{"id":517446,"date":"2026-03-11T17:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/517446\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:23:13","slug":"sabrina-ionescu-talks-liberty-wnba-free-agency-cba-negotiations-unrivaled-more-in-b-r-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/517446\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabrina Ionescu Talks Liberty, WNBA Free Agency, CBA Negotiations, Unrivaled, More in B\/R Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seemingly everything surrounding the WNBA is filled with uncertainty at this point with the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations and many of the league’s players set for free agency ahead of the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

But New York Liberty fans can take solace knowing that even though Sabrina Ionescu is among those scheduled for free agency this offseason, she doesn’t sound like someone who is looking to leave the Big Apple.<\/p>\n

“It’s always the goal, to try to play for the same team as long as you can,” she told Bleacher Report. “For me, getting drafted and being the franchise player in New York has always been something I’ve really cherished and honored. So I don’t think I’ll be really busy in this free agency period since New York is home, but I’m still excited to see how all of that shapes up.”<\/p>\n

Ionescu has made New York home by surpassing the already sky-high expectations that followed her into the league as the No. 1 pick of the 2020 WNBA draft.<\/p>\n

Her resume through six seasons includes a championship, four All-Star selections and four All-WNBA nods, including last season when she averaged 18.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.<\/p>\n

She also cemented her status as a Liberty legend regardless of what happens the rest of her career when she helped lead them to the 2024 title as one of the key players and drilled a buzzer-beating three to win Game 3.<\/p>\n

Given that backdrop and how open<\/a> she has been about her desire to stay in New York, it would be shocking to see her end up in a different uniform. General manager Jonathan Kolb also told reporters<\/a> he had the “utmost confidence” Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones will all be back, and the star guard was even in attendance<\/a> at new head coach Chris DeMarco’s introductory press conference.<\/p>\n

But everything is contingent on the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association coming to terms on a new CBA with negotiations still ongoing.<\/p>\n

“I think I’ve learned a lot,” Ionescu said of the process. “This is my first CBA negotiation since it was already done when I arrived in 2020. I’m learning a lot and understanding how we can use our voice as players who have the opportunity to go out there and fight for what we believe in to be able to pave the way for the next generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Obviously, a deal will get done at some point just like it does in every other league. It’s just understanding that sometimes it takes a little time and back-and-forth. But for me, it has been valuable to just learn and shape what the next five or six years will look like.”<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Alexa Philippou<\/a> reported Tuesday that both sides “swapped proposals over the weekend” after the WNBA previously said a new deal was needed by the now-passed March 10 to avoid any changes to the 2026 schedule that is set to start on May 8.<\/p>\n

While there is surely some urgency since there still needs to be an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, free agency, and the WNBA draft before the games begin, Philippou also reported “there’s no indication a deal is imminent” with March 10 potentially “being more of a target date than a hard-and-fast deadline.”<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there was still plenty of basketball this year even amid that uncertainty thanks to the second season of Unrivaled.<\/p>\n

But that second season didn’t include Ionescu, who was sidelined as she recovered from an injury suffered during the WNBA season.<\/p>\n

While she suited up for Phantom BC during Unrivaled’s first season, the time away that also included her joining the broadcast crew and providing analysis during a game means she will be ready to go when basketball returns.<\/p>\n

“I’m feeling really good,” she said. “Back to 100 percent. Being able to take that time to rehab and work on the things I needed to put my energy towards helped me take care of my body. I’m feeling really good and excited to get back out there.”<\/p>\n

Even with Ionescu sidelined, Unrivaled took another step in its second season and added<\/a> two new teams, more players and a stop in Philadelphia while still providing players with equity in the league and the opportunity to compete for money in addition to their salaries.<\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart and the Mist took home the championship and the additional $100,000 per player for the title.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Phantom BC-Mist BC Full Highlights<\/p>\n

The league also drew more than 21,000 fans to Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia when it made its inaugural tour stop outside of its home in Miami, which was a record<\/a> attendance for a regular-season women’s professional basketball game in the venue.<\/p>\n

“It’s been amazing and why I wanted to be a part of Unrivaled from Year 1,” Ionescu said of the reaction to and the embrace of the three-on-three league. “I understand the importance of the investment in us as athletes while also understanding how important it is to continue growing our sport. <\/p>\n

“It’s been really exciting to see the numbers getting published about how well Unrivaled did, but it’s something that wasn’t news to me because I believed in it from the beginning. I’m excited to see it continue to grow.”<\/p>\n

Understanding the importance of investing in athletes also led Ionescu to partner with Abbott and Real Madrid to promote the Abbott Dream Team, which is a program that will give soccer players between the ages of 18 and 19 across the United States the opportunity to travel to Madrid and work with the historic club’s coaches.<\/p>\n

There will be in-person tryouts in Miami, Washington, D.C., Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Chicago in May and June with 16 spots up for grabs.<\/p>\n

While those are the fortunate ones who will have the chance to travel to Madrid, everyone who tries out will work with Real Madrid coaches and receive health and nutrition education from Abbott experts.<\/p>\n

“It’s been amazing so far,” Ionescu said of the partnership. “Obviously, I’m a huge soccer fan and played at a really young age and am now an investor in Bay FC, so I understand the importance of soccer. And being able to partner with a global health leader in Abbott and Real Madrid and understanding the importance of nutrition and that educational piece is something I believe needs to continue to happen for the next generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The younger you start on that nutritional education, the better off you will be as an individual. This is something I’m very excited about and that is important to me.”<\/p>\n

That it involved soccer only made it a more natural partnership for Ionescu given her love for the sport that dates back to when she played when she was young. That love took another turn last year when Bay FC from the National Women’s Soccer League announced<\/a> she was joining the fold as an investor and commercial advisor for the club.<\/p>\n

\"Bay<\/p>\n

Kelley L Cox\/NWSL via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Soccer also helped her in her own career path.<\/p>\n

“It’s something I really enjoyed and something I found very valuable to become a better athlete in general,” she said. “It helped me become the basketball player that I am.”<\/p>\n

That basketball player she became ended up a champion, All-Star, one of the best guards in the WNBA and one of the faces of the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She is also a gold medalist after helping lead Team USA to victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is already circling the opportunity to play in front of the American fans in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.<\/p>\n

“Absolutely,” she said when asked if she has her eye on the 2028 Olympics. “The work starts years in advance, and winning a gold medal in Paris was a memory and a moment that I’ll never forget and something I dreamed about since I was little. Knowing that 2028 is here in the States makes it that much more exciting to continue to do what we can to add to the legacy of USA Basketball.”<\/p>\n

As long as players like Ionescu are leading the way, anything but another gold medal in front of the home crowd would be a stunning development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seemingly everything surrounding the WNBA is filled with uncertainty at this point with the ongoing collective bargaining agreement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-517446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}