Women's Fastbreak On SI

Sabrina Ionescu's Shoes Are Getting a Ton of Run Across the NBA

New York Liberty superstar Sabrina Ionescu's Nike sneaker motion is changing the shoe game for good.

Grant Young

Sabrina Ionescu, of the New York Liberty acknowledges the fans, Thursday, October 24, 2024, in Manhattan.
Sabrina Ionescu, of the New York Liberty acknowledges the fans, Thursday, October 24, 2024, in Manhattan. / Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

December 6 marks New York Liberty superstar Sabrina Ionescu's 27th birthday.

Ionescu has had a remarkable year both on and off the court. On the court, she was an integral part of the Liberty winning the 2024 WNBA Championship (the first championship in the franchise's history).

In fact, the game-winning buzzer-beater she hit in Game 3 against the Minnesota Lynx will go down as one of the most cold-blooded buckets in WNBA history.

As a result of her on-court success and star power, Ionescu's Nike signature shoe line has flourished. This was shown through an October 5 Instagram post from Boardroom that wrote, "In a recent earnings call for Nike, it was revealed that Sabrina Ionescu's signature Swoosh series has grown 'roughly five times' in revenue over the last year."

Nobody would have questioned that Ionescu's 'Nike Sabrina 2' shoe (which was released on June 25, 2024) was among the most popular shoes in basketball.

However, few could have predicted just how popular it would become not just in the WNBA, but in the NBA.

Boardroom's Nick DePaula made a December 6 X post that wrote, "Here’s the Top 10 most popular sneakers so far this NBA season, by total minutes worn.

"The Sabrina 2 is the most-worn current new basketball shoe across the NBA. 📈".

The only shoe that's more popular than Ionescu's (which has received 7,867 minutes worn in NBA games this season, according to DePaula) is the iconic Nike Kobe 6, which has amassed 15,091 minutes worn.

That sort of sneaker motion is extremely impressive, and is likely only going to continue to grow as Ionescu's stardom increases.

Published
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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