The New York Liberty will be without one of their stars, Sabrina Ionescu, to begin the regular season.
Ionescu suffered a left foot injury in the preseason finale against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday after rolling her ankle during the contest.
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While Ionescu has thankfully avoided a serious injury, the New York Post’s Madeline Kenney is reporting that she will miss at least two weeks.
That means the Liberty star will miss at least the first four games of the 2026 WNBA season.
“Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu will watch Friday’s season opener in street clothes,” Kenney said. “Ionescu is expected to miss at least two weeks after suffering a left foot injury in Sunday’s preseason finale against the Connecticut Sun, a team source told The Post.”
The plan, Kenney writes, is for Ionescu to be re-evaluated in two weeks and the Liberty will go from there.
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Ionescu’s injury occurred in the third quarter of Sunday’s exhibition contest when she drove to the bucket for a reverse layup and rolled her ankle.
She immediately went to the locker room and was ruled out. Ionescu was later spotted wearing a walking boot after the contest.
For a Liberty team that was plagued by injuries in 2025, this is the last thing New York wanted to see.
Ionescu managed to stay healthy for the most part last season, appearing in 38 of 44 games, but Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones both missed 13 games apiece.
Equipped to survive without Sabrina Ionescu
Weathering the storm during the absence of a superstar like Sabrina Ionescu is no small task, but if there is any team in the WNBA equipped to do it, it’s the Liberty.
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New York is absolutely loaded with talent.
We already mentioned Stewart and Jones, but the Liberty also have Satou Sabally, the former Phoenix Mercury star forward who was signed in free agency.
A three-time WNBA All-Star and 2023 All-WNBA player, Sabally has averaged 16 points or more in each of the past three seasons, including 16.3 in 2025.
It was rightly believed that Sabally’s scoring opportunities would take a hit upon joining the star-studded Liberty, but she could be unleashed fully as long as Ionescu is out.
In the meantime, the Liberty will have to navigate at least their first four games without Ionescu.
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That slate includes the season-opener at home against the Sun on Friday, and then three road games, with one against the Washington Mystics and two against one of the league’s newest team, the Portland Fire.
