"Gigi was the future": Sabrina Ionsecu once proclaimed that Kobe Bryant's late daughter would take the WNBA by storm  

Sabrina Ionescu cemented her status in women’s basketball during the Liberty's 2024 WNBA championship. Her idol, Kobe Bryant, is credited as an influential figure from her rise to stardom - as a college standout or a WNBA superstar.

Ionescu - then at Oregon - first met Bryant during her 2018/19 college basketball season in Jan. 2019. The duo would link up again in the summer in a coaching session for the Mamba Ballers. Sabrina Ionescu - who plays as a guard - would meet Kobe's late daughter Gigi Bryant and would discover her potential to be a future star.

"Gigi had so much of her dad’s skill set. You could tell the amount of hours they spent in the gym, practicing her moves. She smiled all the time, but when it was game time, she was ready to kill. Her demeanor changed almost instantly when the whistle blew,” Ionescu said in an interview with the LA Times in 2019.

"If I represented the present of the women's game, Gigi was the future, and Kobe knew it,” the LIberty star added.

However, the world came to a halt on Jan. 26, 2020. Kobe and Gigi Bryant - along with seven others - tragically lost their lives in a California helicopter crash and it immediately sent ripples not just in the basketball world but also to the global audience who looked up to the Lakers icon for his "mentality."

Ionescu - who joined the WNBA in 2020 - was a key piece for New York Liberty in 2024: 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game while shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range. She also played a key role in the USA's gold medal team at the Paris Olympics.

This is on par with what Kobe Bryant accomplished in his career. He finished his 20-year NBA journey with five championships, one MVP award, and two Olympic gold medals.

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Sabrina Ionescu still texts Kobe Bryant after his death

Five years have passed since the crash, but Sabrina Ionescu revealed she still texts Kobe Bryant to tell him how much his influence meant to her. In a 2020 interview with Bleacher Report, Ionescu said she kept on thanking Bryant for everything he did for her.

“I still text him even though he’s not here. ‘Thank you for everything. The rest is for you. Rest easy my guy.’ The last one I sent him said, ‘I miss you, may you rest in peace, my dear friend,’" she said.

Ionescu is expected to continue living Bryant’s principles in the next WNBA season when she and the Liberty will defend their title.

The New York Liberty will open their title defense against former back-to-back champions Las Vegas Aces on May 17.