Sabrina Ionescu's Eye-Catching WNBA Finals Shoes Inspired by Oregon Football's Big Win
The New York Liberty secured an 80-66 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, evening their best-of-five WNBA Finals matchup at 1-1.
Liberty superstar Sabrina Ionescu was elite in the game, tallying 15 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds while being a team-leading +20 for the Liberty when she was on the court.
Ionescu — whose signature Nike shoe line has seen staggering success this year — could be seen wearing green sneakers with yellow and white accents during Sunday's game, which pay homage to Ionecu's alma mater, the University of Oregon.
When asked about her shoe choice postgame, Ionescu explained that her inspiration for wearing them was an all-time great win from the Oregon Ducks' football team on Saturday.
"Obviously I stayed up watching the game — not too late," Ionescu said per the @Balldontlie X account, which prompted a curious look from her head coach Sandy Brondello that caused a lot of laughs.
"I mean after they won the way that they did, today I was like 'Yeah, I'm gonna wear my Oregon shoes', because I just kind of wanted to embody that tough, gritty win that they pulled off."
Oregon's No. 3 ranked football team defeated the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in a captivating 32-31 game in Oregon on Saturday. According to CNN, it was the first time the University of Oregon had ever won a game against a top-two-ranked opponent.
"And a lot of things didn't go right for [Oregon], and they just continued to kinda fight and stay together and kind of grind out a really big win," Ionescu continued. "And I was like, alright, I kind of want to bring that energy with me today on the court and do the same thing.
"So I think I'm gonna wear the same shoes again on Wednesday," she concluded.
.@sabrina_i20 had to wear the Sabrina 2 Oregon Ducks PE sneaker after Oregon's win over Ohio State 🔥 pic.twitter.com/My688Yttr3
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) October 13, 2024
And we won't blame her for doing so.
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.