LOS ANGELES — As Kelsey Plum entered her new basketball dwelling, the cameras have been already ready to observe her each transfer. The Jumbotron in Crypto.com Enviornment confirmed her donning the Sparks Jersey, her identify littered everywhere in the constructing and as she approached the rostrum, and a hype video performed within the background. The group of media members in attendance really applauded as she was launched (usually a pretend pas within the journalism trade).
However that’s how large of a star Plum is already poised to be in Los Angeles, the place her first day was a full showcase of the bubbly character she brings alongside along with her star energy. She made jokes in regards to the visitors, thanked the media for being in attendance and appeared shocked that her introductory press convention was worthy of being televised dwell.
“I’m so grateful to be right here,” Plum stated. “I’m simply in awe.”
However regardless of her humility, Plum is worthy of the scrutiny. On day one, she enters this crew as by far probably the most achieved participant on the roster. She has made the WNBA All-Star crew the final three seasons, received two titles, was the Sixth Girl of the Yr again in 2021, and helped Group USA win Olympic Gold this previous summer season in Paris.
The Sparks buying and selling their No. 2 choose to accumulate Plum is a transparent indicator that they’re in win-now mode regardless of having missed the playoffs the final 4 seasons.
“We wanted to enhance our backcourt,” Sparks basic supervisor Raegan Pebley stated.
This was a transparent want for this crew, as they haven’t had constant play from that place since Chelsea Grey’s departure in 2020. It’s no coincidence that was additionally the final time the Sparks have been to the playoffs. The group felt Plum might impression them in the same method to her now-former Aces teammate, instantly vaulting them to competitiveness in a manner no rookie guard can in the beginning of the upcoming WNBA season.
“The type of basketball that we wish to play, and the usual of excellence that the L.A. Sparks is and can proceed to be, we simply saved feeling like all roads pointed to Kelsey,” Pebley stated. “And we had zero hesitation in doing what it took to ensure Kelsey was sitting proper right here immediately.”
Now Plum will maintain the keys to this Sparks offense, and he or she didn’t maintain again relating to what having the ball in her palms might imply for this crew.
“I’ve all the time been type of shifted to the two guard due to my capacity to shoot and play off the ball,” Plum stated. “Which is nice, however I additionally assume in coach’s system, it’s a bit of bit extra positionless and we’ll be capable to see much more my capacity to get folks concerned. I plan to be undoubtedly top-five in assists this yr and it’s as a result of I get the chance to do it.”
Plum averaged 4.2 assists final season. To be within the high 5 in that class within the WNBA, she must bounce as much as 6.2 dimes per sport. That’s not a gargantuan job, however it’s nonetheless a big enchancment.
How will she get there? Easy: feeding the ball to a frontcourt that she feels is on the rise.
“I believe Cam [Cameron Brink] is a Defensive Participant of the Yr simply ready to brew,” Plum stated. “Rickea [Jackson] is an All-Star. Rae Burrell’s super expertise and I believe that she could be top-of-the-line two-way guards within the league. So if you take a look at the flexibility, everybody can shoot, they’ll play a number of positions, they’ll guard a number of positions they usually’re all rivals.
“They wish to win, they wish to be higher, they wish to be nice. That, to me, actually stood out. On this league, your bigs will take you locations. I imply when you take a look at championship groups down the road, normally your 3 [and] 4 are instrumental in making a run to a championship. Simply taking a look at that, it’s the perfect frontcourt within the league and it’s not even shut.”
The thought is for Plum to take this younger core to that subsequent stage. She could be the connector to that turns potential into manufacturing and will get the Sparks out of the underside of the WNBA standings and again into rivalry.
Plum could be in her early days as a Spark, however she’s already feeling a reference to this neighborhood.
“I simply felt like an awesome sense of affection, I really feel like open arms. I used to be really within the airport this morning and I used to be simply getting some water and the man was like, ‘Go Sparks!’ I really feel that, so I’m enthusiastic about that as a result of I actually do really feel like folks have type of already wrapped their arms round me. I haven’t even performed a sport but. Simply the welcoming of my teammates and coach and Raegan and possession. I really feel I really feel very cherished already.”
And that reference to L.A. extends past LAX workers and members of the Sparks. She even has connections with the late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who was identified for being a large advocate for the ladies’s sport.
Kobe gave his flowers to the gamers making an impression each probability he had. This included Plum, whom he congratulated by way of Twitter after she broke the NCAA all-time scoring report as a Washington Huskie.
She reciprocated that love, calling him a “true goat.”
After the presser, Plum spoke solely with Breakaway a few second she had with Kobe one-on-one years later.
“I received to satisfy Kobe,” Plum informed Breakaway. “He really took his daughter and their AAU crew to Vegas to observe us play. This was years in the past and I simply bear in mind assembly him and it was cool. He stated that one among his gamers on his crew is a lefty, and so he stated, ‘I’ve been exhibiting her your movie.’ and that to me was like, dude, day made, life made.
“However I grew up watching Kobe with my dad at a pizza parlor and simply actually excited to have the ability to play right here on this historic constructing. I nonetheless name it Staples. It’s similar to the way it’s sunken in my mind, however he’s one among my favourite gamers of all time and it simply means lots to have the ability to be right here in LA.”
The Sparks have a participant on their roster now that we all know is Kobe-approved.
For somebody who grew up in Poway, California — simply two hours south of Los Angeles in San Diego County — it doesn’t get a lot cooler than figuring out that your sport was at a stage that Kobe deemed ok to point out his gamers for example of easy methods to play basketball.
All of it makes this a full-circle second for Plum. Now she’s taking part in within the space she lived in and can be capable to create her personal recollections contained in the constructing that Kobe constructed.
There might be children in pizza parlors throughout California carrying Plum jerseys, watching her usher in a brand new period of Sparks basketball. The remaining job for Plum to complete? Do what the greats like Kobe have completed and lift a banner inside Crypto. The constructing’s identify could have modified, however the usual stays the identical: win titles, elevate banners and go away a legacy.
