The last season’s WNBA Finals rematch went off with a blast. However, this time, the New York Liberty reigned over the 2x defending champion and clinched an 87-77 Game 1 victory. Breanna Stewart scored 34 points while Sabrina Ionescu gave a 21-point winning push as the Barclays Center echoed with loud cheers. One of those cheers was that of the team’s biggest fan, or can be said to be a huge Sabrina Ionescu fan, Spike Lee, who donned Ionescu’s jersey that once she wore in a game, signed, and gave it to him.

The Ionescu fan then shared his love on social media as he wrote, “A FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN SHOUT TO MY SISTA SABRINA FOR GIFTING ME HER GAME WORN AND SIGNED LIBERTY JERSEY. PLUS SHE DID DA DAMN THANG, GAVE DEM ACES 21 POINTS. SABRINA IZ DA TRUTH, RUTH GO NY GO,” in one of his recent Instagram posts, to which Ionescu replied, “MY GUY”

His presence in all these games reflects in his profession as he is considered a wizard who has brought sports and film together. Interestingly, he had a fun moment with the Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who became an object of his benevolent trash talk.

It was not his first time though. Over the years, Lee has been a fixture at the Liberty and the New York Knicks games, which had trash-talked many opposing players. One of the players was the NBA legend Reggie Miller. As for Plum, she didn’t mind the trash talk, rather kept it all well, fun, and cool, and said he is a big sports fan. In her postgame presser, she ended the conversation by mentioning, “I just asked him to speak a little louder.”

In her three years as a WNBA star, Ionescu has seen Lee cheering for her team, having small talks every now and then.

Sabrina Ionescu and Spike Lee’s friendship over the years

Ionescu expressed her joy in the post-game presser as she recalled his dear gesture and said, “To be honest, I think he might have been the first person that called me when I got drafted here. the first person who called me and just shared his excitement with New York getting the number one pick,” hence, their relationship goes back to 2020. And why not? Ionescu is considered one of the greatest players to wear the Oregon Ducks jerseys for her tremendous NCAA career. Having someone who even gave Stephen Curry a challenge as a deep shooter is definitely a boasting right for the Liberty.

There have been many times when Ionescu asked him to come out to a game because of his unwavering support for the players which the Liberty needs in their quest to win a championship. She put it, “We’re trying to bring a championship here, and it takes a village, and it’s been nice to see how much our support has grown over the last few years and over the season alone.”

However, this was Lee’s second straight playoff game that he attended. In the previous one, he had given a high five to Ionescu which she felt as she described, “New York was injected into my veins.”

Ionescu described Lee’s support as, “chirping at the refs, talking to the players, which was really fun,” as she appreciated the love and support the Liberty gets from their fans. Certainly, with him present in the front row, Sabrina Ionescu will add some more energy to the entire roster.