Sports
Sabrina Ionescu joins Bay FC ownership group: It’s ‘like a pinch-me moment’
The last 12 months for Sabrina Ionescu have been like a movie.
Last February, she lit up the NBA All-Star stage in a one-on-one 3-point shootout with her role model and friend Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors. In June, the Sabrina 2 dropped, the second edition of her signature Nike shoe — embraced by men and women hoopers. In August, she won a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. In October, she won a WNBA championship with the New York Liberty, a run that included an epic game-winning 3-pointer in Game 3.
Now, she’s a team owner. Ionescu is the latest investor in Bay FC, the NWSL’s franchise in her home area.
“I feel like I was just in high school not that long ago, playing in that community,” Ionescu told The Athletic. “When I sit back and think about how young I am and how fast everything has come, it is pretty crazy. Especially on this side of things, being an investor in a professional league. A lot of people do that so much later in their career. For me to be a part of the business side of things so early on, I think it kind of set me up for the future.
“Now being able to impact a franchise, that is pretty crazy to think about. It’s kind of like a pinch-me moment and, obviously, very humbling.”
Ionescu becoming an investor in Bay FC makes sense because of where she’s from. The Bay Area’s own. The pride of Miramonte High School. And, with apologies to the Liberty, the hope of many to be the near-future face of the new Golden State Valkyries.
Ionescu is also taking on the role of Bay FC’s official commercial advisor, which makes sense because of her place in this modern landscape of sports and business that’s carving out space for women. Her desire to be hands-on with helping Bay FC maximize that potential is a coup for the Bay Area’s NWSL squad.
Loyal to the soil.
We’re excited to welcome 2024 WNBA Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, 3x WNBA All-Star and the Bay’s own, @sabrina_i20 to the family as Investor & Commercial Advisor.
📰: https://t.co/utesbXJOmy#BayFC x #BayAreaUnite pic.twitter.com/RdsCcQVaFD
— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) March 3, 2025
Conceptually, it’s an ideal marriage. A Bay Area-bred superstar joining the Bay Area franchise in the mix of the changing landscape of Bay Area sports. With Bay FC established, the Valkyries coming, and even the Oakland Soul — of the USL W League — growing, this region is increasingly a flex of the viability of women’s sports.
Bay FC — which set the NWSL record with 11 wins by an expansion club and made the playoffs in its inaugural season — finished top three in the league in ticket revenue and No. 1 in merchandise sales. After selling out the home opener last March, creating a moment in Bay Area history, it’s been a steady uptick.
“It’s been pretty cool to see,” Ionescu said, “just being a Bay area native, seeing how many season tickets they’ve been selling. Seeing 18,000 people at the home opener was insane. So many things go on in the Bay area, so you really understand (that was a display of) how many people really want to watch women’s sports.”
Adding Ionescu to the ownership — along with Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Andrew Luck and Manu Ginobili — suggests the growth potential. A young pioneer is now in the mix. The college basketball phenom has turned into a big dog.
Ionescu was the first women’s basketball player to have a unisex signature collection with Nike. The Sabrina 2 became the most worn among current basketball shoes across the NBA. She was also mentored and validated by the late Kobe Bryant.
“Having someone like Sabrina brings more attention,” said Jen Millet, Bay FC’s COO. “It sends the message that this is a real thing. It’s growing. It’s significant. We’re on a rocket ship. And if you get in now and you’re a part of this, you’re going to over-index. You’re going to out-punch whatever your investment is right now. This is a big win. She’s essentially entering her prime. She’s youthful. She’s on the upswing. We’re on the upswing.”
This is just the beginning of Ionescu’s growing stature in the Bay Area. Ionescu is set up to be a pillar in these parts: with her strong roots in the community; with Curry as a role model; and now, with the Bay FC’s Founding Four as her co-workers. And maybe one day — she’s an unrestricted free agent after this WNBA season — calling Chase Center her home.
“Seeing 18,000 people at the home opener was insane,” Sabrina Ionescu said of Bay FC’s debut last March. “… you really understand how many people really want to watch women’s sports.” (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
Ionescu is bringing a different paradigm. One where ballers are ballers and sports are sports and where quality matters more than identity.
It’s been one of the elements bolstering the claims of Bay FC’s potential. Brands that formerly just associated with women’s sports for the sake of looking good no longer need to make those overtures. More and more, those who do invest in women’s sports do so because they believe in its promise.
Part of Ionescu’s Bay Area legacy will be helping shift that paradigm. To where game recognizes game.
“It’s been fun to finally kind of see everyone else come along to seeing that as well,” Ionescu said. “These are all such monumental moments in what now is taking place in the rest of society, of being able to give individuals their flowers no matter if it’s a women’s sport or not. There have been so many steps that people have taken and continuously take to create that equality amongst sports. It’s fun to see the point that we’re at now, but it’s even more exciting to see where it’s going. We’re scratching the surface of where we want to go in terms of salary, respect, viewership and sponsorships.”
Ionescu has yet to make her debut at San Jose’s PayPal Park for a game. That will likely happen next month when Bay FC starts its 2025 NWSL campaign. But she’s already official like a referee whistle. Stamped with the swaggiest seal. A letterman jacket, luxuriously thick. Navy blue like the peacoat of a longshoreman with white trim and a white Old English B on the left chest. And BayFC on the back.
It’s coveted merchandise in these parts. It’s given exclusively to investors of the franchise and VIPs. Ionescu is both.
“Of course, I’ve got my jacket,” she beamed. “You know I got one.”
(Top photo of Sabrina Ionescu during the New York Liberty’s WNBA championship parade in October: Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
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The highly anticipated 30th WNBA season tipped off Friday with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo’s first-ever contest.
The action continued Saturday with a full slate, including Caitlin Clark’s return after an injury-riddled sophomore season.
Clark and the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in a matchup featuring the four most recent No. 1 overall picks. The Wings outlasted the Fever 107-104, but the game was defined by Azzi Fudd’s — the most recent top pick — underwhelming debut.
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers react during the first half of the Fever’s season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Fudd played 18 minutes off the bench, scoring three points — the lowest ever by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez addressed Fudd’s performance after the game, encouraging the rookie to, “Keep doing what she’s doing, it’s her first year in the league. We got five really talented backcourt players.”
EX-WNBA STAR CRITICAL OF SKY ROOKIE HAILEY VAN LITH, BELIEVES POPULARITY PLAYED ROLE IN DRAFT SELECTION
In addition to Fudd, Dallas’ backcourt features last year’s top draft pick Paige Bueckers, last season’s No. 12 overall pick Aziaha James, four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and starting guard Odyssey Sims.
Until Saturday, Kelsey Plum held the record for the lowest-scoring debut by a No. 1 pick. Selected first overall by the then-San Antonio Stars in 2017, she scored just four points in her debut. The Stars relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and was subsequently rebranded as the Aces.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd warms up before the game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2026. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Despite the slow start to her first season in the league, Plum ended the year with All-Rookie team honors. In the years since, she’s been named to four All-Star teams and won two championships with the Aces.
The Wings’ decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick drew controversy, raising questions about whether Bueckers’ personal relationship with her influenced the selection. Late last month, Bueckers said last month it did not.
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
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“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is as a basketball player,” Bueckers said, according to ESPN.
Neither Bueckers nor Fudd has publicly updated their relationship status since the April draft.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own,” Bueckers also said in April. “And what we choose to share is completely up to us.”
Next up, the Wings play their home opener on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream.
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The Lakers are one playoff defeat from their season being over and from the conversation turning to LeBron James’ future.
They are in a hole no team has climbed out of in the history of the NBA, the Lakers’ 131-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 putting L.A. down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
James and his teammates gave a gallant effort Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, but the defending champion proved to be more than the Lakers could handle.
James finished his night with 19 points on seven-for-19 shooting, eight assists and six rebounds. Rui Hachimura had 21 points and Austin Reaves finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Even so, the Lakers have now lost all three games by double digits.
And the Lakers are fully aware that no NBA team has successfully come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs, with those teams holding a 161-0 record. Only four teams have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, all of which ultimately lost the series, including the Boston Celtics in 2023.
Lakers forward LeBron James shows frustration as Thunder center Chet Holmgren slam dunks during Game 3 on Saturday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Game 4 is Monday night, when the Lakers will try to stave off elimination and a night that will determine how the conversations go with James if they lose.
James has been frequently asked this season about retirement, but he has not given any indication of what the future holds for him.
He’s 41 years old and playing in an NBA-record 23rd season.
James is in the final year of his contract that pays him $52 million, making him a free agent this offseason. He can retire, join another team or perhaps return to the Lakers next season.
That will be the conversation if the Lakers can’t win Game 4.
They will see the same Thunder team that had seven players score in double figures, led by Ajay Mitchell’s 24 points and 10 assists and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 23 points and nine assists.
The Lakers went down 13 in the third quarter and had to play catchup the rest of the way. They never did, going down by 112-94 with 6 minutes and 12 seconds left, forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call a timeout.
The deficit just kept growing, topping out at 27 points in the fourth.
They were outscored 33-20 in the third quarter. The Lakers didn’t take care of the basketball in the third, turning it over six times, and they didn’t play good defense, allowing the Thunder to shoot 59.1% from the field and 55.6 percent from three-point range,
The Lakers did not give an inch to the Thunder in the first half, even when they fell behind by 10 points.
They just kept grinding until they led 59-57 at halftime.
Hachimura had 16 points in the first half, continuing his hot three-point shooting by making all four of his threes. Luke Kennard came off the bench to give the Lakers 13 points, shooting five for six from the field and three for four from three-point range.
The Lakers kept the pressure defense on Gilgeous-Alexander. Though he had 14 points in the first half, he shot only four for 14 from the field and one for five from three-point range.
The Lakers shot 55% from three-point range in the first half, which went a long way in helping them.
The Lakers lost the first two games by identical margins of 18 points and each loss was magnified because Gilgeous-Alexander was kept under wraps for the most part by L.A.’s defense.
When Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth foul with 10:34 left in the third quarter of Game 2 and went to the bench, the Thunder turned a five-point lead into a 13-point advantage at the end of the quarter.
So, when he wasn’t on the court, the Lakers failed to take advantage.
“Well, you know, again, I’ll repeat what I said after the game: we’ve got to be better in the non-Shai minutes,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
Role players like Mitchell and Jared McCain hurt the Lakers in the second game. Chet Holmgren also was hard to deal with.
“Mitchell and McCain have hurt us in those non-Shai minutes, and then Chet [Holmgren] has hurt us the whole game,” Redick said. “I think you’ve got to be willing to live with something. Shai playing one-on-one, thus far in the series, we haven’t been willing to live with, so you’re going to be in rotation. That can lead to smalls on bigs at the hole, and the offensive rebounding from Chet has really hurt us.”
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In 2025, Alex Palou kicked off the Month of May with a Sonsio Grand Prix win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Based on the odds, it’s likely that Palou will find himself in Winner’s Circle again this Saturday when INDYCAR goes back to IMS on May 9 (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
Considering Palou has already captured the checkered flag three times this season, are there any other drivers whose odds are worth a wager?
Here are the latest lines at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 9.
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Sonsio Grand Prix 2026
Àlex Palou: 5/18 (bet $10 to win $12.78 total)
Kyle Kirkwood: 5/1 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Pato O’Ward: 12/1 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
David Malukas: 14/1 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Josef Newgarden: 16/1 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Scott McLaughlin: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Christian Lundgaard: 30/1 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Scott Dixon: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Will Power: 60/1 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Felix Rosenqvist: 80/1 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alexander Rossi: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Ericsson: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Armstrong: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Christian Rasmussen: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Graham Rahal: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Louis Foster: 300/1 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Dennis Hauger: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Romain Grosjean: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Santino Ferrucci: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Rinus Veekay: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Kyffin Simpson: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Caio Collet: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Sting Ray Robb: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Nolan Siegel: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Mick Schumacher: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Here’s what to know about the oddsboard:
Heavy Favorite: It doesn’t look like Alex Palou’s dominance will be slowing down anytime soon. As noted above, he’s already won three of the five races since the INDYCAR season started in March. With 186 laps led, Palou sits first in the standings and has the shortest odds to win the title again. Last season, he started from the pole and led 29 laps before winning the race.
Long Shot to Watch: While his odds of 150/1 to win at IMS are much longer than Palou’s, Graham Rahal is one to watch. At this race in 2025, he started second and led 49 laps before finishing sixth. He finished second at this course in 2015, 2020 and 2023. He’s currently 10th in the INDYCAR standings, with one top five and three top 10s.
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