The year is 1989. And Romania is going through one of its major revolutions. There is civil unrest everywhere. A communist Romania is about to have changes in power structure and this year’s end in the country will forever be remembered for its Christmas Day Revolution.

Such were the hostile conditions when Dan Ionescu fled the country to build himself a future with the American Dream.

A Star is Born

While he got to America and was safe, all he could hope for was to reunite with his wife soon who was still in Romania. Dan in order to sustain himself started a limousine service in Northern California and this was just the beginning of a good life. He was well settled, and prosperous, and happiness abounded. The only thing troubling Dan was that he couldn’t be with his wife and child.

Time turned things for Dan when he finally got together with his family in 1995. Northern California was also warm to Dan because he had several members of his extended family members residing there and hence decided to settle there. Now with the latest addition of his wife Liliana Blej and son, Andrei Dan, he could hope nothing but a blissful life.

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2 years passed and in December 1997, much like how December had a been turning point in Dan’s life earlier, this one was no different. But the only change was that this brought Dan and Liliana more delight and happiness. Liliana gave birth to twins – Sabrina and Eddy. Eddy was born just 18 minutes after Sabrina. And from there it was no looking back. 

The kids were born in Walnut Creek California on December 6, 1997. And Sabrina from around when she was only three took a fondness for the sport of basketball. Sabrina’s parents especially Dan was extremely supportive of his daughter and encouraged her to play.

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Sabrina would often play with boys and girls above her age. Looking back it would be safe to say that it was here that she picked up her skills and above all a temperament to conquer and make way for herself on the bigger stages.

Growing up Years with Family

Sabrina once recounted that she developed two of her most essential traits by not getting an opportunity to compete with her age group. Firstly, with the boys she would get very minimal chances to get the ball “because they never wanted to pass to me”. Hence, taking matters in her own hands, “I figured that if I could rebound.”

Another thing that Ionescu would do was to better her passing skills since she knew that she was younger and obviously smaller to the team members she played with, hence she would establish her mark in the game with her passing skills. “Then passing-wise, when I was in sixth grade playing with the eighth-grade team, I was obviously a lot shorter, skinnier, smaller than they were. I would just have to find ways to impact the game other than shooting or scoring, and that was passing.”

As per Oregon’s official site, the three siblings would compete against each other in their driveway. But the eldest one Andrei soon moved to college. That is when Edward and Sabrina decided to find opponents in the nearby Larkey park. The duo would team up against adults and defeat them with their clever ways.

Eddy also recalled as per the same source that some of the guys they would play against would offer them Slurpees. “‘If you beat us, we’ll get you guys a Slurpee.” And the two would go in complete competitive mode to decimate their opponents. Thus, Sabrina had a knack for hammering her opponents ever since she was a kid. She along with Eddy would then get slurpees from “7-Eleven right down the street.”

Thus, Sabrina’s family has been by her side through thick and thin. They have seen Sabrina grow up and compete at the biggest stages possible. The kid who wanted to play for Slurpee is now squaring off against her opponents for the biggest rewards that basketball has to offer.

As a child, Sabrina would go to anything length to play basketball. Once she recounted an incident when her “middle school said I should be playing with dolls. Seriously, word-for-word.” And WNBA star responded back with her fiery fashion by getting enough girls to have basketball team in school. It is this passion that separates her from the rest.

As per Oregon Live, Sabrina grew up “Settled back, very calculated, very in control of her emotions”. Though Eddy could dominate her physically once they grew up, Dan believes that Sabrina would find a way to win with her control over her emotions. And Eddy would slip in making a mistake.

One of the biggest milestones of her career have been 2× WNBA All-Star in the year 2022 and 2023. And this is just the beginning. Ionescu has a long way to go and she might also help the New York Liberty clinch a WNBA title this season. Much like it were her heroics last season that got them to the final.

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