The first Chelsea Gray behind-the-back pass in history took place in the front yard of her childhood home.

Gray, who grew up in the Bay Area, had the typical driveway basketball hoop. The kind with a rectangular plastic base, filled with sand to keep it from falling over. In addition to practicing her shooting, Gray liked to use the basket in an unconventional way.

From the moment she started playing basketball, Gray fell in love with the art of passing. She watched film of Ticha Penicheiro, Magic Johnson and Jason Williams, seeking to emulate the vision and artistry they used to create for their teammates.

But Gray didn’t always have a teammate to catch her passes, so she had to innovate.

She’d angle herself away from the hoop in front of her house, and throw the ball behind her back, aiming for the pole that held up the backboard. Perfection was key. Because even if she made contact with the pole, if the pass didn’t hit the exact center, the ball would ricochet out of the driveway, and with a few bounces, it would be down the street.

So, Gray simply didn’t miss.

And once she connected the first time, she was hooked.

“I thought it was the coolest thing,” she said. “The first one I threw probably barely got there. After that, I wanted to try it all the time.”

Gray’s dad kept that hoop long after it had outlived its usefulness. She remembers using it so much that eventually, a hole was worn through the backboard. After that, she had to practice shooting without the glass. In her first few seasons in the WNBA, Gray would come home from Los Angeles — where she was playing for the Sparks — and put up a few shots on the decaying hoop for old times sake. And when her dad finally got rid of it, it felt like the end of an era.

Because it was on that hoop that the Las Vegas Aces’ Point Gawd learned to pass.

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(Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Sitting between teammates A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, with a backwards hat and megawatt smile, takes in the scene. The three — and coach Becky Hammon’s son, Cayden — are answering questions after the Aces topped the Chicago Sky 93-83 in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game.

A reporter asks about Gray, who was named MVP of the game with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, and Plum scoots closer to the microphone. What she has to say is important, and she wants to make sure everyone hears.

“I want to, for the record, set it straight. She’s the best point guard in the world,” Plum says.

As she talks, Gray looks down at the table.

Threading passes and scoring in the clutch, that’s easy. But Gray is always one to let her play speak for itself, so she shifts in her seat as Plum continues: “She’s the clutchest player in the WNBA. Ask anyone, ask any GM, any coach, any player.

“And she got snubbed this year,” Plum said of Gray being left off the All-Star list.

This causes Gray to put her head in her hands and rub her eyes. She looks slightly uncomfortable, but never ungrateful, and as her teammate continues her speech, Gray’s mouth forms into a slight smile.

“She doesn’t get the love and credit she deserves, and I’m really, really glad people saw that tonight,” Plum said.

Gray admits that the All-Star snub in her second season with the Aces “made her feel some type of way,” and she’s had a chip on her shoulder ever since.

“I’m not always the one that is going to be super loud and yelling about what I’ve done, ” Gray said. “I let my work speak for itself, but it was really nice to have one of my teammates say what I don’t always say.”

Her resume backs up Plum’s statement as well.

While Gray was playing at Duke, her talent was so undeniable that even after missing part of her junior season and most of her senior season with a fractured kneecap, Connecticut still selected the point guard 11th overall in 2014.

After taking two seasons to settle in, first with the Sun and then with L.A. after a 2016 trade, Gray blossomed. In 2017, she started for the Sparks and averaged 14.8 points and 4.4 assists per game. Since then, she’s started every game she’s appeared in and seen her assists average rise to 6.1 with Las Vegas this season.

Gray’s been an All-Star four times and All-WNBA twice. She’s won a Spanish League championship, a Turkish League championship, a WNBA title and a gold medal with Team USA in 2020.

She’s had success in every way possible, picking up the nickname “Point Gawd” along the way.

Any team that wants to win wants Chelsea Gray. It’s why the Aces went after her so vehemently when she was a free agent in 2021, and why Joanne P. McCallie traveled from Durham, N.C. to Stockton, Calif. to recruit her, even bringing her 10-year-old son, Jack, along to watch Gray.

Now, Jack is older than Gray was at the time, but he remembers the first time he saw her play.

“She even threw a behind-the-back pass in that game,” he says. “I was like, “Wow, she is so good.’ And I was really excited for her to come to Duke.”

When she arrived on campus, Gray was everything Jack hoped for. He loved watching her artistry on the court and how sometimes she celebrated a big shot by sticking out her tongue. He also loved how she treated him.

Gray made it a priority to talk to Jack every time she saw him. It made him feel cool, like he belonged. Gray even went to his first middle school basketball game.

The gym, she says, was tiny and she could barely sit down. But that didn’t matter much, since Gray spent most of the time standing up to cheer for No. 12, the same number she wore.

Coach McCallie still remembers Jack doing a project in fifth grade where he was tasked with writing about his hero. Other kids picked their parents, NBA players or famous figures from history. He picked Chelsea Gray.

“He’s still a fan of hers today,” McCallie said. “He’s older, of course, but that hasn’t changed.”

His mom is also a fan. Coach McCallie knew from that first recruiting trip to St. Mary’s High School that Gray was special. She was struck by the point guard’s natural affinity for basketball, her obsessive desire to get better, and the way she saw the game.

When Gray got hurt during her junior year, it was crushing for McCallie and the Blue Devils. But without her star guard on the floor, McCallie did the next best thing: She made her a coach.

Gray sat on the first chair on the bench, right next to her coach. And when McCallie drew up plays in the huddle, Gray was there to contribute her thoughts. Even when she couldn’t play, Gray found a way to help her team.

“She has this incredible vision,” McCallie said. “She sees things developing way ahead of everyone else. And she’s got this ability to elevate everyone around her.”

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Gray won two ACC tournament championships and three ACC regular season titles as the Blue Devils' point guard. (Lance King/Getty Images)

McCallie can see Gray coaching someday, when her playing career is over. But for the time being, Gray is a coach on the floor, like all great point guards. And just like her son, McCallie remains an avid supporter.

McCallie, who is now an author, could fill a book with her plaudits of Gray. But she doesn’t have to. One sentence sums it all up.

“She’s a better passer than Magic Johnson,” McCallie says without hesitation.

Watch any highlight reel of Gray, and you’ll see her awe-inspiring passes. Play with Gray, and you’ll be the recipient of them. Just make sure you’ve got your hands up.

Alle Moreno, who was Gray’s teammate in high school and now coaches at their alma mater, says the team had a running joke when it came to their point guard.

“She’s got that famous no-look pass that she can throw on a dime, 92 feet,” Moreno said. “And we used to joke that if she was looking at you, she’s probably not gonna pass to you. And if she’s not looking at you, then you better be ready.”

***

No one knows Gray’s game better than her wife, Tipesa Gray.

She’s been there every step of Chelsea’s WNBA career, and as a former basketball player herself — then Tipesa Moorer, she spent four years at Long Beach State — Tipesa can almost see the game through Chelsea’s eyes.

Almost.

Even after about a decade of watching her wife play,​​ Tipesa is still caught off guard from time to time.

“There are times where she will do something and I’m like, ‘What the f—?’” Tipesa said with a laugh. “And we will talk about it after the game and she will be like, ‘I saw your face, and you didn’t know where that one was going.’”

The two met through a mutual friend when Tipesa was at Long Beach State and Chelsea was at Duke. Chelsea was never one to dominate conversation, and at first she can seem shy, even mysterious. But there was something about her, an energy, that made an impression.

“She’s reserved, but she stands out,” Tipesa said. “She has this swagger about her. She’s just really cool.”

Chelsea has no reservations when it comes to those she loves. People always ask Tipesa about the sacrifices she’s made to be with Chelsea — the constant travel, residing in different places, life being dictated by basketball. It’s almost comical for her because, as she says, there is no sacrifice.

Every decision gets Tipesa’s stamp of approval, and Chelsea asks for her opinion even before forming her own.

She always comes back to one simple, but significant question: “Are you happy?”

The answer to that question is one of the reasons the Grays ended up in Las Vegas.

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Gray spent five seasons with the Sparks, winning a WNBA championship in 2016. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

L.A. was seemingly the perfect spot for the two California girls, but after five years with the Sparks, Chelsea wanted to see what else was out there. The Aces, aside from their roster of talent, were attractive to her because of the closeness to family. The two can hop in a car and be in Long Beach in three and a half hours to visit Tipesa’s relatives.

It was also the best move for Chelsea’s future. She wanted a team that could be successful for years to come, and she saw that with the Aces.

That doesn’t mean the decision came easily.

“She is fiercely loyal,” Tipesa said. “Sometimes, to a fault. So to see her come here to Vegas and for the city, and the team and the organization to embrace her, that has been really great.”

In her first season with the Aces, Chelsea says she was still figuring everything out (though 11.1 points and 5.9 assists per game say otherwise). This year, she’s fully integrated herself with the team.

“I feel comfortable,” she says. “I feel a closeness, a love and a will to make each other better and a want to win for the next person.”

Surrounded by scorers like Plum, Wilson and Jackie Young, the Aces are a perfect team for someone who loves to pass. Gray’s assists are at an all-time high this year (6.1 per game), and she’s making her acrobatic, needle-threading passes look easier than ever.

At her core, Chelsea is a pass-first point guard. The kind of guard that Tipesa says would rather have 20 assists in a game than 20 points.

“That used to get me in trouble sometimes because turnovers would happen when it was actually the best option for me to shoot the ball,” Chelsea says of her younger years.

They don’t anymore, as her assist-to-turnover ratio is nearly 3:1.

And as the Aces approached the postseason, their point guard reached another level, averaging 20.6 points over the last six games of the regular season and 22 points in the first-round series win over Phoenix. Gray helped guide Las Vegas to the semifinals, where the squad will take on the No. 4 Seattle Storm in the best-of-five series starting Sunday.

“She always rose at the most difficult times,” McCallie said. “She’s got that game-winning mentality. She plays her best basketball when her team needs it most.”

***

If Chelsea’s not in the gym, she can usually be found in the kitchen. Cooking is a passion, and also one of her many talents.

“Chelsea is one of those annoying people who is strangely good at everything,” Tipesa says with a laugh.

She’s good at pool, ping-pong and even juggling (“I can only do three balls, though,” Chelsea says. “I can’t do five”).

She can draw, write and even freestyle rap.

And Chelsea likes all of those things, but she loves to cook.

“That’s like my sanctuary, my happy place,” she says.

Her favorite meals to make are tacos and stuffed bell peppers. Other times, she makes ground turkey teriyaki meatballs, with sweet potatoes on the side — Tipesa’s request — or goes for a classic meal like spaghetti.

Tipesa serves as the sous chef, chopping veggies and collecting ingredients from the cupboards, but Chelsea is always the head chef, running the show just like she does on a basketball court.

And when the Grays have guests, that’s when Chelsea’s cooking really shines. To her, it’s not just a meal; it’s her love language.

“She cooks for other people,” Tipesa said. “It brings her a lot of joy.”

It’s in those seemingly mundane moments that Chelsea’s altruism becomes apparent. Being a professional basketball player means missing out on a lot of those instances, so when she can, Chelsea embraces the small things.

Like taking her nephews to the park, freestyling with her brothers or sitting down for a game night with Tipesa in the evenings – anything from Rummy and Spades to Battleship or Operation.

On game days, Chelsea is in charge of the music in the Aces’ locker room. When she’s driving to Michelob Ultra Arena, Chelsea sings along to Bay Area artists, always supporting a homegrown product. But her teammates’ tastes don’t always align with hers, so she makes sure to play what they like once she arrives. The pregame playlist has a little bit of everything: City Girls, Lil Baby, “everything on the map,” Chelsea says.

Anything to get her team ready.

And so far, they have been.

The Aces earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with a 26-10 record and cruised by the Mercury in the first round, winning two games in a row, the first by 37 points and the second by 16. Gray has been instrumental to their success, and not just because of her pregame music selections.

“Chelsea is a gamer,” coach Becky Hammon said after the Commissioner’s Cup. “She’s a huge part of what we do. She’s an extension of the coach out there. Hell, I’m her assistant out there. I tell them all the time, ‘If Chelsea calls something or I call something, you listen to Chelsea.’”

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(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A week after Las Vegas clinched its playoff spot, the Aces went on the road to play the last-place Fever.

It was the kind of game to which the basketball world would pay little mind — the top team vs. a team on a 13-game losing streak. But Chelsea Gray found a way to make people interested.

With 42 seconds left in the first quarter, Gray lined up on the baseline to inbound the ball. As Jackie Young cut under the basket, Gray looked the other way and then flipped the ball behind her back for a highlight-reel type assist.

The moment blew up on Twitter, with virtually every basketball account posting the clip with the types of captions or emojis to convey just how unbelievable it was.

Unbelievable to most.

To McCallie, it was the perfect summation of Chelsea Gray.

The pass involved creativity, awareness, precision, intelligence — the list goes on — but Gray made it look like child’s play. When you get past the initial “wow” factor, the pass looks effortless.

“It was symbolic,” McCallie said. “To Chelsea, that is an easy pass to make, but that’s kind of the point. She makes the game look easy.”

And it made people take notice. The play was clipped all over the internet, just the latest Chelsea Gray pass in a season where her stardom is taking flight.

For Tipesa, it’s exciting to see her wife get the recognition she deserves. It’s overdue.

At her core, Gray is the same player she was when she got drafted. The same player she was at Duke. The same player she was at St. Mary’s High School.

The same player she was in her front yard, passing off a metal pole.

“She’s always been like this,” Tipesa said. “Like, welcome to the party.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

For the Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces Aces, Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup championship was an opportunity to secure bonuses for themselves and a donation for their selected charities. But for WNBA fans, it was a chance to see the two teams that are most likely to face off in the Finals play under heightened pressure.

Las Vegas came away with a 93-83 win, and Chelsea Gray secured the MVP trophy thanks to her 19 points, five assists and five rebounds.

Here’s what to take away from the contest, and what it means for the postseason:

Slow start dooms Sky

The last time the Sky played the Aces, they pulled off the biggest comeback in WNBA history, topping Las Vegas 104-95 after being down by 25 points. It was monumental, but not a deficit the Sky wanted to repeat. Going into Tuesday’s game, Candace Parker said the Sky were focused on playing a full 40 minutes. They didn’t do that.

The Aces opened Tuesday’s game on a 13-0 run. The Sky, despite outscoring Las Vegas in the remaining three periods, couldn’t make another comeback.

“We’ve faced adversity,” Parker said. “I’m not worried about our team when we face adversity. I’m worried about us getting into adversity. We’ve had some slow starts against this team and had to claw our way out. So I think it’s more so not facing adversity; I think we’re built for that. But it’s not getting ourselves into it.”

The Sky have started slowly in all three contests against Las Vegas, a pattern they will need to remedy for the postseason. The Aces are too talented to be given an advantage, and if Chicago didn’t allow them to put up 33 first-quarter points, it could have been a different game.

Stars show out for Aces, with Gray leading the way

A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum came ready to play on Tuesday, as reflected in their stat lines.

Wilson finished with 17 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks; Plum had 24 points on six 3-pointers and six assists; and Gray’s performance earned her the MVP trophy. When all three play at an elite level, it’s near impossible to stop the Aces. With Wilson dominating the paint, Gray driving and creating, and Plum knocking down 3-pointers, Las Vegas won at every spot on the court. Their well-rounded offense gave the Sky fits, and every time Chicago started a comeback, the Aces had an answer somewhere on the court.

As the point guard, Gray led the way. There’s a reason the Aces are always able to find the right spot on the court for a scoring opportunity. It’s because Gray knows where to direct the offense, how to find the right player, and what the Aces need at any given time.

“That’s the MVP tonight, but she has been leading our team the whole season,” Plum said. “I feel like, to be honest, she doesn’t get the love and credit she deserves, and I’m really, really glad that people saw that tonight.”

Defense makes difference

The Aces are known for their high-powered offense, leading the league with 90.4 points per game. But with all the hype surrounding their scoring abilities, it can be easy to forget that Las Vegas can defend.

Wilson led the way with her six blocks, making it difficult for the Sky to get in the lane. The Sky scored 83 points, just a bit under their average of 85.6 a game, but the Aces kept them uncomfortable throughout the contest, holding them to 40 percent shooting from the field and just 20 percent from the 3-point line. Chicago couldn’t get in a rhythm, and that stopped them from completing the comeback.

“It’s a mindset,” Wilson said. “It’s a heart decision. Defense doesn’t take a lot. You don’t have to be necessarily talented to play defense. You just have to want it.”

That type of intensity is something Wilson wants to see from her squad the rest of the season, a trend that would bode well for their WNBA title chances.

“I was telling KP, ‘This doesn’t have to be just a Commissioner’s Cup game,'” she said. “This could be an every-game thing for us. But it’s just a shift of the mindset.”

Vandersloot will be better

After sitting out four games for concussion protocol, Vandersloot made her return against the Aces, but she clearly wasn’t in top form. The point guard finished with eight points and four assists in 22 minutes of play.

The Sky managed to win three of four games in Vanderlsoot’s absence, but they need her on the court in the long run. She didn’t look like herself against the Aces, but expect that to change the next time the teams meet in the second-to-last regular season game on Aug. 11. Las Vegas can’t count on her underperforming due to injury again.

Consistency is key

Las Vegas and Chicago are the two top teams in the WNBA, so when they play, the winner will be the squad that does everything right. Chicago made too many mistakes on Tuesday, while the Aces remained consistent throughout the game. Playing at a high level for 40 minutes is an obvious key to victory, but these teams are talented enough to take a few minutes, even full quarters off, against other opponents and still pull off a victory.

Against the other top team in the league, that isn’t possible. The Aces proved that, with their dominant first quarter sealing the victory.

“Early on, I feel like we were very passive,” Parker said. “Credit to them — they came out and threw the first punch. But for us to get down 33-14 in the first quarter, I don’t know what it was, 14-0 or something, I don’t know, but that’s not the way we wanted to come out and play.”

Chicago outscored the Aces 69-60 the rest of the way, but Las Vegas’ steadiness won out.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Chelsea Gray led the Las Vegas Aces to a 93-83 win over the Chicago Sky in the Commissioner’s Cup final Tuesday.

The point guard earned MVP honors for the game after notching 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, and she also garnered high praise from her teammates.

“I just want to, for the record, set it straight: she’s the best point guard in the world,” said Kelsey Plum. “She’s the starting point guard on the Olympic team. She’s an All-Star. She’s the clutchest player in the WNBA. Ask anyone, ask any GM, head coach, player.

“She got snubbed this year and it just sucks because I felt like we deserved five All-Stars. I know that’s not easy, she’s a competitor. She leads our team and when we need plays down the stretch, Chelsea consistently makes big plays. At the end of the day, you can talk about the numbers, but she wins games. That, to me, should be the most important thing.

“She doesn’t get the love and credit she deserves and I’m really, really glad people saw that tonight.”

Gray took to Twitter afterward to thank Plum for her words, telling her she “got me emotional man.”

Plum had a night herself, going 3-for-3 from 3-point range to open the game as Las Vegas went on a 13-0 run. The All-Star had six 3-pointers in the first quarter, a Commissioner’s Cup final record, and went on to set another Commissioner’s Cup final record with 24 points and six assists.

Chelsea Gray is taking her talents to television, signing with ACC Network to serve as a college basketball analyst this season.

The four-time WNBA All-Star, WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist will appear weekly on ACCN’s “Ladies Night” coverage while also serving as an in-game analyst.

“We are delighted to welcome Chelsea to the ACCN family,” said coordinating producer Aaron Katzman. “As a WNBA champion, four-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist, Chelsea’s resume speaks for itself. We look forward to having her join Coach McGraw, Kelly Gramlich and Kelsey Riggs in studio each week to break down the best ACC women’s basketball has to offer.”

Gray averaged 11.2 points and 5.9 assists per game for the Las Vegas Aces this past season.

A former standout guard at Duke, Gray helped guide the Blue Devils to three ACC regular season titles and two ACC tournament championships. She finished her career ranked second on the program’s all-time career assists list and third on the all-time steals list.

Gray made her network debut on Tuesday as part of the “Nothin’ But Net: Women’s Season Preview” special.

Chelsea Gray was on the receiving end of some competitive words from Candace Parker ahead of the WNBA All-Star Game in July, with Parker telling media, “I’m going at Chelsea Gray.”

Gray stopped by the Tea with A & Phee podcast and relived the moment with Team USA and Las Vegas Aces teammate A’ja Wilson.

“She called me out like that’s my homie, that’s my dog — that competitive spirit, I appreciate that. I love that,” says Gray, “but I didn’t want to lose to her at all.”

When asked by Wilson if she’d take Parker one-on-one, Gray made it clear she’d go all out against her former Los Angeles Sparks teammate.

“I would try to score on her, the competitor in me would try to score.”

Both Wilson and Gray then reflected on Parker’s historic contribution to the game, with Wilson saying, “just seeing her on that [NBA] 2k cover was huge.”

“She definitely deserves her flowers. She’s killing it in basketball, killing it with TNT, she’s doing everything, a wonderful mother, so she’s killing it always, and I’m always proud of her,” says Gray.

Hear more about Gray’s Olympic journey, her decision to move to the Aces, and playing overseas on the latest episode of Tea with A & Phee.

Chelsea Gray isn’t just competitive on the basketball court — she’s also known to be a passionate gamer. The Team USA guard sat down with Las Vegas Aces teammate A’ja Wilson on Tea with A & Phee to relive their time at the 2020 Tokyo Games, which included plenty of board games.

“I was beating Draymond (Green) in dominos,” reveals Gray. “He thinks he’s the best of all time.”

Gray then reminisced on Wilson’s unique approach to UNO, conceding that her skills are “above average” but calling her strategy “sneaky.”

While the two admitted that the Olympics consisted of a lot of downtime, Tokyo wasn’t all fun and games.

“There was definitely pressure,” says Gray. “You don’t want to be that team that loses.”

Gray admits she tried to play it cool but tells Wilson that the lead-up to the competition was stressful.

“I just needed the first game and the ball to go up. After the first game, I was good, but leading up to it, I was like, ‘man, this is coming with some heavy shoulders.'”

Adding to the anticipation, Gray made history before ever taking the court, becoming the first Duke women’s basketball player to make an Olympic team.

“I didn’t know that,” says Gray, telling Wilson that she learned of the news during an interview and “got the chills right away.”

“My college career was cut a lot shorter than I wanted it to be so to be able to do that was super dope,” Gray says of representing Duke.

Coming home with a gold medal certainly made her alma mater proud, a feat that Gray says “no one can take away.”

Listen to more tales from Chelsea Gray and A’ja Wilson’s Olympic journey on Tea with A & Phee podcast.

Sunday’s game between the Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces was everything fans hoped it would be.

The highly anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the league came down to the wire, with the Aces able to squeeze out the 95-92 win in overtime.

Chelsea Gray came up clutch for Las Vegas down the stretch, draining a jumper to put the Aces ahead with 10 seconds left on the clock. The veteran guard finished the game with 21 points and seven assists on 61.5 percent shooting from the field.

A’ja Wilson led the Aces in scoring, recording a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Las Vegas was able to hold off the Storm despite Breanna Stewart dropping 35 points and 11 rebounds. The Aces forced 16 Seattle turnovers.

Sunday night’s game was the final regular-season matchup between the two teams, with the Aces winning the in-season series 2-1. The game could very well have served as a WNBA Finals preview, one year after the Storm swept the Aces to win the 2020 championship.

The production of the 2020 WNBA draft made it clear that the stage belonged to Sabrina Ionescu, as a stream of feature videos and pre-prepared Ionescu-to-the-Liberty content followed New York’s selection of the Oregon star. It almost felt like the actual draft only began after Ionescu was picked first overall — when the prospect of uncertainty was introduced for the first time.

That is why it may have come as a surprise when WNBA legends, and UConn teammates for two years, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi openly debated who from this year’s draft class would have the best career in a wide-ranging discussion on Instagram Live.

In addition to all their other credentials, like Ionescu, both were drafted first overall when they entered the league. So when they hopped on Instagram to deliver hot takes, people listened.

Bird said her top two were Chennedy Carter, drafted fourth overall to the Atlanta Dream, and Satou Sabally, Ionescu’s Oregon teammate taken second by the Dallas Wings. Taurasi chose Ionescu.

“Sabrina did all the things in college that you and me did,” Taurasi said.

The Los Angeles Sparks’ Chelsea Gray, however, would tend to side with Taurasi. The Duke product came into the league as the 11th overall pick, having to spend time in a role off the bench until breaking out in 2017 with her first of three consecutive All-Star appearances.

Put three guards in a room and there won’t likely be much agreement on anything. That both Gray and Taurasi came away from the draft thinking Ionescu was the best in the class speaks volumes.

“I look at her game from a point guard’s perspective, and to achieve triple-doubles the way she does? That’s not an easy thing to do,” Gray told Just Women’s Sports. “You have to fight for rebounds and go take them from post players. That’s hard. And you have to rely on your teammates to make shots for you to get assists.”

“You can control your points, but sometimes you have an off day,” Gray added. “What she was able to do is so difficult, you really have to appreciate the way she plays the game.”

Ionescu finished her Oregon career with an NCAA-record 26 career triple-doubles. In the WNBA, the feat has historically been much more difficult to accomplish, with only nine ever recorded in the league’s 23 seasons.

While acknowledging that the WNBA is a different level from the college game, especially considering the adjustments that come with playing against teams with in-depth scouting, Gray is betting on Ionescu.

“I think she’s capable of succeeding at the highest level.”

To her credit, Ionescu had phenomenal games even against schools and coaches known for their scouting. Hall of Fame head coach at Stanford Tara VanDerveer saw Ionescu quite a bit and always struggled to contain her.

Ionescu is coming into a difficult environment in New York. The franchise had the opportunity to draft her first overall by virtue of a 10-24 record last year. It will be a challenge to find success immediately.

For comparison, Bird was drafted by a Seattle Storm team that went 10-22 the year prior and won her first championship in year three. When the Phoenix Mercury took Taurasi in 2004, it was coming off an 8-26 record in 2003. In season four, the Mercury and Taurasi each had their first championship.

So, whatever the case, it would be fair to allow Ionescu time to acclimate in the league. Then again, she joined an Oregon team that had not made a tournament appearance since 2005, had not won a Pac-12 regular season title since 2000, and had never advanced past the first week of March Madness. But in just her freshman season the Ducks made the first of three consecutive trips to the Elite Eight. By the end of her sophomore season, they had won the Pac-12. And during Ionescu’s junior year, Oregon was a Final Four team for the first time in school history. In her senior year, Matthew Knight Arena was consistently selling out and Oregon was the talk of national media.

It’s that kind of transformative potential that Gray was referring to when she said Ionescu is a great player.

“She’s done something very special at the University of Oregon,” Gray said. “She’s lifted up every single athlete that she’s played with and made that university a household name. That’s something that you really appreciate.”

Now, the challenge for Ionescu is to not just live up to but somehow try and exceed the lofty expectations surrounding her professional career. Ever since the Liberty faced the Sparks in Los Angeles for the league’s inaugural game, the two franchises have played in front of some of the league’s largest media markets. But the Sparks have won three titles. The Liberty? Zero.

Gray, after four seasons in Southern California, offered Ionescu some advice on how to navigate the heightened scrutiny.

“I don’t want her to put so much pressure on herself because she’s such a big name already,” said Gray, who like Ionescu, went to high school in the East Bay. “She’s still going to be a rookie. I hope and I think she’s going to be great, but I just want her to play as freely as she did at Oregon, because all of these fans, and the fame… it puts a lot of weight on people.”

“I hope she doesn’t have that,” Gray added. “I hope she’s able to play free, play the game, and get triple-doubles. I hope she achieves at the highest level until she plays the Sparks. Then she can have a bad day.”