Sabrina Ionescu embraces Kobe Bryant's family after Team USA wins Olympic gold in Paris
Sabrina Ionescu won her first Olympic gold medal after the United States defeated France 67-66 in the women’s basketball final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday.
Ionescu has made it no secret over the years how much family of the late Kobe Bryant has meant to her in the past, and she got to celebrate one of her all-time achievements with them looking on.
Courtside after the game, the New York Liberty star embraced the Bryant family.
Ionescu met Kobe and his daughter, Gigi, while she was in college playing at Oregon. They would develop a relationship before their tragic deads in January 2020. The WNBA star was one of the few people who spoke on stage inside the then Staples Center during his celebration of life the following month.
“I carry Kobe and Gigi with me every day and honor their legacies through my dedication to the game,” Ionescu said at Kobe and Gigi’s celebration of life in 2020. “I wake up every day grateful for the platform I’ve been given and I strive to lead by example and serve as a role model for young people and especially girls to pursue sports — a platform Kobe and Gigi were passionate about.”
Bryant was a two-time Olympic gold medalist during his time in the NBA. He helped Team USA recapture gold for the first time since 2000 in Beijing in 2008 and again in London in 2012. Ionescu is halfway to tying her longtime role model’s Olympic medal mark.
Ionescu saw 10 minutes off the bench in the championship game. She may have failed to score, but Team USA head coach Cheryl Reeve played her heavily in the fourth quarter and she finished with two rebounds and three assists while aiding leading scorers A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Copper off the bounce en route to victory.
While 2024 marks the first time the former Duck star won gold in the Olympics, it isn’t the first time she’s represented the United States on a national stage.
Ionescu first began competing for the U.S. national team in 2013, where she helped lead Team USA to two gold medals, first in the U-16 Championships (2013) and U-17 championships (2014) before making her senior national team debut in 2022 during the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
She’ll be back in action for the Liberty in short fashion, traveling to Los Angeles for a meeting with the Sparks on Aug. 15.