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Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu Have Drastically Different Spike Lee Experiences During Aces-Liberty

New York icon Spike Lee made his presence felt during Sunday's Aces vs. Liberty game in multiple ways.

Grant Young

Aug 11, 2024; Paris, France; United States guard Kelsey Plum (5) celebrates with guard Sabrina Ionescu (6) and forward Kahleah Copper (7) after defeating France in the women's gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Aug 11, 2024; Paris, France; United States guard Kelsey Plum (5) celebrates with guard Sabrina Ionescu (6) and forward Kahleah Copper (7) after defeating France in the women's gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The New York Liberty completed an impressive 87-77 defeat of the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, putting them up 1-0 in a playoff series that's a rematch of last year's WNBA Finals.

The Barclays Center appeared to be rocking all night, as Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu combined for 55 points to earn the hard-fought win over the two-time defending WNBA champions.

New York icon Spike Lee was sitting courtside for the win. He was also in attendance for the Liberty's playoff win on Tuesday, and shared a handshake with Ionescu which Ionescu said after the game, "felt like New York was just injected into my veins at that moment."

Lee made his presence felt on Sunday, as well. Although this time it was because of his back-and-forth banter with Aces star guard Kelsey Plum.

At one point in the game, the ESPN broadcast caught Lee jawing at Plum (who finished the game with 24 points) while she was standing near the sideline and Plum talking back to him. While there's no audio, the assumption is that the two were engaging in some friendly trash talk.

Lee also had another great interaction with Ionescu, as the 26-year-old pointed to him while she ran back down the court after draining a three-pointer. This prompted Lee to jump out of his seat and point back at her.

Ionescu then shared a wholesome message about her and Lee's relationship postgame.

"He was the first person that called me and just shared his excitement about New York getting the No. 1 pick [in the 2020 WNBA Draft]," Ionescu said of Lee, per Khristina Williams. "Every time I've seen him along the way, we've just had small talk. And I kept telling him that he's got to come out to a game... and to be able to see him here, cheering us on loud, he was over there chirping at the refs, talking at the players, which was really fun."

We'd imagine that Lee be attending Game 2 of this fantastic Aces vs. Liberty series on Tuesday.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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