Sabrina Ionescu on the Magic of the Game-Winner
- November 27, 2024
In Sabrina Ionescu’s career, the question is not if the game-winning shot will happen, but how. There was the 2017 game-winner as a college freshman against Cal, nicknamed “the Heave at Haas,” when Ionescu made a direct line past half court, caught the inbounds pass on the run, and sank a contested three-pointer at the buzzer. In 2021, in the guard’s season-opener with the New York Liberty, she curled around a dribble hand-off on the left wing, caught the ball at her hip, and in one improbably continuous motion, rose up for a game-winning three to defeat the Indiana Fever. Then there’s the shot heard ‘round the world: Game 3 of the 2024 Finals, where she silenced nearly 20,000 fans in Minneapolis with a three-point dagger from 28 feet.
The magic of the game winner isn’t accidental, says Sabrina, but the product of hours of practice, visualization and imagination. They might not know it yet, but the young player, in dribbling down the clock at their driveway hoop, is improvising their moment of immortality with a game-winning shot, sealing the win.
"As a kid, you dream about it often, whether you're doing it on a hoop in your room, or you're in front of a garage shooting on a real hoop."
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty Guard
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Game winners can go down in a variety of in-game situations. For Sabrina’s Game 3 shot, the Liberty had one important variable on their side: time.
“We had enough time on the clock that we were able to slow down and read the defense,” she says. “We knew we were sending up JJ [Liberty forward Jonquel Jones] for a ghost screen and then have her slip out to create some confusion. And then, after reacting how they played me, it just became me and the basket — I had enough space after that step back to get my shot off."
"It wasn't a reinvented shot. I had hit that exact shot hundreds and hundreds of times before."
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty Guard
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Every game-winning shot is special in its own right, says Sabrina.
"You miss more of those attempts than you make, so you hold onto every game-winning moment when they happen.”