Sabrina Ionescu, a guard for the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty, enthralled thousands of fans in the hoop-crazed Philippines during her four-day tour.
Ionescu mentors the upcoming generation of female basketball players through workshops and work with a number of Filipina artists, sneakerheads, and fans, leaving a sizeable impact on the country.
"Obviously [I] didn't know what to expect, but being able to see all the love coming here from the fans, it means so much to me,” Ionescu said.
Championing women’s basketball
Being an advocate for women's basketball, particularly in a nation like the Philippines, is one of her main objectives for the visit.
“[I] realized that through my career as I continue to just go through college and professionally, being able to inspire the next generations of athletes that are gonna come in and be better than you are and the whole goal is to leave the game better than you found it,” Ionescu said.
The 5-foot-11 guard sponsored a number of basketball-related events, such as a training camp at Nike's Courtyard in Taguig, a panel discussion, an exhibition game, and a three-point shootout with prominent local players.
Inspiration for ballers
Thanks to the rise of social media and technology, Ionescu has risen to become a role model for the next generation.
“I just wanted to create access to sport for everyone, young boys, young girls, everyone in the community and like I said, it’s a lot bigger than yourself in playing the sport and it’s about giving back to the next generation and being able to see smiles on kids faces and so many communities that meant a lot to me,” said the 27-year-old star.
In the Philippines, basketball has historically been a male-dominated sport, but Ionescu will also not be overlooked.
"I think being able to instill the power and confidence in themselves that they can go out and accomplish whatever they want to do as long as (women’s players) believe in themselves.”
