25 February 2020

Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu dedicates points record to friend and legend Kobe Bryant

Sabrina Ionescu has become the first male or female basketball player in history to score 2000 points, 1000 assists and 1000 rebounds in Division 1 - and has dedicated her record to friend and mentor Kobe Bryant 

Just hours after making a eulogy at the memorial of the late basketball legend, who died in a helicopter crash along with his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others, the 22-year-old wrote her name into the history books with her 1000th rebound during the third quarter of their game against Stanford.

After the game, she dedicated her performance to Kobe and cited the importance of the date saying: "That one was for him. To do it on 2-24-20 is huge."

Bryant's shirt number was 24 and his daughter Giannna wore No 2.

"He's looking down and really proud of me," she added.

At the Bryants' celebration of life service earlier in the day, Ionescu revealed that she still messages her mentor saying: "The last one I sent him said, ‘I miss you. May you rest in peace, my dear friend'.

"It still feels like he’s there, on the other end," she added, "that the next time I pick up my phone, he would have hit me back. Sometimes, I find myself still waiting.”

She urged those in attendance to keep investing in the women's game and believing in it the same way Bryant did.

Her Oregon teammates watched on a screen from Stanford’s arena in Palo Alto while preparing for their big match later that day. 

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