Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu will speak at Kobe Bryant memorial Monday, then face Stanford
BERKELEY — Sabrina Ionescu has won the hearts of little girls and NBA stars alike with her dynamic play.
Ionescu, during the start of an emotional weekend, recorded her NCAA-best 25th career triple-double with 17 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds as fan and two-time MVP Stephen Curry sat courtside at Haas Pavilion, leading No. 3 Oregon to its 13th straight win with a 93-61 victory over Cal on Friday night.
On Monday, Ionescu will speak at Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s memorial service in Southern California then fly back to the Bay Area to face Stanford that night with the Pac-12 regular-season title likely riding on the result.
“Monday’s going to be a difficult day for her to speak at the memorial for Kobe and Gianna, but what a great opportunity and a great privilege and a great honor,” coach Kelly Graves said.
“And then to have to fly up and have to play what is going to be a really big game on Monday night, but if there’s anybody that can handle something like that, it’s her. She’ll use it as fuel. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has a game for the ages that night, because that’s how she’s wired.”
Monday’s memorial, which sold out out of the 20,000 available tickets, starts at 10 a.m. at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The third-ranked Ducks will face the fourth-ranked Cardinal at Maples Pavilion at 6 p.m.
Ionescu and the Bryants struck up a friendship the past couple of years. According to Graves, Ionescu and Kobe were in regular contact.
Bryant was no stranger to the Ducks, according to ESPN.com. He and Gianna attended the team’s game at USC last January, at which time he spoke to the Ducks in the locker room. He was also in attendance when Oregon played at Long Beach State last month. But it was Ionescu, in particular, with whom the former NBA player forged a bond.
Last spring, in conjunction with Oregon’s appearance in the Final Four, Bryant dedicated an episode of his ESPN+ show Detail to deconstructing Ionescu’s game. Ionescu referenced that analysis, and the motivation it provided, when announcing her decision to bypass last year’s WNBA draft and return to Oregon for her senior season.