Sabrina Ionescu has admired James Harden's game since she was 11 — but she wouldn't call the superstar her NBA comp

• Sabrina Ionescu filmed her latest Bodyarmor ad alongside NBA superstar James Harden.
• The New York Liberty point guard admires his game and told Insider it was "surreal" to share a court.

Sabrina Ionescu has been considered a superstar ever since she dominated college basketball with the Oregon Ducks.

But the New York Liberty point guard says it's still "really surreal" to find herself grouped in with some of the most famous athletes on the planet.

Ionescu was part of the megawatt lineup in Bodyarmor's latest "One More" campaign, which featured Alex Morgan, James Harden, Naomi Osaka, Mookie Betts, Dustin Johnson, Baker Mayfield, and other big names of the sports world.

For the young WNBA star, who filmed her spot alongside Harden, teaming up with the NBA great was monumental.

"To be honest, when I first heard I was going to be in the piece with James Harden, it's kind of still surreal," Ionescu told Insider. "And then you get on set, and you're alongside one of the greatest basketball players and alongside other great athletes that are featured in it as well."

"It's always really surreal, and I think that just speaks to Bodyarmor, about who they have in commercials and how they value us," she added. "And obviously not only as figures in our sports, but outside as well."

Ionescu and Harden weren't exactly strangers when they met on the set. Because of Harden's two-year stint with the Brooklyn Nets, Ionescu had crossed paths with the 2018 NBA MVP. Alibaba executive Joe Tsai owns both the Nets and the Liberty, so the players share resources like practice facilities and their home arena: Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

Though Harden has since gone to the Philadelphia 76ers, the 10-time NBA All-Star was still on Brooklyn's roster at the time of the Bodyarmor shoot. That commonality helped contribute to the WNBA rising star's "really great experience" at the shoot.

"I knew [Harden] a little bit from before the campaign, but then getting on a commercial shoot with him was really fun," Ionescu said. "He was passing to me, I was passing to him, and it was just cool to be involved in — particularly on the basketball court. We played some games and shot around."

"Being able to do that as both representing Bodyarmor and then also playing for New York was really cool," she added.

Ionescu has admired Harden's game from afar for years; the elite scorer has been in the league since Ionescu was 11 years old. But she stopped short of calling him her NBA comp.

She sees at least one major difference between their styles of play.

"He goes one-on-one a lot more than I do," Ionescu said with a laugh. "That's something that I'm still working on. But just as a basketball player in general, I definitely watch a little bit of his game and how he's able to score and get to the free throw line. Those are two categories that I've always watched him do at a very high level for all the years he's been in the league."

Ionescu is set to embark on her third season in New York — though her first was cut short by an ankle injury. She's excited "to play New York in front of fans and family and just be healthy," as the Liberty look to improve upon last year's results with a new coach and some new players.

And who knows? Maybe we'll see some of the flashy passes showcased in her Bodyarmor "One More" spot throughout her WNBA season, which tips off Saturday, May 7 in Brooklyn against 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones and her loaded Connecticut Sun squad.

Check out an early look at Ionescu's deft dimes — and several other superstar athletes showing their stuff — in the the ad below: