos via Getty Images and Nike.
