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Kelsey Plum's Absence Felt by Aces Early in WNBA Season

Kelsey Plum's standout performance for the Los Angeles Sparks stood in sharp contrast to a rough outing for the Las Vegas Aces.
Robin Lundberg|
May 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Sparks guard Kelsey Plum (10) reacts against the Golden State Valkyries in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
May 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Sparks guard Kelsey Plum (10) reacts against the Golden State Valkyries in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It was hard to watch Kelsey Plum light things up for the Los Angeles Sparks, while her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, struggled mightily in Jewell Loyd's first matchup with the Seattle Storm since the big offseason trade and not think about Plum's absence from the Aces lineup.

Though a one game sample size is hardly enough to draw any far reaching conclusions from, the contrast certainly stood out. Especially given the numbers Plum has put up across the board since debuting in LA and the heavy share of the workload A'ja Wilson has shouldered for the Aces to begin the 2025 campaign.

Plum put up 28 points and 8 assists in the Sparks win over the Chicago Sky, and is now averaging 24.8 points and 5.6 assists on the season, while shooting over 43% from beyond the arc. It's safe to say anyone capable of putting up such production is going to be missed.

Meanwhile, Wilson currently leads Las Vegas in all the major statistical categories, including assists. That is obviously impressive, but shows the reigning MVP is being relied upon in a major way, perhaps too much.

This is partly due to the overhaul of the Aces bench, as much of the personnel that formerly comprised the team's depth has left. But it'd be naive to believe the loss of a scorer, shooter, and creator of Plum's caliber wouldn't be felt. Even more so given her replacement, Loyd, is averaging only 12 points per contest on just 31.3% shooting thus far.

Of course, the parting between Plum and the Aces was amicable from all accounts. However, both parties moving on doesn't diminish her contributions to the team's championship runs.

And if early season returns are any indication, unlike the gesture she made after scoring on Angel Reese, the loss of Plum from the lineup certainly doesn't feel too small to not impact the Aces.

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Robin Lundberg
ROBIN LUNDBERG

Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his burgeoning YouTube show. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak on SI!

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