2 weeks ago
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Kendra AndrewsMay 17, 2025, 02:25 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- As 18,064 fans clad successful violet shirts filled Chase Center, making the Golden State Valkyries' play opener the second-highest-attended location debut successful WNBA history, Kelsey Plum made a spot of past of her ain successful her archetypal crippled successful a Los Angeles Sparks uniform.
Plum scored 37 points, the astir by a Sparks subordinate successful their debut and the astir by immoderate WNBA subordinate successful a play opener. Her six assists and 5 steals besides made her the archetypal WNBA subordinate with a crippled of astatine slightest 35 points, 5 assists and 5 steals.
"The mentality for maine contiguous was truly conscionable travel retired and person fun," said Plum, who changeable 11-of-19 from the tract and 11-of-11 from the escaped propulsion line. "I emotion basketball. I emotion to play basketball. Just compete, and we person a large group."
For overmuch of her career, Plum has played alongside all-time violative producers, specified arsenic three-time MVP A'ja Wilson during her six-season stint with the Las Vegas Aces. But erstwhile Plum arrived successful Los Angeles implicit the offseason, she instantly became the team's No. 1 option.
The Sparks hoped she would assistance revive a stagnant discourtesy that caused them truthful galore problems past season. They lacked capable and accordant scoring, arsenic good arsenic a level wide who could reliably deed targets down low, specified arsenic Dearica Hamby.
"I person spent a batch of clip learning, peculiarly from A'ja," Plum said. "Watching her prime her spots and conscionable being intentional astir erstwhile to beryllium aggressive, erstwhile not to beryllium aggressive. I don't deliberation I did a tremendous occupation balancing, but I'll proceed to get better."
Plum spent the offseason focusing connected her spot and conditioning successful the gym. She had the extremity of being capable to play a afloat 40 minutes with gait and enactment done interaction -- some of which she did Friday night.
"That is the Kelsey I americium utilized to," said Valkyries manager Natalie Nakase, who was an Aces adjunct manager from 2022-24. "She was capable to get downhill to her left, thing we talked astir ... but she's fearless. She wants to get into the paint. If not, she wants an and-1. If not, she's playing disconnected 2 feet, oregon she's getting to a step-back 3. That's the Kelsey that I know."
Los Angeles stormed retired of the 3rd 4th with a 20-8 run, fueled astir exclusively by 15 points from Plum to physique a 15-point lead. But 3 consecutive triples from the Valkyries' Julie Vanloo saw that pb evaporate to six points by the extremity of the quarter.
It was during that agelong that the Sparks' discourtesy was rushed and became "disheveled," Plum said, highlighting that there's country for growth.
"This is simply a caller discourtesy for everyone, truthful we've got to beryllium patient," Plum said. "We've inactive got to find our bushed with that. ... We're going to beryllium amended astatine our timing and positioning, getting open. Me getting the shot to station players connected clip and being businesslike with that. That volition get amended with time, but we've got a large radical of athletes."
The 4th fourth was acold little accelerated and furious, but saw L.A. dilatory instrumentality power done its defense, holding Golden State to conscionable 7 points.
"I'm incredibly arrogant of this team's quality to instrumentality a punch and not freak out," Sparks manager Lynne Roberts said. "Especially winning connected the road, you person to person that mentality. ... We answered the bell. That shows intelligence toughness."
Plum was 1 of 4 Sparks players to decorativeness successful double-figure scoring, alongside Hamby's 14, Rickea Jackson's 13 and Azura Stevens' 11.
