MIAMI — Sabrina Ionescu returned to basketball activities this week after having offseason surgery on her thumb.
The Liberty star said Thursday her recovery has been going “really well” since her Dec. 6 operation to repair a ligament in her right thumb that she injured during the WNBA Finals.
“My first time going live was this week actually,” Ionescu said, “so that felt really good. Little rusty but knocking the rust off a little bit and excited to just get live reps and knowing that’ll take care of itself as I play through this season.”
Ionescu said her recovery timeline was “a little sped up” because of Unrivaled.
“If there wasn’t this going on, I probably could have taken a little bit more time of just rehabbing, letting it heal,” she said.
Ionescu was fully cleared by her LA-based doctor Jan. 8 and will continue to rehab while at Unrivaled.
Ionescu was seen wearing a white wrap on her right hand that covered a black plastic splint that helped secure her thumb at the Phantoms’ final practice before Unrivaled tips off its inaugural season with a pair of games Friday and Saturday.
Despite “not feeling 100% yet,” Ionescu plans to play in the Phantoms’ season opener Saturday against the Laces.
“I’m out here and getting live reps,” she said. “So everything’s going really well so far.”
During a 15-minute press conference, Ionescu said she plans to be at NBA All-Star weekend next month in San Francisco.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.