WNBA ALL-STAR GAME

July 9, 2022

Sabrina Ionescu

Natasha Howard

Team Wilson - Media Conference

Q. Sabrina, in a lot of ways you've gotten that New York experience. Chicago in a way has been compared, I guess you could say, to a baby New York. How has it been sort of getting that experience, especially first All-Star here, and how would you compare it to what you've been able to experience playing in New York City?

SABRINA IONESCU: Well, I haven't spent too much time here, but the city is amazing, just from the time that I have spent here. I feel like they welcome athletes with open arms, and just being able to be here in this venue and hearing about how many fans are coming to the game, it being sold out, I think it just speaks volumes about this city and how much that they value women's basketball here.

Q. Sabrina, just generally, what does being an All-Star this year mean for the general story arc of your career?

SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, I'm honored to be here. I'm honored to be recognized amongst some of the best players in the world and in history. Being alongside even some of my teammates, Candace Parker, Sylvia, a lot of these players. I just feel like I'm a little kid looking up to them and excited to be here.

So I'm really taking this and just soaking it all in. I don't think I'll really be able to kind of sit back and appreciate everything until the season is over because we're still in the middle of the season, but while I'm here I'm just trying to be present and be where my feet are and just enjoying everything that this weekend has to offer.

Q. Natasha, can you take us through sort of what the New York Liberty bandwagon looks like? I think the mascot has arrived, what teammates, what family members? Who is here to support both you and Sabrina?

NATASHA HOWARD: You know, like our friends, our family, our fans came out to support us. We also have fans in Chicago, too, that we didn't even know.

So it's really good to actually have that support from New York all the way in Chicago to support us.

Q. Obviously you were at the premier of the Tribeca Film Festival documentary "Unfinished Business" and there was a Joan Jett part in there. I asked Nneka earlier, I said to her, Joan Jett was this really passionate fan and she sat with a voodoo doll. I said to her, so where are the Joan Jetts now? That's what I would like to know from the two of you. That passion existed in the early 2000s. How can we get it back?

SABRINA IONESCU: I thought you were actually asking, I was like, I don't know where they're at right now.

Q. No, no, metaphorically.

SABRINA IONESCU: Got it. I think personally, now that we're allowed to have more fans in arenas and now that kind of basketball is back and the world is back, I think we're starting to see it more.

I know for us it's like every city we're traveling to, there's people with autographs waiting to sign, whether it's at the airport or hotels. It's slowly coming back, and I think being able to have this event here with Nike Nationals going on is absolutely amazing.

I played in the EYBL, so being able to have this event here around thousands of high school basketball players that are aspiring to be like us one day and are able to come and watch the game and a few of them are able to be in the skills challenge is something that they're never going to be able to do again, and it's very, very amazing.

I think it's just starting, and we have to continue to do our part and give back to the other generations.

Q. Sabrina, when you talk about just the exposure of the W as far as the fan base and growing that fan base, what do you feel like the league has to do more of as far as expanding those fan bases and being more visible on television, not just dealing with apps, and also marketing athletes more like yourselves and others as far as an apparel standpoint, shoes and things of that nature in order to grow this game?

SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, I think you kind of nailed a few of them, but I think marketability is huge, whether it's on an individual base or a team base, continuing to brand partnerships and continuing to do that on both levels, but also I think just visibility. Obviously this is a huge one with being able to do it here in Chicago where the fan base for basketball is huge and also like I mentioned the EYBL is here, but I also think just continuing to find ways for players to be able to stay in market and not have to go overseas in the off-season is huge. I know every year it seems like more and more players are staying here and wanting to find opportunities, whether it's in market or on an individual basis, to be able to stay here and kind of use their platforms to find ways to make money or find ways to give back, whatever it is that they're wanting to do. I think that's really important because visibility is huge, whether that's on TV or in your community.

Q. Kind of piggy-backing off that, how would you describe this era for the W? You kind of have all these eyeballs on the sport, kind of moving into a new chapter. Talk a little bit about that.

SABRINA IONESCU: It feels new and refreshing. There's a lot of players, I think the page is kind of turning. There's a lot of young players that have entered the league and have been in the league that are really starting to blossom and make a name for themselves, which is really exciting, and then there's a lot of veteran players that are now having access to use their brand and use their likeness to be able to continue to provide for themselves, for their families and for their business, which is huge, because that wasn't the case 10, 15 years ago when a lot of these players that are here now entered the league.

It's a new wave and it's starting at a younger age, it's starting in college now where players are able to make money. So I think it's changing and it's changing in the right direction.

Q. Sabrina, how have you seen your game grow and change the most over this season just given that it's your first real healthy one?

SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, it's been exciting. It's been different just finally being healthy, and I haven't been trapped since college really because I haven't been healthy enough to really demand that type of defense, and so as a team I think we've all really started to figure out ways to adapt to different defenses. Tash is playing at an amazing level, obviously an All-Star, so teams are now having to adapt to what she's doing.

I think just on a team basis we're figuring out ways to continue to use our strengths. For me I'm just trying to continue to learn, whether it's defense or offensively, ways that I can continue to improve and get better now that I'm able to.

Q. Tash, I know you've been to an All-Star event before and have been in the league, and I heard Sabrina talking about the opportunity that exists with Nike Nationals here and other opportunities. What have you seen as the best opportunities throughout your WNBA playing career to engage with other people in the basketball community? Is it All-Star? Is it Finals? What does that look like from your perspective?

NATASHA HOWARD: It looks like just getting connected with some of the great players, get the insight of what they think, and yeah, just get like their piggy-back on things of what they're going to do after they're retired or what's the next step or anything that you want to put in your game or like off the floor.

Q. I know you talked about this being your first season being healthy and this All-Star being such a culmination of feeling like for the first time in the pros you can play like you played at Oregon. How big of an impact has Candace Parker had in encouraging you to take care of yourself so that you can get to this point?

SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, she's been amazing. I've looked up to her ever since I've got into the league and have gotten closer with her through these last two years. But she's experienced, she's veteran, she's gone through injuries. So being able to talk to her I think it was last year on the free-throw line actually, she just told me take care of your body. She had someone that I could go see. To just be able to have someone like that in the league is huge because at the end of the day we're all competing for spots, we're all competing to try and be the best, and sometimes you lose sight of things on a human level, and what people are going through, and I don't think a lot of people really understood what I was going through, and I didn't really talk about it, either.

So to be able to just kind of have someone come up to me like Candace Parker and talk to me was something that I'll never forget, and I think it speaks on our relationship now?

Q. What game was that that she talked to you on the free-throw line?

SABRINA IONESCU: It was last year when they came to New York.

Q. Tash, this is your second time here but Sabrina's first. What insight were you able to give her for her first All-Star appearance?

NATASHA HOWARD: Just take it all in, have fun, enjoy every moment of it.

Q. Sabrina, this season with multiple triple-doubles, first All-Star selection, what does it mean for you to be there after such a productive season, and is it in your mind to win the MVP, All-Star Game MVP trophy?

SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, I'm excited to be here. I'm not really worried about any of that stuff. I really just want to just soak it all in. I want our team to win. That's really what's most important.

But it's been exciting. I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be an All-Star. Kind of hearing that I was starting and going to be here still doesn't even really feel real.

I'm happy to be here. I'm super thankful to my teammates, my coaches, everyone that has given me the ability and believed in me to be here, and my family and my whole support system that has helped me get through the ups and downs.

I think we're both just really excited to be here. This opportunity doesn't come around often and isn't really easy to get to, and so always really honored and happy to be here.

Q. I'm sure you both know about the four-pointer in tomorrow's game, and I know Sabrina you drain threes that sometimes should be worth four points. How do you both plan to take advantage of that?

NATASHA HOWARD: Me, every chance I get I'm going to try to shoot, shoot the four-pointer. I'm going to just have fun out there and hopefully at least I'll make one.

SABRINA IONESCU: Hopefully I'll make one.

Q. Tomorrow's game will have three special rules: No free throws, a 20-second shot clock, and a four-point shot. If one of these rules had to stay for the remainder of the season, which would you choose?

SABRINA IONESCU: Four-point shot.

NATASHA HOWARD: Four-point.