Basketball
LOS ANGELES — As Kelsey Plum entered her new basketball home, the cameras were already prepared to follow her every move. The Jumbotron in Crypto.com Arena showed her donning the Sparks Jersey, her name littered all over the building and as she approached the podium, and a hype video played in the background. The group of media members in attendance actually applauded as she was introduced (typically a faux pas in the journalism industry).
But that’s how big of a star Plum is already poised to be in Los Angeles, where her first day was a full showcase of the bubbly personality she brings along with her star power. She made jokes about the traffic, thanked the media for being in attendance and appeared shocked that her introductory press conference was worthy of being televised live.
“I’m so grateful to be here,” Plum said. “I’m just in awe.”
But despite her humility, Plum is worthy of the scrutiny. On day one, she enters this team as by far the most accomplished player on the roster. She has made the WNBA All-Star team the last three seasons, won two titles, was the Sixth Woman of the Year back in 2021, and helped Team USA win Olympic Gold this past summer in Paris.
The Sparks trading their No. 2 pick to acquire Plum is a clear indicator that they are in win-now mode despite having missed the playoffs the last four seasons.
“We needed to improve our backcourt,” Sparks general manager Raegan Pebley said.
This was a clear need for this team, as they have not had consistent play from that position since Chelsea Gray’s departure in 2020. It’s no coincidence that was also the last time the Sparks have been to the playoffs. The organization felt Plum could impact them in a similar way to her now-former Aces teammate, immediately vaulting them to competitiveness in a way no rookie guard can at the start of the upcoming WNBA season.
“The style of basketball that we want to play, and the standard of excellence that the L.A. Sparks is and will continue to be, we just kept feeling like all roads pointed to Kelsey,” Pebley said. “And we had zero hesitation in doing what it took to make sure Kelsey was sitting right here today.”
Now Plum will hold the keys to this Sparks offense, and she didn’t hold back regarding what having the ball in her hands could mean for this team.
“I’ve always been kind of shifted to the 2 guard because of my ability to shoot and play off the ball,” Plum said. “Which is great, but I also think in coach’s system, it’s a little bit more positionless and we’ll be able to see a lot more my ability to get people involved. I plan to be definitely top-five in assists this year and it’s because I get the opportunity to do it.”
Plum averaged 4.2 assists last season. To be in the top five in that category in the WNBA, she would have to jump up to 6.2 dimes per game. That is not a gargantuan task, but it is still a significant improvement.
How will she get there? Simple: feeding the ball to a frontcourt that she feels is on the rise.
“I think Cam [Cameron Brink] is a Defensive Player of the Year just waiting to brew,” Plum said. “Rickea [Jackson] is an All-Star. Rae Burrell’s tremendous talent and I think that she can be one of the best two-way guards in the league. So when you look at the versatility, everyone can shoot, they can play multiple positions, they can guard multiple positions and they’re all competitors.
“They want to win, they want to be better, they want to be great. That, to me, really stood out. In this league, your bigs will take you places. I mean if you look at championship teams down the line, usually your 3 [and] 4 are instrumental in making a run to a championship. Just looking at that, it’s the best frontcourt in the league and it’s not even close.”
The idea is for Plum to take this young core to that next level. She can be the connector to that turns potential into production and gets the Sparks out of the bottom of the WNBA standings and back into contention.
Plum might be in her early days as a Spark, but she’s already feeling a connection with this community.
“I just felt like an overwhelming sense of love, I feel like open arms. I was actually in the airport this morning and I was just getting some water and the guy was like, ‘Go Sparks!’ I feel that, so I’m excited about that because I really do feel like people have kind of already wrapped their arms around me. I haven’t even played a game yet. Just the welcoming of my teammates and coach and Raegan and ownership. I feel I feel very loved already.”
And that connection with L.A. extends beyond LAX employees and members of the Sparks. She even has connections with the late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who was known for being a huge advocate for the women’s game.
Kobe gave his flowers to the players making an impact every chance he had. This included Plum, whom he congratulated via Twitter after she broke the NCAA all-time scoring record as a Washington Huskie.
She reciprocated that love, calling him a “true goat.”
After the presser, Plum spoke exclusively with Breakaway about a moment she had with Kobe one-on-one years later.
“I got to meet Kobe,” Plum told Breakaway. “He actually took his daughter and their AAU team to Vegas to watch us play. This was years ago and I just remember meeting him and it was cool. He said that one of his players on his team is a lefty, and so he said, ‘I’ve been showing her your film.’ and that to me was like, dude, day made, life made.
“But I grew up watching Kobe with my dad at a pizza parlor and just really excited to be able to play here in this historic building. I still call it Staples. It’s just like how it’s sunken in my brain, but he’s one of my favorite players of all time and it just means a lot to be able to be here in LA.”
The Sparks have a player on their roster now that we know is Kobe-approved.
For someone who grew up in Poway, California — just two hours south of Los Angeles in San Diego County — it doesn’t get much cooler than knowing that your game was at a level that Kobe deemed good enough to show his players as an example of how to play basketball.
All of it makes this a full-circle moment for Plum. Now she’s playing in the area she lived in and will be able to create her own memories inside the building that Kobe built.
There will be kids in pizza parlors all over California wearing Plum jerseys, watching her usher in a new era of Sparks basketball. The remaining job for Plum to finish? Do what the greats like Kobe have done and raise a banner inside Crypto. The building’s name may have changed, but the standard remains the same: win titles, raise banners and leave a legacy.
Read More Edwin Garcia