\u201c[I\u2019m] disappointed, of course,\u201d Ionescu said Saturday. \u201cThat\u2019s obviously something that I wanted to participate in, but I think it\u2019s just maturity, like, I understand how difficult it is. I\u2019m excited for a lot of the new faces that get to go and have the opportunity to do the World Cup. I\u2019ve done it already, so it didn\u2019t rub me the wrong way. I really understand the honor it is to wear the jersey and I\u2019ve been able to win a gold medal, so I\u2019m very blessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019ve kind of dealt with some injuries, and obviously there\u2019s so much talent, so you kind of never know, it could go any way. So I don\u2019t know if surprised is the right word. It just is what it is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ionescu, 28, is one of five players from the 2024 Olympic roster who will not return for the World Cup, having been excluded in favor of a younger, star-studded group of first-time additions (Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard).\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Sabrina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LibertyWings_Farsi088_070726.jpg\")
Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty handles the ball against Azzi Fudd of the Dallas Wings during a regular season matchup at Barclays Center. Michelle Farsi\/New York Post<\/p>\n
Breanna Stewart \u2014 a three-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Cup winner \u2014 was a lock to rejoin Team USA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She thought her Liberty teammate was, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that for her to be left off the World Cup roster, I was surprised,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cDefinitely not a nice feeling for her, but I feel like she\u2019s taking it in a positive way. She\u2019s talked about [she\u2019s] gonna use this time to make sure [she\u2019s] really healthy and ready for our playoff push and those types of things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ionescu, who participated in the national team\u2019s training camp in April, was informed of the decision by Sue Bird, USA Basketball\u2019s senior women\u2019s national team managing director, but the Liberty star said she was not given much clarity regarding why she was passed over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCovering the Liberty like never before\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
So, her attention now turns to the Liberty\u2019s stretch run \u2014 and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think just for me it\u2019s obviously staying confident in my abilities, knowing obviously my goal is to play L.A. \u201928, and kind of just using it to continue to get better,\u201d Ionesecu said. \u201cI\u2019m gonna show up to everything I possibly can as long as my body allows it \u2026 Any time I get a chance to represent the U.S. I\u2019m going to be there.<\/p>\n
![\"Sabrina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Liberty_Storm_080526_Farsi040-1.jpg\")
Sabrina Ionescu did not make the United States World Cup roster. Michelle Farsi\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a jealous person or someone that you feel like maybe you failed or didn\u2019t accomplish something, and you come out and you bad-mouth and you\u2019re mad. For me, it\u2019s about uplifting the players that did make the team, and honestly, showcasing to so many young girls and young boys what it looks like when maybe you didn\u2019t accomplish something that you set your mind on doing, but how you can continue to put your best foot forward and keep striving for what your goals are and what you want to achieve while also being a good person. So for me, it honestly is an opportunity to be better and work on myself and be the best that I can to put myself in a position to help this country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sabrina Ionescu is taking the snub in stride.\u00a0 After winning gold medals with Team USA in the 2024…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":990494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[1520,15534,62,1348,67,132,68,232],"class_list":["post-990493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-sabrina-ionescu","tag-sports","tag-team-usa","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117064048922236937","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/990494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=990493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=990493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}