John Locher / AP
Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) shoots against Chicago Sky forward Emma Meesseman (33) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Tuesday, June 21, 2022, in Las Vegas.
Thursday, July 7, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Kelsey Plum has never had more fun playing basketball, and it’s not just because the fifth-year WNBA veteran has seen an uptick in minutes this season with the Las Vegas Aces.
All-Star Game
The WNBA All-Star Game will be played at 11 a.m. July 10 at Chicago's Wintrust Arena. It will be broadcast on ABC
She’s averaging 36 minutes per game, compared with 25 a year ago. But mostly, the 27-year-old guard is enjoying this season because, she says, she has adjusted her motivation.
“I think that validation, I used to look for it,” Plum said on a Zoom call after leading the Aces to a 79-73 victory against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 27. “And that’s why it wasn’t as fun.”
Looking at Plum’s résumé, one wouldn’t think she’d require outside validation. She’s a former No. 1 overall draft pick (2017), a position she secured by breaking the NCAA record for most points in a single season (1,109) during her senior year at the University of Washington.
It took five seasons—and maybe one coaching change—for Plum to find her game fully in the pros. She has done it during the first half of this season, leading the Aces with 20.7 points per game through 18 games while helping Las Vegas to a league-best 14-4 record.
Plum will join teammates A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young in the starting lineup for the WNBA All-Star Game, set for July 10 in Chicago.
“Being an All-Star, it’s great to be recognized, but we’ve got people on our team who are All-Stars because we’re winning,” Plum said. “For me, I feel like that’s the biggest emphasis, to be playing your best basketball when it matters.”
When Becky Hammon replaced Bill Laimbeer as Aces coach going into this season, Plum was one of the first players she called. The guard let Hammon know that she was ready to take the next step and become another star on the Aces’ roster.
After missing the entire 2020 season with a torn Achilles, Plum returned strong in 2021, averaging 14.8 points and 5.7 assists per game to win the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year Award.
The trajectory continued upward in the playoffs, when Plum led the Aces in scoring with nearly 20 points per game before they were eliminated by the Phoenix Mercury in the semifinals.
After so much production, Plum hoped Hammon would tell her that she planned to use her as a starter immediately. “I told her I’m not going to promise her that,” Hammon said.
Hammon wanted Plum to prove she deserved the promotion. That didn’t take long. “First day of training camp, it was obvious she wasn’t lying. It was just easy [for her],” Hammon said. “She shredded our training camp.”
Plum has fit well with Hammon, who comes from the coaching tree of legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and emphasizes similar philosophies. Like Popovich, Hammon stresses the importance of passing and has perhaps helped Plum unlock a new level in that area.
Plum ranks second on the team with 5.7 assists per game—behind only Chelsea Gray, who averages six. Setting up teammates has been the biggest part of Plum’s growth, according to Hammon, and a wrinkle that has made her tough to guard.
“She’s starting to understand that the pass can be a valuable tool to her offensive game,” Hammon said. “She’s playing the right way, and when she does that, you’re going to see her shooting numbers continue to stay at that 50% clip like they were [against the Sparks], because you can’t take it all away from her.”
Plum has embraced that vision. “It wasn’t that I wasn’t a willing passer [before this season]; I just don’t think I saw the lanes,” she explained. “The best teams that win championships are usually [ranked] one-two in assists in the league. That’s something we’ve got to continue doing—share the ball.”
The Aces still need to improve to reach that bar. Las Vegas sits around the league average with 20.1 assists per game; the defending champion Chicago Sky lead the WNBA at 24 per game.
The low point of the Aces’ season’s first half came when they blew a 28-point lead in a 104-95 home loss to the Sky on June 21. Plum had just two assists that game, but Hammon didn’t blame her lack of playmaking for the loss.
The coach said the players just didn’t make enough shots, uncommon for the Aces this year. They lead the league in scoring, with Wilson emerging as a favorite to win her second MVP award in three years.
But Wilson wouldn’t be having such a great year if it weren’t for Plum’s emergence. “I know she had a tough couple of years,” Wilson said, “but it’s starting to finally click for her, and I love that for her.”
The Aces’ only back-to-back losses of the season came when they followed the Sky collapse with an 87-86 overtime loss to the Washington Mystics. Plum accepted the brunt of the blame despite contributing 20 points and six steals against the Mystics.
That sort of accountability has allowed Plum to thrive in her new role on a team that’s favored to win the championship.
Plum’s first All-Star Game appearance will be a nice reward, but she no longer requires outside recognition to know she’s doing things right.
“I’m going to continue to get better,” Plum said. “I’m not proving a damn thing to anyone but myself.”
This story originally appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
