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INDIANAPOLIS – When the Los Angeles Sparks acquired Kelsey Plum in a sign-and-trade ahead of the start of the 2025 WNBA season, the prevailing thought was the team was accelerating their rebuild and shifting to more of a win-now mentality.
From the comments and quotes by new head coach Lynne Roberts as well as the players, a winning season with the goal of making the playoffs was what the organization was striving for.
But in the early months of the WNBA regular season, the Sparks struggled to find consistency, with Kelsey Plum often being hard on herself for her play especially during losses. Plum admitted that as a competitor, it’s been hard at times to be patient as the team adjusts to new personnel and a new system.
The glimpses were there as the Sparks often battled teams down the stretch of games, only to come up short and fail to close it out. But going back to the last couple of games right before the All-Star break, the Sparks had been playing much better, a trend that’s carried over into the second half of the season. During the All-Star break, Plum took some time to reflect on her growth as a player and leader during what hasn’t always been such a consistent season.
“The beginning of the season, I feel like I kind of swung really big, and then we had a bunch of injuries. I’m asked to play 40 minutes, guard the best player on the other end, try to generate 20 points of scoring, creating advantages on my own,” Plum said. “It’s very tough, it’s a lot of load. I wasn’t as efficient as I know I can be and want to be.”
“I think when you look at the last couple games, you’re like, wow, I’ve been really efficient. That’s who I am as a player. That’s kind of like my role where I’m supposed to be,” Plum continued. “So just continue to be patient with myself and know that we’re gonna be fine. But yeah, I’ve grown a lot. Definitely my patience has grown a lot.”
Going back to the last seven games for the Sparks, Plum has shot the ball very efficiently. She’s only dipped under 44 percent in one of those seven games. Perhaps not by coincidence, the Sparks are 6-1 during that stretch. Plum has averaged 23.5 points over that stretch and the Sparks are firmly in the mix for a playoff spot.
It’s not just Plum’s increased efficiency and effectiveness that’s helped the Sparks seemingly turn things around. The team finally has a healthy roster after multiple early injuries and absences contributed to a fluctuating rotation. Only Cameron Brink is currently sidelined, with her pending return seemingly on schedule for late this month.
Plum was encouraged by the team’s turnaround right before the All-Star break, and during the break she spoke on what the Sparks need to do to continue trending in the right direction as they try and snap four straight seasons of not making the playoffs.
“Coming back with that mindset, trying to have that rhythm of how it felt when we strung together a lot of really good possessions. And the thing is, throughout our season, I think we have 13 losses (14), probably like ten of them are really close games in terms of there’s maybe one point in the game where it broke open,” Plum said. “But we’ve been in battles with really good teams in this league. And I think for us, jut having an encouragement, like we’re right there.”
“And especially getting everyone healthy. Obviously Cam is coming back really soon, having Julie [Allemand] back from Eurobasket really helps me. Obviously getting Rickea back, getting in her rhythm, and then even Julie Vanloo I think is a good punch for us. Rae Burrell as well,” Plum continued. “So once we get our pieces together and we’re all able to go at once, I think that’s when you’re gonna start to see us continue to take off.”
