Sabrina Ionescu, one of five from the Liberty headed to Paris Games, seeks Olympics advice

Sabrina Ionescu is a preparation freak.

She spent the last week packing her bags and picking the brains of veterans such as Breanna Stewart on the United States women’s national team. Still, the Liberty guard said on Tuesday she isn’t quite sure what to expect when Olympic play opens later this month in Paris.

“It’s a little overwhelming, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Ionescu said of her crazy schedule over the next couple of weeks, which kicks off with a game Saturday at the WNBA’s All-Star weekend in Phoenix. “Breanna has been there a few times so she knows what it’s like. I feel a little like a deer in the headlights not knowing what to expect.”

Of course, it’s impossible to fully prepare for a moment you have been dreaming about since you first picked up a basketball. Stewart, who is headed to her third Olympics, has told Ionescu to expect “goosebumps” during the opening ceremony. Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, who again will be coaching the Australian team, has told her to take time to “enjoy the experience.”

Ionescu, 26, is the youngest player on a U.S. team that will be attempting to win an eighth consecutive gold medal. Her Olympic appearance comes in the middle of a season where she has fully come into her own as a professional, meeting the high expectations that were heaped upon her when the Liberty made her the No 1 overall pick overall in the 2020 draft.

Ionescu is a superstar guard on the best team in the WNBA. She heads into the Olympic break averaging a career-high 19.8 points and 6.1 assists. She also has stepped up her defensive game and is tied with Caitlin Clark for fourth in the WNBA for three-pointers made with an average of 2.8 a game.

In her final game before the Olympic break, Ionescu scored 30 points, including six three-pointers on Tuesday to lead her shorthanded team to a win over second-place Connecticut. That performance set a Liberty record for career 30-point games, breaking the record of 12 set by Cappie Pondexter.

The Liberty, who lost to Las Vegas in the WNBA Finals last year, have been a dominant force in the first part of this season.

Five members of the team will be participating in the Paris Games. In addition to Stewart, Brondello and Ionescu, Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally have been selected to play for Germany, which is making its first Olympic women’s basketball appearance.  Two more players on national teams — Marine Johannes of France and Han Xu of China — were on the Liberty last year but could not return because of commitments to their national teams.

The only WNBA team to send more current players to the Olympics is Las Vegas. The Aces have four payers — A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young — on the U.S. team, plus Megan Gustafson competing for Spain and Tiffany Hayes playing for Azerbaijan’s 3x3 team. At least 30 current WNBA players will be participating in the Olympics and the count could climb as some teams have yet to finalize their rosters.

“For us to have four players going, I’m really proud of them,” Brondello said of her Liberty team. “Breanna is going to go to as many Olympics as she wants as long as she wants to play. And really so is Sabrina. I’m really excited about the growth of Sabrina. I know she will play great whatever opportunity she gets.”

Great play, of course, is the standard for Team USA. The women have been so dominant in the games that only four current national team players — Diana Taurasi, Jackie Young, Alyssa Thomas and Brittney Griner — were alive when Team USA suffered its last Olympic loss, a defeat in the semifinals of the Barcelona games in 1992.

Stewart, who has won two gold medals, will be competing in her first Olympics as a mother and is excited to bring her daughter, Ruby, and son, Theo.

“At this point, I don’t even know what to expect because the last normal Olympics was Rio,” Stewart said, referring to the fact that the 2020 Olympics were moved to 2021 and still contested during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s been awhile. I’ve talked with Sabrina and I just want her to make sure she enjoys it.

“When we’re locked in, we're on the court representing the USA and trying to get gold medals. But the sense of pride and unity in the opening ceremony? Those are goosebump feelings, once in a lifetime feelings. It’s important to enjoy that.”

Ionescu can’t wait.

“To hear the national anthem and represent your country is something every athlete dreams of,” Ionescu said. “I know I am there to compete for my country. I’m just so excited for the opportunity.”

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.