Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu signs on to Unrivaled league

New York Liberty star guard Sabrina Ionescu will play in the inaugural season of the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league.

The league announced Ionescu as a wild-card roster entry on Monday. She will play for Phantom BC, joining Satou Sabally (Dallas Wings), Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun), Natasha Cloud (Phoenix Mercury), Brittney Griner (Mercury) and Katie Lou Samuelson (Indiana Fever).

Ionescu is the 36th and final player to be added to the league.

Unrivaled will begin play Jan. 17 in the Miami area, with the season concluding in March. Unrivaled is billing itself as having the highest average pay in women's sports. The women have been divided into six teams of six players.

While the league did not announce how much Ionescu will earn, ESPN said Monday that the "unprecedented and historic" agreement "puts her in a category of her own." The players also receive a stake in the league's equity.

Ionescu, 27, and the Liberty won the 2024 WNBA title, and she was a member of the gold-medal-winning United States squad at the Olympics in Paris. ESPN reported that a thumb injury she sustained in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals has been surgically repaired.

Last season with the Liberty, Ionescu averaged 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists. She was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft.

--Field Level Media