Kelsey Plum gets it.
Ideally, the management of her new team will get it as well.
Plum, 30, is a former No. 1 draft pick, a three-time All-Star, a two-time WNBA champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist (in 3-on-3 competition in 2021 in Tokyo and with the full U.S. women’s team in 2024 in Paris), and the former NCAA career scoring leader before Caitlin Clark came along. Her sign-and-trade agreement was an integral part of the three-way deal that sent her from the Las Vegas Aces to the Sparks, a deal that became official Feb. 1.
And maybe it’s because she grew up in Poway before becoming a star at the University of Washington, and thus has more than surface knowledge of Southern California. But with one sentence – one phrase, actually, during a WNBA Media Day Zoom session on Monday – she showed that she understands. Expectations in this city, especially with the heritage of one of the league’s legacy franchises, are as demanding as they should be.
“You know it’s a process, and it takes time,” she said. “But we also understand that this is L.A., and it’s a big opportunity. And let’s be real: There’s a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) next year, so the impact that we need to make this year is extremely important.
“Time is of the essence, and we know that.”
It is certainly about winning, for a franchise that has won three titles in the league’s 20-year existence, the last in 2016, but hasn’t had made the playoffs or had a winning record since 2020 in the WNBA’s COVID bubble, and hasn’t reached the Finals since 2017.
But that’s only the half of it, and maybe not even what Plum was specifically referring to with that statement. As other WNBA franchises – such as the one Plum just left – have opened dedicated training facilities and otherwise made steps to truly professionalize their environments, the Sparks still seem to lag behind in the off-the-court amenities that, among other things, can get the attention of free agents.
You don’t get everything at once, of course. And from what Plum revealed when I asked about her effusive praise of the organization when she first got here, she seems to have received assurances that good things might be on the horizon.
“I would say everything starts and ends with vision,” she said. “You operate out of a vision. And what really drew me was the vision of what Coach (Lynne Roberts) sees for this franchise but also what management and ownership sees for this franchise.
“They understand the previous success in championships, but it’s been a while. It’s been almost 10 years. You know, in life you got to adapt and continue to grow and get better. And so I understand that there’s been a lull here, and … everyone’s aware of that.”
Plum added: “For me the visions have aligned, and I understand that I’m here to not only build culture but affect winning, and I think they (management) are on the same trajectory as that.”
For now, the team that led a nomadic existence in terms of practice facilities the past several seasons seems to have settled into a gym tucked away somewhere in the South Bay. It’s a start, anyway.
The off-the-court infrastructure ultimately has an impact on not only winning but building something sustainable. Considering that the club’s ownership group is made up of many of the same faces that make up the Dodgers’ ownership group – Mark Walter, Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, Todd Boehly and Bobby Patton – as well as Eric Holoman, president and CEO of EquiTrust Life Insurance, you’ve got to think or at least hope that they get it as well.
But in the end it’s players and coaches who get it done. And as the popularity of women’s sports in general and the WNBA in particular surges, this big market franchise can’t afford to be left behind. Plum is a big part of immediately changing that momentum on the court, both with her skills and her leadership.
“If you look up professionalism, I feel like her picture’s in there,” said forward Dearica Hamby, who was Plum’s teammate in Las Vegas and is now her teammate in Los Angeles.
“She just works and works and she’s committed to her growth. And obviously she can shoot the (bejabbers) out of the ball (a career 43.2% from the field and 39% from 3-point range). She can create her own offense, she can get downhill. And so yeah, we’re excited to have her, her leadership and obviously her ability to play basketball.”
Her leadership is by example, and new coach Lynne Roberts described one instance involving guard Sarah Ashlee Barker, the team’s first-round pick this spring from Alabama.
“Sarah Ashlee Barker wanted to work out with KP her first day,” Roberts related. “And KP looked like she was just warming up and Sarah Ashlee’s face was bright red … but she kept up. I mean, that’s just going to make everybody better when they see that this is what it looks like to be an elite All-Star at this level.”
But, Roberts continued, the leadership style that both Plum and Hamby exemplify is “not threatening or intimidating. They’re doing it in a way of empowering, and so for me as a coach it doesn’t get any better than that when your best players exemplify those things.”
Plum said her leadership style has changed, from being “a little bit more rah-rah” when she was younger to making “people feel like the best version of themselves. … People remember how you make them feel. So I just want everyone around me to feel empowered.”
But if there were a message she would send to her younger teammates, it would be this:
“I’ve learned from my time in the league that really your ability to impact winning is going to directly affect your individual success. … There’s a lot of people that can have empty statistics, but I’m really focused on how can I help this team win.
“I understand where we were last year and my goal is to significantly change that.”
If you’re a Sparks fan, isn’t that the message you want to hear – from management as well as from the star player?
jalexander@scng.com
