The WNBA’s shining rookie star Sabrina Ionescu suffered an ankle injury during the New York Liberty’s game against the Atlanta Dream on Friday.
The Liberty rookie badly turned her ankle after she stepped on a defender’s foot when bringing the ball up the court.
Rolling an ankle always looks like an awful thing, but this looked far worse than the typical ankle sprain. She had to be carried off of the court by her teammates after. Fans had fears of the worst for the WNBA’s number one pick.
And can you blame them? This looks awful.
Sabrina Ionescu turned her ankle pretty badly and went back to the locker room. Hopefully it won’t be too bad for the rook. pic.twitter.com/nsSEIw2VXI
— Jasmyn Wimbish (@JasmynWimbish) July 31, 2020
Here are her teammates carrying her off the court.
Sabrina Ionescu was helped off the court after apparently rolling her left ankle. @espnW pic.twitter.com/w08XE82fhN
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 31, 2020
Fans were extremely worried about the Liberty rookie.
Prayers up for Sabrina Ionescu and her ankle. We're going to speak healing RIGHT into her immediately.
— Arielle (Ari) Chambers (@ariivory) July 31, 2020
My heart just broke, pray for Sabrina Ionescu 😰😰💔
— 𝐻𝒶𝓃𝒶 🏀🌙 (@HanasGoat) July 31, 2020
@sabrina_i20 nooooooo😭😭😭😭😭😭! https://t.co/RowzwdGHgD
— George 🏀🐉🉐 (@cokkys27) August 1, 2020
Really hoping Sabrina Ionescu is okay! I would absolutely HATE for her to be sidelined her third game in. https://t.co/OkD4j3Xe2L
— Doug "Bear" Hazard (@BearlyDoug) August 1, 2020
Get well soon @sabrina_i20 💔 https://t.co/h5KKBa73F2
— AJ is tweeting. 🇵🇷☠™ (@AJMirandaDiaz) August 1, 2020
Some of her NBA contemporaries chimed in with well wishes, too, including LeBron James.
Ouch!! @sabrina_i20 Get healthy as soon as possible! 🙏🏾. Health is wealth
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 31, 2020
Get well soon @sabrina_i20!! 🙏🏼💪🏼 https://t.co/ZrNwcvGA0Z
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) August 1, 2020
Fortunately, though, Ionescu’s MRI came back negative and it turns out she just has an ankle sprain, according to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
X-rays on New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu’s left ankle returned negative and showed no fracture, source tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. The No. 1 pick suffered ankle sprain tonight.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 1, 2020
It sucks that Ionescu is hurt. She’s already so good! She already hung up her first 30-piece in a game against her former teammate Satuo Sabally and the Dallas Wings.
And she got off to a great start against the Dream on Friday. She was getting buckets and making hustle plays like this one.
Sabrina Ionescu scores, sprints back on D to cover the outlet, picks it off and touch passes it to start the break before going over backwards pic.twitter.com/jJanCeXvfF
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) July 31, 2020
She’s just an incredible player and the sport of basketball is better when she’s on the court. Hopefully, she gets well soon and isn’t away for too long.