Sabrina Ionescu's WNBA debut pushed back due to coronavirus pandemic

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On the day Sabrina Ionescu earned another piece of hardware, she also found out the beginning of her WNBA career has been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ionescu, whose college career was abruptly cut short after the NCAA canceled the men's and women's basketball tournaments due to COVID-19, is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick by the New York Liberty in the WNBA draft. The draft will be held virtually on April 17. While the Duck star's WNBA journey will, in theory, begin that night, she won't take the court for some time.

The WNBA announced Friday that the start of the season, which was slated for May 15, will be pushed back. The league does not yet have an idea for when the season will start as everyone tries to follow the social distancing guidelines put forth by the Centers for Disease Control to help flatten the curve.

The Walnut Creek native and Oregon Ducks legend also took home the Citizen Naismith Trophy on Friday, her fifth national player of the year award.

Last week, she became the first player since UConn's Breanna Stewart to be named the unanimous AP Player of the Year.

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Ionescu's unfinished business tour did not go as planned and came with personal tragedy.

The Oregon star returned to school for her senior season after the Ducks lost to Baylor in the Final Four, a game in which Ionescu was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. She wanted to lead the program she put on the map to a national title. That dream ended abruptly when the NCAA ended the season a few days after Ionescu and the Ducks roasted No. 7 Stanford in the PAC-12 Championship Game.

While no title was won, her senior season always will be remembered for the history she made and how she handled herself following the tragic loss of her mentor Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26.

After learning of Bryant's passing, Ionescu still took the court and led the Ducks to a win over rival Oregon State. A few weeks later, she spoke at Bryant's public memorial and then flew to the Bay and became the first player in history to have 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists, achieving the feat in a win over Stanford.

The face of college basketball, Ionescu is primed to be a global star and an icon for the game of basketball when the sports world resumes.

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