Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu Had a Flawless Answer on WNBA Expansion Plans

No cities were dissed.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) gestures after scoring in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Dream at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

In the wake of simmering controversy over comments made by one star on the WNBA's new expansion plans, New York Liberty standout Sabrina Ionescu showed the rest of the league how it's done.

Earlier this week, Ionescu was asked for her thoughts on the WNBA's recently announced plans to grow the league over the next five years. Cleveland is set to join in 2028, followed by Detroit in '29 and Philadelphia in '30, which would add up to a total of 18 teams in the league.

The Liberty vet gave the perfect answer on hoping to see women's basketball flourish in the three new expansion cities:

"I'm super excited, just so excited for this league being able to continue to provide new franchises in different states and cities," Ionescu said, via SI Network's Geoff Magliocchetti. "I've never been to Detroit or Philadelphia, and that's something I'm really excited about, is to be able to go there and in a few years and just see how big basketball is and how we can continue to bring in new fans."

Many WNBA fans couldn't help but compare Ionescu's positive, uplifting response to Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham's apparent diss toward a few of the expansion cities.

Whereas Ionescu had nothing but nice things to say and expressed excitement for the future, Cunningham questioned the WNBA's selection process and spoke disparagingly about the cities of Detroit and Cleveland.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Like where do they want to play? ... I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]," Cunningham said.

The difference between Ionescu's and Cunningham's answers were like night and day, something that fans quickly pointed out on social media:

not that hard to say the right words about this topic, right? pic.twitter.com/1z6KLVg9wn https://t.co/sYGNxYJwVE

— Tanya (@ScriptedTanya) July 2, 2025

that’s how you do it. https://t.co/jSIW2l9leN pic.twitter.com/UwJCEbnmQo

— chief jonquel jones defender (@juliajulia_rose) July 3, 2025

this is the correct response btw https://t.co/awL7jflfzc

— go huskiez (@uconnhuskiez) July 3, 2025

Media trained queen https://t.co/Hj7ckmT5tw

— Mary Frances K. Nolan (@francieknolan) July 2, 2025

1. Sabrina never traveling to Philly is crazy

2. Thats how one should respond to the expansion. Leave group chat thoughts in the group chat lol https://t.co/meelKurzwi

— Greg, MBA (@itsgreg72) July 2, 2025

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