Sabrina Ionescu on the WNBA's Rise: "We're at an Inflection Point"
The WNBA is making significant strides. The 2024 women's basketball season was the most-watched on ESPN platforms ever. A match between Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics held in September of that year set a new single-game attendance record and was one of three games to draw at least 20,000 fans in the season. Compared to 2023, total attendance was up 48%. Merchandise increased by 601%.
“It's definitely been crazy,” says Sabrina Ionescu, guard for the New York Liberty, with a huge smile, and a surprisingly flummoxed gaze, as I enumerate these facts. Despite describing the rise as “gradual” – “nothing has happened overnight, you've been able to see every year there's been an increase in everything, from attendance to viewership to young girls wanting to play basketball because they're able to come to the games or able to watch [on television]” – she is still evidently astonished by the jump in popularity.
We're speaking in a plush hotel room in the Opéra district of Paris, where the 27-year-old is fulfilling her ambassadorial role for the watch brand Tissot. It's the day before the city's annual NBA games, and she is sporting the WNBA-themed Seastar on her wrist, fitted with a basketball-textured white strap.
The Swiss watch marque has been involved in the league since 2015, and went on to announce a 10-year-extension to its WNBA/NBA partnership the day after our interview, along with an updated shot clock (it's round!) for the leagues and a brand-new NBA-branded timepiece (a black, white, red and blue Supersport!).
The last time Ionescu was in Paris she was competing in the Olympics. She tells me – with a grin only an American would dare to summon in the French capital – “it's been amazing to return”.
More priceless than winning gold at the tournament was playing alongside Diana Taurasi, the 42-year-old shooting guard of Phoenix Mercury. “Taurasi was someone who I always looked up to from a very young age,” shares Ionescu. “To be able to see who she was as a teammate, it just made me even more of a fan.”
Taurasi was the MVP of the WNBA in 2009, though her value stretches over two decades. She is the all-time leading scorer of the league, committed to her sport despite the challenges female ballers have faced, such as the gender pay gap and lack of resources.
Thankfully, Taurasi is still shooting hoops at this time of change. “I think you're able to see women's sports finally get the respect they deserve,” says Sabrina of the turning point. “New teams are rising just like ours, and not just in basketball. I know women's soccer has recently been huge here [in Europe] and in the States.”
Ionescu is, of course, aiding the positive trend in any way she can. The goal is to “continue to inspire the next generation knowing that they're going to come right after us and continue to build it to what it's going to be,” just as Taurasi did for her.
Does she feel pressure knowing she's a role model?
“Urm, I don't,” answers the WNBA All-Star with admirable confidence.“I feel like it's something you just grow into as you evolve in your sport, playing through high school [Ionescu is an alumnus of Miramonte High School in Orinda, California], college [she attended the University of Oregon, playing for the Oregon Ducks between 2016-2020 where she broke National Collegiate Athletics Association records] and professionally [she was selected to join Liberty in the 2020 WNBA draft].”
Self-awareness is a major factor in her trajectory, she believes. “You just have to continue to stay true to yourself – I'm not trying to be anyone I'm not.” This, combined with “working hard every single day,” “finding new ways to be the best” and “letting the path take care of itself”.
Her success is tangible – thousands gather at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn to see the New York Liberty. Ionescu tells me she enjoys witnessing the crowds “fall in love with the way” her and her teammates approach basketball. That, and hearing from the staff who work the arena; many have recently remarked that they “prefer many of the WNBA games to the NBA games that come into town”.
The energy last season was through the roof as Ionescu and Co. secured their first WNBA championship, something that fans have been waiting decades for. “We're at an inflexion point” she remarks about her team and the league as a whole, before emphasising that “there's still a long way to go”.
Sustaining momentum in the Barclay and across the entire WNBA, in Ionescu's opinion, hinges on “not being satisfied with where we're at”. For the league, she is manifesting expansion – “I want the WNBA to be in more cities”.
“More teams available means there are going to be more WNBA players,” she states, “so that's going to open the door for a lot of kids to play in the WNBA as well.”
With Ionescu and her peers leading the way, increased opportunities for young basketballers will surely follow. And once in, their paths will take care of themselves.
The WNBA x Tissot Seastar is now available on the brand's webstore for £625.
The NBA x Tissot Supersport can be pre-ordered on First Class Watches for £445.
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