New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu was the subject of old-school Filipino hospitality in the first day of her return to the Philippines after seven years as part of a brand tour.
WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Sabrina Ionescu had nothing but good things to say about the support that she felt from her Filipino fan base as she made a return to the Philippines for the first time since 2018.
Here in the country for a tour with sports brand Nike, Ionescu got to rub shoulders with fans, media, and the local women’s basketball community with her various activities on Monday, which also included a skills camp at Nike Courtyard in Bonifacio Global City.
Sabrina participated in a panel talk as well, which featured Philippine women’s basketball star Camille Clarin, Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel’s LA Tenorio, and DLSU Lady Archers head coach Cholo Villanueva.
Asked about her return to the country after seven years, Ionescu fawned over the support she felt not just on Monday but also during the WNBA season with the New York Liberty, where she could feel the Filipinos rooting for her from the other side of the world.
“Obviously [I] didn’t know what to expect but being able to see all the love coming here from the fans, it means so much to me,” Ionescu said at Nike The Fort, where they built her a special section in the store called “House of Sabrina.”
“For everyone to be able to support me all the way back in the United States, to be able to come back here and see everyone in person and feel the energy is a blessing and something that I never take for granted,” she added.
Ionescu will have two more days of festivities in Manila, including a showcase at the iconic Araneta Coliseum.
Among her biggest goals in the visit is to be a champion of supporting women in basketball, especially in a country like the Philippines which has seen its fair share of talented Filipina ballers.
“I think when you get to this point at a professional level and you currently understand [what] it’s about — being the best in your sport, wanting to do what you can in the court — but it’s a lot bigger than that,” Ionescu said.
“[I] realized that through my career as I continue to just go through college and professionally, being able to inspire the next generations of athletes that are gonna come in and be better than you are and the whole goal is to leave the game better than you found it and for me it’s kind of eye opening to be able to see how many lives we’re able to impact.”
The 27-year-old was also able to speak about her SI20 foundation which aims to make sports — and basketball in particular — within reach.
“I just wanted to create access to sport for everyone, young boys, young girls, everyone in the community and like I said, it’s a lot bigger than yourself in playing the sport and it’s about giving back to the next generation and being able to see smiles on kids faces and so many communities that meant a lot to me,” said Ionescu.
“Through basketball, through so many different avenues that you can change and affect someones lives whether they wanna become a basketball player, they wanna become something else."
"I think being able to instill the power and confidence in themselves that they can go out and accomplish whatever they wanna do as long as they believe in themselves and put a lot of hard work,” she added.