NEW YORK _ Sabrina Ionescu is on a mission.
Her mission isn't just to be a great professional basketball player. Her mission isn't just to bring her new team, the Liberty, their first WNBA championship. Her mission is to help transform the way we feel about women's basketball, to elevate it to the next level of fan recognition.
Ionescu made that clear months ago when she spoke at a memorial service for Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, known as Gigi, and others who died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles, saying she wanted to be "part of the generation that changed basketball" for young girls. And the Oregon guard made it clear again Friday night, shortly after the Liberty kicked off the WNBA surreal virtual WNBA draft by making her the No. 1 pick.
