NY Liberty HC Sends 4-Word Strong Message to Sabrina Ionescu after 27YO Star’s Honest Admission

Sabrina Ionescu has earned Sandy Brondello’s trust in many ways before. Remember when she trusted her over Breanna Stewart? That game-winning 3-pointer that put the team just one game away from claiming their first championship title? How Brondello said that not everyone can make such shots? Yes, we are talking about the sort of trust. While even that didn’t come about without classic coach-speak, there are still various aspects where Ionescu has been itching to establish her role, her voice. And after their recent game against the Sun, she made it clear that she is far from done.

Well, the Liberty narrowly beat the Sun in their preseason opener, with a 94-86 win. And tonight, they didn’t just repeat that success, but absolutely dominated Connecticut with a 100-52 victory, making a historical 7-0 record. PG Sabrina Ionescu really set the tone with 18 points in just 19 minutes. However, in her series of earning the coach’s trust, Sab had a new task at hand, and it had little to do with draining shots.

Ionescu was called for a foul while defending Marina Mabrey’s three-point attempt. But the three-time All-Star was in no way having it. She brought back her Mamba Mentality, courtesy of her mentor Kobe Bryant, and stood up to what she has been saying for some time now: “Harnessing your fear as an opportunity to learn something new about yourself”. She argued the call and quickly urged her coaches to challenge it. After a brief review, the refs overturned the call, siding with the Liberty. The best part came when the 2024 champ couldn’t hide her excitement. She ran straight to the coaching staff, all hyped up, and gave each one of them a high five.

It was a moment that turned an already good game into an even better one. Later, in the postgame interview, Sabrina Ionescu was asked about the “celebration that interrupted Ellie’s dance after the Liberty won their challenge.” After a few giggles from the interviewer, Sabrina responded. She laughed and said, ” I don’t know, I was just really in the moment, but I knew I didn’t foul her. She smiled and continued to add, “Very thankful for my coaches in trusting me because I knew I didn’t. My ponytail was challenge — she hit me.”

Sabrina Ionescu talks about her celebration that interrupted Ellie’s dance after the Liberty won their challenge:

“We were up by a lot, so it was a great opportunity for us to challenge and make sure I can continue to earn Sandy’s trust”

Sandy Brondello: “She has my trust” pic.twitter.com/nd3UH2fUw2

— New York Liberty Videos (@SNYLiberty) June 1, 2025

It didn’t end there, though. Ionescu told everyone exactly how they’ve built that trust and rapport game by game. She said, “We were up by a lot, so it was a great opportunity for us to challenge and make sure I can continue to earn Sandy’s trust.” It was a night when everything just clicked for New York, and HC Brondello’s response tied everything together even better.

While laughing, she said, “She has my trust.” Honestly, it’s a big deal because if you think that she places her trust blindly, you’d be wrong. She has even called out Sabrina whenever needed. Like after the NY Liberty Bottle Game 1 vs the Minnesota Lynx when she said, “Yeah, I think they’ll throw different coverages at her (Sabrina Ionescu), you know, with the switching, and she was trying to go a little bit too much one-on-one early.” Even that game-winning shot we talked about earlier, it was all a subtle challenge Brondello had given her star guard, saying, “you’re gonna shoot the shot“. So, just think if she hadn’t, then how crestfallen Sab would have been!

Overall, it was a light moment, but one that reflected the deeper bond forming within this Liberty squad. Talking about this playful energy, it has been following Sabrina all week. This incident came just a few days after Sabrina Ionescu hilariously name-dropped NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a conversation. The interviewer asked if she had seen any player ever draw 16 fouls like forward Breanna Stewart did in the victory against the Golden State Valkyries. She didn’t hesitate even a bit and said “SGA” and continued laughing for a good 30 seconds after it.

Now, don’t you think it’s all a sign of a sort of give-and-take trust? Some feel-good energy coupled with the right amount of pressure? While many were criticizing how she celebrated despite a huge lead, it doesn’t change the fact that every little win in the past year means a lot more to her than we can ever fathom.

Sabrina is in a competition with herself

It was 2023, the WNBA Finals were there, and Sabrina could barely walk, let alone score. She could not even manage to be on the floor during the early part of the series without an injection. And just as the Aces beat the Liberty on their home court to move towards the final crown, she threw up into a sideline trash can.

“Losing,” she said, “motivates you.”

Post that, she didn’t go home without picking the staff’s brains over how she could improve. And fair to say that she went above and beyond with the training. She barely left the gym, chose not to be complacent anymore, and worked on making tough shots even tougher. Yet, until the next season arrived, nothing she bettered was ever enough for her. Like this one time, she had to make 20 deep 3-pointers in a row, with the last 5 being straight up no-misses. And each shot had to go in without even touching the rim. She nailed 13 in a row, but then was like, “Wait, some of those were sketchy.” And she just started all over again.

So, more often than not, the Liberty star is just competing against herself, as Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said. And that’s exactly why she showed the Aces the backdoor despite having been their major target in the 2024 season. Hence, for someone who gets sad over every little thing, it makes sense why she was so ecstatic over one as well.

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