WNBA News: How Late Lakers Legend Helped Sabrina Ionescu Secure Brand Partnership

Before Kobe Bryant's untimely passing in 2020, the NBA Hall of Famer had been planting seeds for women's basketball's further growth and development.

The late Bryant did not only run grassroots leagues at his Mamba Academy, he has openly supported—and watched—the WNBA and even discussed growing the women's game with fellow legend Tony Parker.

One of the younger women's hoops stars Bryant developed close ties with is New York Liberty scorer Sabrina Ionescu, whom he ran one-on-one training sessions with.

Ionescu recently made history in only her sixth pro game, notching a triple-double, only the ninth in the league's 25-season history.

Ultimately, Bryant's belief in women is also what pushed Ionescu to secure a deal with sports drink brand BodyArmor, whom Bryant has a stake in.

"It is huge. A brand partnership is something that every athlete dreams of but aligning with the right brand is what is important, especially because of the platforms that we have as athletes," Ionescu recently told HoopsHype.

The former Oregon star shared how Bryant asked her to be part of the BodyArmor team when the Los Angeles Lakers star introduced a bottle to Ionescu.

"Yeah, that is how I first found out about it. I was driving to one of our practices together and he had it in his trunk with him," Ionescu detailed.

"He threw me one and he was like: 'You need to try this. We need to get you on board with this.' I tried it and it was really good and I loved it. Ever since then, I’ve been looking for them in stores and buying them. I would send him pictures. But yeah, that was my first time being introduced to it."

The Los Angeles Lakers star invested a $6 million stake in BodyArmor in 2014. His shares as of 2018 have reportedly grown to $200 million.

More than the deal itself, Ionescu finds honor in being part of the conversation, as well as further visibility for herself and women's basketball in general.

"I was always watching that and learning from a lot of the other athletes as I was going through this process, figuring out who I wanted to sign with and align with," she emphasized.

"I wanted to align myself with not only those great athletes but also those great people."