Vanessa Bryant congratulates WNBA and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, once mentored by Kobe

Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, has congratulated New York Liberty point guard Sabrina Ionescu on her commitment to NFL reserve center Hroniss Grasu. The WNBA star previously trained with the late Lakers legend and even eulogized him, along with her daughter Gianna, at her funeral two years ago.

‘¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ Hurrah!!!! Congratulations !!!!! ”, Vanessa commented on Ionesco’s latest Instagram post on Saturday, after the American basketball player, of Romanian descent, made public her engagement with Grasu.

“It’s always us,” the 25-year-old, who holds the title for the most career triple-doubles in NCAA history, shared earlier in the day, along with a heart emoji in the middle of her foot. photo from her Instagram post. ‘Here is forever with you 1.20.23 #finally’.

Sabrina Ionescu and her NFL fiancé Hroniss Grasu announced their engagement on Saturday.

Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, congratulated the 25-year-old WNBA star on Instagram

Grasu (left) and Ionescu (right) played in Oregon but never crossed paths until two years ago.

Ionesco used to train with Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in 2019 before his death.

Ionesco’s engagement setting consisted of an arrangement of white roses and tall candles in multiple heart shapes. Grasu waited for the WNBA All-Star to realize that she had prepared a surprise for him before finally popping the big question.

The couple is believed to have been dating since 2020. They both attended the University of Oregon, though they didn’t meet on the West Coast as their athletic careers never converged during their college days.

Grasu, who was last promoted to the Los Vegas Raiders’ active roster in December, played for the Ducks from 2011 to 2014, before being drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2015. He previously signed with the Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers before moving to Sin City.

Meanwhile, Ionescu enrolled at Oregon in 2016, a year after Grasu was drafted. She later became the only NCAA player with 2,000 career points in her career; 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds (in women and men) before making the leap to professional basketball. She was the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft when Liberty selected her.

Ionescu is now the starting point guard for the New York Liberty and one of the best players in the WNBA.

Grasu planned the perfect occasion to propose to Ionescu and waited for his arrival to do so.

The American basketball player, of Romanian descent, won Saturday’s proposal

During her first season in the WNBA, Ionesco was forced to sit out all but three games after suffering an ankle injury. She then appeared in 66 regular-season games for the Liberty over the past two years and even led her team to the 2021 and 2022 postseason.

However, before turning pro, he once recorded 21 points, 12 rebounds and a triple-double 12 assists in the Ducks’ 74-66 win over No. 4 Stanford on February 24, 2020, nearly a month later. of the death of Kobe and Gianna in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles

Ionescu later said on the ESPN broadcast that accomplishing the feat on that particular day was especially meaningful because of Bryant, who had mentored her for the past year or so.

“I mean one was for him,” said Ionescu, who had taken a chartered flight from Los Angeles after the Bryant memorial to arrive at Maples Pavilion, Stanford’s basketball arena, about 90 minutes before kickoff.

Ionescu was spotted by Kobe in 2019 in an Oregon-USC game. Spotted with Gianna in practice

Ionesco said Bryant had taught him his step-back move and gave him “the blueprint” for success.

Pictured: Kobe Bryant (far left), Sabrina Ionescu (with Kobe) and Gianna Bryant (No. 2)

‘Doing it on 02/24/20 is huge. We had discussed it in the preseason. I really can’t put that into words. He’s looking down and very proud of me, and very happy for my team.”

‘Be able to speak [at the memorial] It was a great honor for me,” added the WNBA star, before stating that if she “represented the present of the women’s game, Gigi represented the future and Kobe knew it.”

Ionescu once honored Kobe and Gigi Bryant with his Nikes before a February 2020 game against No. 4 Stanford. He ended up posting 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for the Oregon Ducks in that game.

In his speech at the ‘Mamba’ memorial, Ionescu told the story of how he met Kobe and Gianna Bryant in 2019, when the Lakers legend sat courtside with his 13-year-old daughter as the Ducks played against USC in Los Angeles.

She described her interactions with both of them in the months since, including the on-court moves that Kobe Bryant helped teach her.

“He showed me his step back, he told me that if I could bring that into my game, any defender who tried to mark me would finish,” Ionescu said. He was giving me the blueprint. He was giving Gigi the same blueprint.

Ionescu ended up recording 2,467 points, 1,041 assists and 1,003 rebounds in 137 games during his four-year career in Eugene.

Last season he averaged 17.4 points in 36 games, along with 7.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Her highest scoring season came in 2020, the year she was drafted, when she averaged 18.3 points in three games.