Sabrina Ionescu scored only two points against the Chicago Sky on August 29, but she doesn’t seem overly concerned about her current slump. Despite averaging only 4.2 points over her last two outings, the guard has not allowed it to break her self-belief. Now, as the regular season winds down, Ionescu had a humorous response to her own recent performances.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“It’s not that big of a deal to me. I know who I am. I know what I’m able to do. [It has] kind of felt like the ball was allergic to the rim there for me. Like, it’s literally just like toilet bowling out,” Ionescu told reporters after the game against the Sky. Liberty beat writer @MylesEhrlich posted her response on X.
Despite the New York Liberty being firmly in the 2026 playoff race, the guard’s inconsistent scoring performances have left the team outside the top five. Ionescu is shooting her lowest average since her second season in the league, when she was averaging 11.7 points per game. She is scoring 15.6 points per game, a far cry from her career-best of 18.3 back in 2020.
Her performance against the Sky has been her worst shooting performance all season, as aside from making only two points, she also had a field goal percentage and three-point percentage of 0.0%. She missed all 10 of the field goals she attempted, while also missing 3-of-3 three-point attempts. This is very surprising for a player who would average 42.2 percent shooting from 3-point range across her four years at Oregon.
The Sky game was not an outlier. Two nights earlier, against Golden State, Ionescu managed only seven points in 29 minutes. She was only able to make two out of the 12 field goals she attempted and ended up with a FG% of just 16.7%. Her three-point shooting was worse, as she could only make one out of her nine attempts, ending the night on a 3P% of 11.1%.
She did, however, add two rebounds and four assists against the Valkyries. In fact, her rebounding and assisting were decent against the Sky as well, as she grabbed five rebounds and four assists. Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco’s perspective on Ionescu’s value became clear when asked about the recent scoring slump.
“There’s more to basketball to just scoring. That’s why she’s been such a great player forever. It’s her ability to pass the ball, her ability to rebound. There’s more ways to impact the game… the shots will come, no doubt about it. She’s a great shooter,” DeMarco said of Ionescu, which Myles Ehrlich posted on his X feed.
DeMarco is confident Ionescu will return to her usual form, a necessity if the Liberty are to mount a title charge. Ionescu is not concerning herself with the recent decline in her shooting stats, but opened up about another issue that may be of long-term consequence for the 2024 WNBA champion.
Amid Team USA Snub, Sabrina Ionescu Opens Up About Lingering Back Injury
The USA Basketball website released the roster for the 2026 FIBA World Cup in an announcement statement on August 6 on their website. While the list included the expected veterans (A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier) and some of the newer players (Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark), Sabrina Ionescu’s name was nowhere to be found!
Sue Bird has previously addressed why Ionescu was missing from the FIBA roster, per a YouTube video of Bird elaborating on roster decisions, posted by Fever reporter Scott Agness.
“It’s not a reflection of who they are as players — it’s just not,” Bird said. “There’s so many players that have earned the right to be on this team. For Sabrina, a player that has already been on this team, she understands what it is to wear the jersey. It was just about making choices for those that should be on … I think are going to be part of the 12 to win a gold medal and complement each other … playing under Kara [Lawson], having a cohesiveness and this is where it landed”
The Team USA snub may not be due to her shooting slump, but it’s difficult not to see a connection. Sabrina Ionescu is one of the most prolific shooters in the league, despite a few games of poor performance. Ionescu has won the WNBA Three-Point Shootout championship twice, in 2023 and 2025. She is a four-time WNBA All-Star and even led the Liberty to a championship in 2024.
Even before being drafted first overall in 2020, she was the NCAA all-time leader in triple-doubles. She has previously been a part of Team USA for the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball tournament and won gold with the team. She was even a part of the 2024 Olympics roster for USA, winning another gold in Paris. A player like that doesn’t just drop the ball, and Ionescu herself may have pointed out the issue.
“Obviously with a back injury, that’s something that is always there,” Ionescu said, per a New York Post report by Madeline Kenney. “Definitely nothing more than what it has been, but will obviously take the break that I get to just rest and really use the time to have my back feeling really good.”
Sabrina Ionescu has missed 13 games this season for the Liberty. She was initially out due to a persistent ankle injury. Ionescu rejoined the team on May 24 against the Dallas Wings, but then missed several games after. She was listed as questionable for the June 6 matchup against the Indiana Fever, this time for back soreness.
This injury seems to be hampering her game still, as she mentioned. The star guard will hope to address these issues before the playoffs begin and the Liberty face the best teams in the league. Ionescu’s shooting prowess will be essential for the Liberty to make it to the 2026 Finals.
With the WNBA break for FIBA coming up soon, Sabrina Ionescu will look forward to putting her legs up and resting her back for the upcoming playoff battles. This break will allow her to get ample rest for a season marred by injuries. For now, Ionescu will be cheering her fellow WNBA players as they take on the world at the FIBA World Cup.