Every rookie gets their welcome to the pros moment sooner or later.
For Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron, the third overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, that moment occurred during Friday's game against the defending-champion New York Liberty at CareFirst Arena.
With 6:44 remaining in the third quarter, Liberty guard and three-time All-Star Sabrina Ionescu took a dribble handoff from teammate Jonquel Jones and, in a savvy scorer's move, kept Citron on her hip and drew the contact as she drained a floater in the paint.
Ionescu then proceeded to let Citron, who was whistled for a personal foul, know about what had just transpired. The Liberty star gave the Mystics rookie a pat on the rear as she headed to the free throw line, where she drained the foul shot.
A little love tap from Sabrina Ionescu to Sonia Citron 😂 Welcome to the W ROOK!
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 31, 2025
NYL-WAS | ION pic.twitter.com/YedTNY8kfE
The and-one basket and subsequent free throw represented three of Ionescu's game-high 26 points—and counting. As for Citron, the Mystics rookie has acquitted herself well in her careeer thus far, having entered Friday's game with averages of 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
More WNBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sabrina Ionescu Gave Mystics Rookie Her Welcome to the WNBA Moment .
