WNBA Star Sabrina Ionescu Mentors Kobe Bryant’s Daughter Bianka In Touching New Video

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu is one of the WNBA’s biggest stars on the court.

But for the family of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, Ionescu has become a superstar off the court as well.

Despite Bryant’s tragic passing in 2020, Ionescu remained close with the Bryant family and now serves as a mentor for Bryant’s daughters, including teaching his younger daughter, Bianka, how to shoot a basketball in a recent video shared by Bryant’s widow Vanessa.

Kobe Bryant Served As A Mentor To Sabrina Ionescu, Who Is Now Mentoring His Daughters

Bryant and Ionescu became close in 2019 after the former Los Angeles Lakers star attended one of Ionescu’s college basketball games.

“They sat courtside, where my jaw sat dropped,” Ionescu told the LA Times. “They watched the entire game. And that was the first time I met Kobe.

“He congratulated us on the win that day and our season up to that point but said, and I’ll never forget, ‘Don’t shoot yourselves in the foot.’ He meant don’t settle, to keep grinding, control what you can. The national championship wasn’t far, and our goal was to win it all.”

Bryant remained close with the budding star. He helped her work on her game and, in turn, Ionescu helped train Bryant’s daughter Gianna, who tragically lost her life in the same helicopter accident that claimed Kobe’s.

The two often exchanged texts, with Bryant becoming a mentor to Ionescu. After his plane crash, the former Oregon Ducks star told Bleacher Report how much it affected her.

“I think it’s going to be one of those things I always feel. I can still think about it anytime and cry,” she said. “I’m not normal yet.”

Ionescu then spoke at public celebration of life for Kobe and Gianna at the Staples Center.

“‘You have too much to give to stay silent.’ That’s what he said. That’s what he believed (and) that’s what he lived. Through Gigi, through me, through his investment in women’s basketball,” she said. That was his next great act, a girl dad.

“Today may feel like darkness. He was, in so many ways, a sun beaming, radiating, fixed in the sky. I ask each of you, every girl dad, every human here with a voice, a platform and a heart to not let this sun set.”

Ionescu went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. She’s now a star for the New York Liberty. But she clearly hasn’t forgotten the people who helped her along the way and is now repaying them in most heartwarming fashion.