New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu will leave the bubble at IMG Academy and travel to New York to see a specialist regarding her injured ankle, the team announced. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain last week during the Liberty's game against the Atlanta Dream.
ESPN's Holly Rowe reported six physicians began working on Ionescu's ankle in Florida. X-rays came back negative, and it was determined that she suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain, an injury that is believed to be "nonsurgical." She is expected to miss about a month, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, but her trip to the doctors in New York should shed more light on the severity of her injury and the expected recovery time.
In the process of taking the ball up the floor, Ionescu stepped on the foot of Dream guard Betnijah Laney, and severely turned her ankle. She had to be helped from the floor, and had been seen in a walking boot in the aftermath of the injury.
Ionescu just rolled her ankle pretty hard pic.twitter.com/Ibb0ZTHi2Z
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) July 31, 2020
LeBron James expressed sympathy toward Ionescu on Twitter in response to her injury.
Ouch!! @sabrina_i20 Get healthy as soon as possible! 🙏🏾. Health is wealth
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 31, 2020
Many analyst's preseason pick for Rookie of the Year, Ionescu put up 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in just her second game in the league, and was already showing why the Liberty believe she can be their franchise cornerstone for years to come. Whether it's this season or next, hopefully she'll be able to come back and pick up right where she left off.
