Sabrina Ionescu Ruled Out for New York Liberty's Season Opener: Report

The New York Liberty have to be thinking, Not again.

The Liberty entered last season as the reigning WNBA champions. With Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu still in New York, the Liberty were expected to contend for a second straight title. It looked inevitable last May, as the Liberty started 9-0.

But then Jones sprained her ankle twice, Stewart suffered a bone bruise in her knee, and the Liberty couldn’t jell down the stretch. New York lost its first-round playoff series to the Phoenix Mercury and opted against renewing head coach Sandy Brondello’s contract.

The Liberty hired Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco as their new head coach last November, and they reloaded the roster in free agency. Ionescu, Jones, and Stewart all re-signed, and New York landed three-time All-Star and former Mercury forward Satou Sabally.

New York is the odds-on favorite to win the 2026 WNBA Finals, but an untimely injury has struck again.

Ionescu rolled her ankle after driving to the hoop in the third quarter of the Liberty’s preseason game in Connecticut on Sunday. After the game, DeMarco told reporters that Ionescu’s outlook was “positive,” but she was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday.

According to Madeline Kenney of the New York Post and Annie Costabile of The Athletic, Ionescu’s MRI revealed a “left foot injury,” but she did not suffer a “significant” injury and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

By missing at least two weeks, Ionescu will miss the Liberty’s first four regular-season games. New York will open the 2026 WNBA season against the Connecticut Sun on Friday, May 8.

The Liberty learned last year that a hot start doesn’t guarantee anything, so Ionescu’s missing the start of the season doesn’t warrant any grand proclamations about their season. But it adds another element to the intrigue around how DeMarco will fiddle with his rotations and find his footing as a head coach.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 1:31 PM.