Coming off a victory against the Atlanta Dream (81-75), the New York Liberty will face the Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center. Notably, this is the second time Liberty will go up against the Lynx after suffering a loss in their last encounter. Today’s matchup will be challenging as they will play without a key player on their roster, Sabrina Ionescu.

Until a couple of hours ago, Liberty did not have any injured or missing players from their team. But this has changed. In a surprising twist, Ionescu will be absent from today’s matchup due to illness. Underdog WNBA shared this news with the spectators on X, as they posted, “Status alert: Sabrina Ionescu (illness) didn’t participate in shootaround Tuesday.”

But the question is, why is Ionescu suddenly absent from the roster?

Sabrina Ionescu’s absence from the roster

It has not happened all of a sudden. Both Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu were sick when they entered the court against the Atlanta Dream. However, despite being sick, Ionescu played for 34 minutes and accumulated 10 points and 4 rebounds. However, ignoring her health seems to have turned out a bad decision for the point guard, as she is now struggling with her health.

After the game against Atlanta ended, Ionescu came up for media interaction but before having a conversation, she motioned for everyone to maintain distance from her. She also clutched a hot tea with honey throughout the interview. “We knew people were under the weather and just kind of had to rally behind one another. No one cares if you’re sick, there are no excuses,” she told Clutch Points.

Considering her on-court time, Ionescu’s performance was commendable. She counted 3-17 from the field and had only one turnover. On the other hand, another player Jones, who was also struggling with illness, attempted five shots in 29 minutes. “JJ was feeling a little under the weather, so give her a little grace in that regard,…But I think she found some energy in the second half and that helped us. That’s what we needed.” the team’s coach said. But, what happened next?

Next move for Ionescu

While Jones was able to recover to enter the arena against the Lynx, Sabrina Ionescu’s condition worsened. Since the 26-year-old will join Team USA next month for the 2024 Paris Olympics, her health must recover soon. In case she’s not able to make a comeback, she’ll be replaced by one of the three alternatives on the USA’s roster.

“There’s so much going on with the Olympics being in the middle of a season. It’s right after the All-Star break,…There’s just so many things going on at the same time, and then you come back and you literally presume the season two days after.” Ionescu told Yahoo Sports when asked about her Olympic debut.

But since she knows how to win both on and off the court, this illness might not bother her much. For all those unaware, Ionescu was born with a unique congenital bone condition called CVT. But as she grew, she won this hard-fought battle. Now the question is: When will she make a comeback? Stay tuned to know!

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