Kelsey Plum Answers Missing Million Dollar Question
One of the biggest trades that took place before the 2025 WNBA season was the Las Vegas Aces trading star guard Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Aces received Jewell Loyd from the Seattle Storm, while the Storm received the rights to the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft (which they used on Dominique Malonga), plus other 2025 and 2026 draft picks were exchanged.
Plum went on to have a very solid first season for Los Angeles, averaging 19.5 points per game and leading the Sparks to their best season since 2020. And since she was clear about wanting to stay in Los Angeles this season, she seemed like a lock to earn at least a million dollars after the new CBA was ratified.
On April 12, news broke that Plum and Los Angeles agreed to a one-year deal that was for $999,999.
Kelsey Plum Explains Reason for Leaving $1 Out of Sparks Contract
Many women's basketball fans found this contract hilarious, as it was clear that Plum wanted to leave that one dollar out intentionally for some reason. And she explained her reasoning during an interview with Austin Franklin that was posted on May 1.
"I mean, first of all, taxes," Plum said when asked about her contract being $1 short of a million. "If you claim a million dollars, I saved $13,000 [in taxes] in not claiming a dollar.
"It's funny, everywhere I go now, people are like, 'Hey, can I give you a dollar?'" Plum continued. "I think it's great. They're tuned in, you know? But that was one [reason]. And the other thing was just like, I didn't want validation for signing for a million. It was like, I don't need to sign for a million to know my value as a player. It was a combination of that, but really more the taxes."
Stop offering Kelsey Plum $1 😂 pic.twitter.com/fmDrmGlAhd
— Austin Franklin (@austinfrankln) May 1, 2026
The reality is that Plum left more than just a dollar on the table, as she likely could've signed for something closer to the $1.4 million veteran supermax. But she seemingly wanted to give Los Angeles more cap space to sign other key players and hopefully turn the Sparks into a championship contender.
The jury is still out on whether the Sparks did enough to become one of the league's top teams in this 2026 season. Even if not, at least they saved a dollar with Plum's tax-saving strategy.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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