Liberty Fans Outraged Over Sabrina Ionescu's All-WNBA Snub
Just a few hours before Game 3 of the WNBA Finals tips off on Wednesday, the WNBA made its All-WNBA First-Team and Second-Team announcements over social media.
The All-WNBA First-Team included five proven superstars: 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier, 2024 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson, 2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, elite two-way Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas, and 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
While all of these players produced incredible seasons and deserved their flowers (despite the WNBA fumbling their initial graphic recognizing Clark and Wilson) many fans are feeling upset that one player didn't receive First-Team honors: New York Liberty star guard Sabrina Ionescu.
The 26-year-old produced the best season of her WNBA career so far, nearly matching her career highs in both points and assists while leading the Liberty to their second consecutive WNBA Finals appearance.
Ionescu did get All-WNBA Second-Team recognition, alongside Arike Ogunbowale, Kahleah Copper, Nneka Ogwumike, and teammate Jonquel Jones. But many fans believed Ionescu deserved better.
"No sab? Interesting," X user @RedickGotNext said in a response to Underdog WNBA's social media announcement about First-Team.
No sab?
— 𝙹𝙹 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚎⁶𓅓 (@RedickGotNext) October 16, 2024
Interesting
"Sabrina should’ve been on the first team that’s crazy!" added another fan.
A third wrote, "Awesome to see & well deserved for Caitlin, but no Sabrina is absolutely insanity".
Awesome to see & well deserved for Caitlin, but no Sabrina is absolutely insanity
— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) October 16, 2024
It seems the general sentiment among fans is that Ionescu should have received Alyssa Thomas' spot. However, given that there can only be five First-Team honorees in a league with so many star players, somebody always has to get left out.
Perhaps Ionescu will use this snub as motivation to produce a spectacular end to the 2024 WNBA Finals.
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.