Kelsey Plum Explains 'Bad Joke' Viral Team Caitlin Clark All-Star Dig
Perhaps the biggest moment to come from the 2025 WNBA season to this point arrived when every All-Star walked on to the Indiana Fever's Gainbridge Fieldhouse Arena court before the July 19 All-star Game wearing black shirts that read, "Pay Us What You Owe Us".
This was a clear message that the players were sending to the league amid the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations. Just one day earlier, the two sides met in Indianapolis and were still far apart in terms of coming up with a new CBA, which is meant to go into place for the 2026 season.
Kelsey Plum's Comments About Viral T-Shirts After WNBA All-Star Game
When speaking with the media after the All-Star Game ended, Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum was asked about what went into the production of these viral warmup shirts.
"The t-shirt, this united front, was determined this morning, that we had a meeting for. And not to tattletale, but zero members of Team Clark were very present for that," Plum said.
This comment (implying that the All-Star team that was captained by Caitlin Clark had nothing to do with the shirts' creation) from Plum raised a lot of eyebrows and has since received a lot of criticism, since this was a time when the players were trying to look united as the CB negotiations were underway.
KP: "It was a very powerful moment. As players, we didn't know that that was going to happen. It was a genuine surprise. The t shirt was determined this morning. Not to tattletale: 0 members of Team Clark were very present for that" https://t.co/2fXgaAuqMR pic.twitter.com/awIfnqLjxv
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) July 20, 2025
Kelsey Plum Opens Up About Viral Caitlin Clark All-Star T-Shirt Comment
Plum was the guest on an August 15 episode of Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird. Bird asked Plum about what she said at one point, allowing the Sparks star to set the record straight.
“Oh, I made a bad joke. I made a really bad joke. Tough one," Plum said.
She later added, "I should’ve known it was a way more serious moment than a typical All-Star game. Because I went into that press conference very like, happy-go-lucky, we won, had a great weekend... Questions came in, and it was like 'CBA, this, this, this, this! And honestly, Birdie, I was like, 'Hey, Team Clark, they didn't make it to the meeting either!' Just making a joke, trying to make the room lighter.
"I was making a joke that they’re hungover, even though our team nickname was 'Hungover,'" she added. "Obviously, we're all on the same page. We all wore the shirts, we're all unified. And I think I was more discouraged, because it took away from the moment of what we were all trying to do."
kelsey plum on her team clark comment at allstar:
— cc akgae (@clrkszn) August 15, 2025
“i made a bad joke—i should’ve known it was a way more serious moment than a typical allstar game—i was making a joke that they’re hungover even though [we were] team hangover. obviously we’re all on the same page, all unified.” pic.twitter.com/12jYZx35N2
Props to Plum for owning up to the mistake she made.
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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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