Sabrina Ionescu fumes after Angel Reese’s championship debut was not broadcast by the WNBA

New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is furious with the WNBA for not broadcasting Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky debut on League Pass, as a fan’s live stream received nearly a million views on social networks.

Reese and Kamilla Cardoso – another highly regarded first-round pick in the 2024 draft – were widely watched during an X livestream by a fan – @heyheyitsalli – who intervened when the league app was unable to stream the game Friday.

Reese and Cardoso played their first preseason game for the Sky in a 92-81 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

The WNBA app had incorrectly listed the game as available to watch, which caused confusion among fans before the league clarified that only Caitlin Clark’s debut with the Indiana Fever was being broadcast.

“I mean, it sucks,” Ionescu said at Liberty’s media day Saturday, as 2,000 fans showed up at the team’s open-to-the-public practice. “I think the representation of each team is important. … I hope the league can resolve this because I think they dropped the ball on this part and I hope they have a good explanation as to why this wasn’t televised. But hats off to the person who just figured it out.

Sabrina Ionesco said the WNBA “dropped the ball” in its decision not to broadcast the Chicago Sky-Minnesota Lynx game on Friday, considering the game to be Angel Reese’s debut.

The number of viewers on the live stream varied, but on Saturday the video had about 800,000 total views, according to Athleticism.

“Y’all are some of the WILDEST numbers WOW,” user tweeted.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was asked about the flow after the game. She said @heyheyitsalli deserves “three dollars” per viewer.

“Anyone who watched it should send the person three dollars, I don’t even know who it is,” Reeve said. “I think what I would say is that the growth is happening so quickly. It’s so accelerated. And I’ve said it within our own organization: the status quo will no longer work.

“You are going to be left behind and this is an example.”

Reeve said she understood Clark’s match would be broadcast and was “all for it.”

“People want to see that, but they also want to see, you know, it’s not just about Caitlin,” Reeve said. “This is in no way Caitlin’s fault.” It’s more about, you know, recognizing that there is a general enthusiasm for the WNBA in a way that we haven’t seen before. So we need to capitalize on it to really ensure that this is indeed a movement.

Reese finished the game with 13 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Cardoso had six points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.

Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said she was pleased with the rookies’ debut.

“It’s a learning process for all of us. …And we’re going through this process the right way,” she said. “Our leaders are leading them and coaching them. Keeping them confident. That’s what matters. So we’re in a great place and they in a really great place.