Kobe Bryant's daughter Natalia Bryant drops 5-word reaction on Sabrina Ionescu's championship win portraits

By Juan Paolo David

Modified Oct 23, 2024 12:00 GMT

Sabrina Ionescu remained on cloud nine a few days after winning her first WNBA championship on Sunday. Ionescu shared several pictures from her photoshoot with the trophy on Instagram. Kobe Bryant's daughter, Natalia Bryant, dropped a five-word reaction to the New York Liberty star's post.

Ionescu posted herself with the WNBA championship as well as several snaps of her celebration with her husband, Hroniss Grasu, and her Liberty teammates. She didn't have the best performance in the pivotal Game 5 against the Minnesota Lynx, but she was still vital in New York's first basketball title since the Knicks won in 1973.

"Prayed for times like this… CHAMP," Ionescu wrote in the caption.

Natalia Bryant, the oldest daughter of the late Kobe Bryant, was one of many personalities who commented on Sabrina Ionescu's post. The Bryant family was close to Ionescu even before she got into the WNBA. She even spoke at Kobe's eulogy after his death in a helicopter crash in January 2020.

"So proud of you Sab," Natalia commented.

Natalia Bryant comments on Sabrina Ionescu's post. (Photo: Screengrabbed on Sabrina's IG post)

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Sabrina Ionescu channeled her inner 'Mamba Mentality' in Game 3 of WNBA Finals

The New York Liberty would not have made it to Game 5 of the WNBA Finals without Sabrina Ionescu's heroics in Game 3. Ionescu hit the game-winning 3-point shot in the dying seconds of the contest to give the Liberty a 2-1 series lead against the Minnesota Lynx.

Speaking to ESPN's Malika Andrews a day after hitting her historic game-winner, Ionescu preached Kobe Bryant's "Mamba Mentality" in helping her at the moment. She learned a lot from Bryant and continued to use it in her career.

"He's always with me," Ionescu said. "The lessons that he taught me, that Mamba Mentality. And going into that shot, I was like, 'All right. This is what I have to do.' You know what he always preached was just continue to be myself, believe in the work that I put in and go out and take it, and that's exactly what I did."

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Who was the only person Sabrina Ionescu spoke to besides her family after winning Game 5?

In an interview with Complex Sports the day after winning the WNBA championship, Sabrina Ionescu was asked about who she talked to after the game was over during her celebrations. Ionescu replied it was her family, of course, and that she only answered one call from Steph Curry.

"The only person that I really responded to last night besides my family was Steph," Ionescu said. "I was able to call him, FaceTime him for like five seconds. I could barely hear him. It was loud, but we just started screaming and celebrating together and that one means a lot to me."

She added:

"Because of his mentorship and knowing he's been here and he's been rooting for me this entire season. So, that's kind of the only person that I responded right away."

The Golden State Warriors star has influenced Ionescu's development into one of the WNBA's best players. They even faced each other in a 3-point contest earlier this year at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.