Mighty Duck - Sabrina Ionescu

Future no. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu has all but promised to deliver a national championship to Oregon this season. Don’t doubt her.

- Max Resetar

Tall, Green Trees dot the basketball court at Larkey Park in Walnut Creek, CA. A chain-link fence surrounded by bushes blocks it off from Buena Vista Avenue. Walking trails, jungle gyms sets, a tennis court, and a pool can also be found throughout the park. The asphalt on the court is dark green and the paint is covered in a shade of brown. White lines mark the half-court and free-throw stripes.

This is Sabrina Ionescu’s home court. Ionescu is now the NCAA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles, entering her senior season with 18 of them. She’s all but a lock to be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. But before all of that happened, she was playing here, at Larkey Park.

“I played at a few parks in Walnut Creek but Larkey Park was the one that we went to a lot of the time. I would say one of my earliest memories is just playing at the park,” Ionescu tells SLAM. “Pickup games, random games with my brother. Once I got older, obviously started playing on a team, but always the small memories of playing in the front yard or at the park.”

Her story is playing out like a Hollywood movie. Ionescu was good enough, tough enough, strong enough to play with the boys. But they didn’t always let her. She would have to watch sometimes. Then she would get to play other times.

“I always had a Tweety Bird shirt and they told me that I wasn’t allowed to play until I got rid of the shirt,” she remembers. “And so I went home and changed my shirt, came back and then they let me play. So I never wore it after that moment.”