2 Days After Heartfelt Gigi Tribute, Kobe Bryants Wife Vanessa, Trae Young, andMore Celebrate WN

May 2024 · 3 minute read

The New York Liberty stood their ground and defeated the Indiana Mystics in their first home game of the 2023 WNBA season. After dropping their first game, the Liberty would be pleased to get their season off the mark. Moreover, it was a historic night for Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, who achieved a huge career milestone in their win on Sunday. This comes in just days after the protégé of NBA icon Kobe Bryant gave a big tribute to his daughter, Gianna.

The 25-year-old shared a close bond with the Los Angeles Lakers great before his unfortunate demise in 2020. The Black Mamba became a mentor to her and reportedly texted her after every game. Ionescu delivered a moving speech at the event dedicated to celebrating the life of Kobe after his demise.

Sabrina Ionescu follows up big after her tribute to the daughter of Kobe Bryant

The New York Liberty won the game against the Indiana Mystics with a final score of 90-73. But the big news regarding Ionescu was her debuting her first signature shoe after rocking Gigi’s jersey and the Mambacita Kobe 4s in the season opener a couple of days ago.

Sabrina Ionescu pulled up in a Gigi Bryant jersey and is wearing the "Mambacita" Kobe 4s for the WNBA season opener ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4H4mjKA31s

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 20, 2023

Ionescu was pursued by many other big brands, but eventually, she signed with Nike. The New York Liberty point guard mentioned that having a relationship with the co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight, helped make her decision. The 2022 WNBA All-Star could be seen wearing the first shoe in her sneaker line, The Nike Sabrina 1 during the game on Sunday.

After their win, the three-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner posted a few shots of herself rocking her signature shoe on Instagram. Ionescu captioned the post, “Wearing my own shoe… living a dream! Sabrina 1 debut and a win!! LFG.”

Numerous entities reacted to her debuting her first signature shoes. NBA players like Trae Young and Damion Lee were some of the people to like her post. Even Vanessa and Natalia Bryant were among the many to cherish her accomplishment along with the Iowa Hawkeyes star, Caitlin Clark.

Ionescu joins other big names in the sneaker market

Sabrina Ionescu’s signature shoe joins Elena Delle Donne’s Nike Air Deldon edition and Breanna Stewart’s Puma Stewie series in the market. There hadn’t been many signature shoes for WNBA athletes prior to the two mentioned above.

The last known signature shoe belonged to WNBA legend Candace Parker, who had an exclusive deal with Adidas. So, it is definitely a major milestone for Ionescu and refreshing to see more and more WNBA players getting signature shoe deals in a market where NBA players have been dominant from the start.

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The Nike Sabrina 1 is retailing for $125 and is available on the official website of Nike. Let us know if you would get a pair in the comments section below.

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