Bay Area native and WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu has signed with the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league as the 36th and final player to join the new league. She will play for Phantom BC and has signed a groundbreaking deal that ESPN describes as placing her “in a category of her own.” Ionescu will team up with Brittney Griner, Marina Mabrey, Katie Lou Samuelson, Natasha Cloud, and her former Oregon teammate Satou Sabally.
Other star players participating in the league include Breanna Stewart, Rhyne Howard, Arike Ogunbowale, Kahleah Copper, Jewell Lloyd, and Aliyah Boston. Former Stanford stars Cameron Brink and Lexie Hull are also set to play, along with Valkyries expansion draft pick Kate Martin. The league will debut on Jan. 17 and run through Mar. 17, preceding the start of the WNBA season in May.
Ionescu, 27, recently won the WNBA championship with the New York Liberty, where she averaged 18.2 points per game and earned second-team All-WNBA honors. Over the summer, she also won a gold medal with Team USA in Paris. Earlier this month, ESPN reported that the Walnut Creek native underwent thumb surgery.
A standout at Miramonte High School in Orinda, Ionescu was named the Bay Area News Group Girls Basketball Player of the Decade after a decorated high school career.
