Kevin Durant shouts out Brooklyn’s next star—Sabrina Ionescu—after the New York Liberty took the record-setting guard first overall.
Brooklyn has to make room for a new star and her name is Sabrina Ionescu. The New York Liberty drafted the record-setting Oregon guard with the first pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant took to Twitter to welcome her.
Welcome to Brooklyn @sabrina_i20!! https://t.co/MbMRJp6fPV
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) April 17, 2020
The Liberty and Nets share an owner—Joe Tsai—and an arena—Barclays Center. Both teams boast serious star power. Durant is flanked by Kyrie Irving after their groundbreaking move to Brooklyn in 2019 free agency.
By way of the draft, the Liberty have their own superstar. Ionescu is coming to New York with major expectations after developing into a sensation in college, racking up an NCAA record 26 triple-doubles at Oregon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Gg1e7jDUM/
Just after being drafted, Ionescu announced that she would be signing with Nike. Expect her to be one of the faces of Nike’s brand, alongside Durant and Irving, in the coming years
Later in the draft, Durant made an appearance in the form of a welcome video to Megan Walker from UConn, who the Liberty took with the ninth overall pick.
.@KDTrey5 welcomes @_megwalker3 to Brooklyn! pic.twitter.com/Kb5R8dYdyt
— WNBA (@WNBA) April 18, 2020
“Yo Meg, what up? Congratulations on a dream come true,” Durant said. “So many people are so proud of you, all the work you put in is starting to pay off. But the work doesn’t stop. Just keep going, keep pushing. I look forward to watching your career. Much love.”
The moment was undercut slightly by Rebecca Lobo mentioning on the ESPN broadcast that Walker could be moving somewhere else, but Durant’s sentiment is still appreciated. Walker is still on the Liberty, but the team was quite active on the trade market right now and they may not be done.
The partnership between the Liberty and the Nets is sure to flourish in the coming years. Ionescu is going to be a megastar and she already has the respect of her basketball peers in the city. Barclays Center is going to be a fun place to watch hoops year-round.
