Sparks' Kelsey Plum to Face Wild Gameplan From Aces' Coach
Los Angeles Sparks' star guard Kelsey Plum poured in 27 points, four steals and five assists on 4-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc against the Atlanta Dream last Tuesday night.
Despite a loss, Plum capped the career night by tying Allie Quigley for 18th in WNBA history in made triples and reaching 3,500-plus career points. A quartet of steals marked her seventh career four-plus steal performance — and her third since May 16.
Read more: Sparks' Kelsey Plum Climbs WNBA Record Books in Loss to Dream
Just 48 hours prior, the two-time WNBA Champion logged 28 points and eight assists in Los Angeles' win over the Chicago Sky last Sunday.
The red-hot stretch has cemented Plum as one of the best players in the league to open 2025.
Through six games, she's averaging 25.2 points and 5.5 assists — all while ranking first in the WNBA in triples made (3.8) and steals (2.7) per game.
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The Las Vegas Aces' decision to move the star guard to the Sparks via a blockbuster three-team trade in late January sent shockwaves through the WNBA world.
Plum averaged 17.8 points per game in an Aces uniform last season — the second-most on the team behind 6-foot-4 center A'ja Wilson — and helped Las Vegas to two WNBA titles and three 26-plus win seasons during her seven-year stay.
Read more: Sparks' Rickea Jackson Reveals Close Relationship With WNBA Player
Now, for the first time since the trade, Plum returns to Las Vegas' Michelob ULTRA Arena on Friday night, this time going against her former team.
Aces' coach Becky Hammon discussed Las Vegas' special, "non-personal" strategy in planning to guard Plum.
It was preceded by a defense-heavy practice that lasted 45 minutes longer than expected, via an interview in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday.
“Plum requires special defense ... She’s just too elite of a player to just let her just do whatever she wants," Hammon told the Review-Journal. "A lot of [our former] players, we’ll just play them like any other opponent.
“[But Plum], because of how good she is, we’re gonna have to do things a little bit differently with her," Hammon added.
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"But it’s not personal. I would do a special thing for [Sabrina Ionescu]. I would try to do a special thing for Caitlin [Clark]. It just is what it is," she said."
The Aces' coach further discussed the emotional difficulty in going against Plum — praising the two-time WNBA Champion storied legacy in Las Vegas.
“Going against her, of course we want to win. But she’s gonna be great for them. She was great for us for a long time," Hammon said.
More Sparks news:
A'ja Wilson Speaks Out on Losing Kelsey Plum to Sparks
Sparks' Kelsey Plum Reacts to Georgia Amoore's ACL Injury
International Legend Reveals Reason For Rejoining LA
Sparks Waive Two Players Ahead of 2025 Season
Sparks’ Cameron Brink Revisits Feeling After Tearing ACL
For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Sparks, visit Los Angeles Sparks on SI.
Ben Geffner is an award-winning sports journalist and current student at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. A greater Los Angeles native now with countless years of extensive and dedicated experience — including beat reporting, writing, play-by-play broadcast, television anchoring, podcasting and video production — Ben remains eager to contribute as credentialed media covering the LA Sparks.
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