Los Angeles (AP) – Kelsey Plum Accustomed to attend the Los Angeles Sparks matches when he was a child, his mother leading them from the San Diego region. Now she joined the franchise in a meeting with her former Las Vegas Aces teammate from Dearica Hamby.
“I would say that I am still this child. It’s a full circle moment. I feel so grateful, ”said Plum at Cypto.com Arena.
The 30 -year -old leader was presented on Wednesday, shortly after the Sparks announced the signing of the Mercedes Russell center, which like Plum is a double WNBA champion.
Plum was part of a three -team job last month which sent Jewell Loyd to the AS, while the sparks gave the storm of Seattle the choice n ° 2 of the draft and Li Yueru. Los Angeles also received the choice n ° 9 while the AS obtained the 13th choice in the draft.
“We had to improve our rear area. It was a clear off -season objective on our part, “said Sparks general manager Raegan Pebley. “We continued to feel that all the roads led to Kelsey.”
Plum felt a similar traction.
“My boyfriend gave me a pile of candles for different cities for Christmas. I put them in a way in different rooms of the house, ”she said. “I looked more than a day and was sitting it right next to my bed, like the candle of Los Angeles. I said to myself: “It is not a coincidence.” It’s just funny for me because it was on my mind for a while. I look back now and it is perfectly logical.
The Sparks won league titles in 2001, 2002 and 2016, but missed the playoffs for four consecutive years. Another of their off -season movements was Hiring of coach Lynne Roberts From the ranks of the college to Utah.
Roberts has his own painful memory of coaching against Plum, who played Washington.
“We are driving on the bus for the match and someone from our staff said:” Oh guy, Plum needs 53 to break the record of all time in university basketball “, said Roberts. “I said to myself:” She doesn’t get 53. And she didn’t do it. She has 57. “
It was on February 25, 2017, when Plum set the PAC-12 rating record in a single match and became the leader of the career of women in NCAA division I. It was exceeded by Iowa Clark Caitlin Last year.
“We knew we needed a head guard who can absolutely play and mark. He is a competitor at heart and that’s what we need, “said Roberts. “I want our team to come back in their place.”
Hamby was on site to welcome Plum. They helped the ACS winning consecutive WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023.
“We have always had a great connection,” said Plum. “Me and she playing together, it’s just a different level of rhythm, so I’m super excited to come back.”
In 2022, Plum won for the first time the first honors of the All-WBA team and was MVP of the stars match. She also won gold medals in 3X3 basketball at the Tokyo Olympic Games and in 5×5 at the Paris Olympic Games from last year.
“It does not concern splendor and glam,” said Pebley. “It concerns work and stands for a standard of responsibility that really influences and inspires everyone to do the same. We knew that we needed someone like that, not only in our rear zone but in our changing rooms, in our city.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-mazing
