Why Kelsey Plum, who left a dynasty to build her own, believes this is the Sparks' year

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum moved to L.A. because she wanted to play a bigger role than she did on the Las Vegas Aces title-winning teams. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

In the week before the WNBA season, she’s no longer in the calm of the park but inside the controlled chaos of media day at El Camino College’s gym. Between photo shoots, she sits on a green room couch in a makeshift makeup area, the morning already filled with obligations: a news conference, cameras, questions about what comes next. Beside her earlier was Ariel Atkins, one of the veterans she helped bring to Los Angeles, a signal that this next chapter is meant to be different.

“Have you ever driven a really expensive car, but didn’t have good insurance?” Plum asked. “When you have great coverage, you can relax a little bit. That’s what it feels like now, there’s so many people paddling in the boat with me.”

That sense of shared momentum didn’t come immediately. Not long ago, there was doubt.

Read more: Kelsey Plum and Sparks leaders convinced top free agents they can win now

Until a few weeks ago, Plum wasn’t entirely sure she had made the right decision to join the Sparks. After being traded from the Aces in 2025, she knew she wanted more responsibility, more ownership and the chance to be the face of a team. But belief in a vision is one thing; living through the roughest stretches of the transformation is another.

The Sparks went 21-23 last season, finishing two wins short of reaching the postseason. There were flashes, particularly late in the year when Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in 2025, returned from injury. Still, the result was familiar in L.A.: another year without a playoff berth.

For a player like Plum, that kind of outcome lingers.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum feared she might have made a mistakes during some difficult moments early in her tenure in L.A., but free agents' decision to join her boosted her confidence. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

“I don’t think that last year I realized how big of a decision I made,” she said. “Obviously there's a you don't understand the gravity of it till you're in it. I think when Nneka [Ogwumike] signed this year, I was like, 'OK, I’m not crazy. They’re seeing the vision I am seeing.'”

That validation mattered. It reframed the risk as something shared.

The Sparks leaned into the direction Plum believed in during the offseason. Some of that came directly from her influence and some of it came from the example she set.

“KP came here because she wanted to test herself on how she impacts winning,” said Sparks general manager Raegan Pebley. “And there's a lot of things that go into impacting winning. It's on the [score]board, but it's also, are you a leader? Can you influence other people to come along with you? And she's been able to do that. She's been a great, great person to partner with.”

Read more: What Nneka Ogwumike's return means for the Sparks' playoff push

Plum understands that distinction well. She’s been on championship teams before with back-to-back titles in Las Vegas in 2022 and 2023, but this is different. In Los Angeles, she’s helping define what the organization will become.

The franchise hasn’t reached the postseason since 2020, the longest active drought in the WNBA. For a team in a major market, the absence has been noticeable, even as individual pieces hinted at potential.

Plum, in her first season away from the Aces organization that drafted her No. 1 overall in 2017 after her record-setting run at Washington, produced immediately: 19.5 points and 5.7 assists per game. But numbers alone weren’t the point.

“I felt like I can be the connector,” she said. “When you’re part of a championship culture, you get to see what goes into it. And it's way more than just basketball. It's like the business, the operations of it all. They all work together. Obviously, what Mark Davis has done is tremendous in Las Vegas, and really investing in that team. So, yeah, coming here definitely, I learned a lot more than basketball, right? About what goes into building a championship team, a roster, what goes into investing in players and making it feel like a destination where players are like, 'Ooh, I want to go play there.'”

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum accepted a lower salary so that the team could pursue key free agents capable of helping win a championship. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

That perspective shaped her decisions this offseason in tangible ways. Despite being eligible for a $1.4 million supermax contract after her core designation, Plum chose to sign at a lower number, giving the Sparks flexibility to build around her.

They used that space to add Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler, while still leaving $1,468,650 in cap space for a potential in-season move. They also traded for Atkins from Chicago, parting with former first-round pick Rickea Jackson to ease the pressure in the backcourt.

“I want to really help transform an organization,” Plum said. “As a player, you don't really know how good you are, or how much you can handle, capacity wise, until put in a situation that's maybe a little over your head.”

Belief, in this case, became contagious. Plum helped recruit Wheeler. Ogwumike, already familiar with the franchise, pointed to broader changes as part of her decision to return.

With key pieces in play, Sparks guard Kelsey Plum said the team must embrace high expectations. "We're no longer the cute, young tadpole team," she said. "We have to win." (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

“The last couple years have strategically been very, very focused with our ownership and improving the player experience,” Pebley said. “We've got a practice facility that is being built. … Players are experiencing a much more consistent and high level, just player experience. And I think they can now look at their peers eye to eye and say, ‘This is where you need to be. you're going to be treated really well here.’”

All of it builds toward a simple, unavoidable truth: this version of the Sparks can’t afford to linger in potential.

Plum’s legacy in Los Angeles will hinge on whether this reset becomes a turning point or just another chapter in a long rebuild. The expectations have shifted, internally and externally.

“Last year was tough,” Plum said. “We were right there at the end. But I think this year is different. Obviously, with all the free agency acquisitions, this is very exciting. We're no longer the cute, young tadpole team. We have to win.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.