Plum returns to Las Vegas for first time as Sparks face Aces on TSN
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For the first time in her WNBA career when she steps out onto the floor in Las Vegas, Kelsey Plum will not be wearing an Aces uniform.
Instead, she does so as the opponent, as Plum faces her former team for the first time as a member of the Los Angeles Sparks.
Watch the Sparks take on the Aces LIVE at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on TSN3/4 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Sparks acquired Plum from the Aces on Feb. 1 in a blockbuster three-team trade involving the Seattle Storm. Los Angeles received Plum, the No. 9 pick (Sarah Ashlee Barker) in the 2025 draft and the Storm’s second-round pick in 2026.
The Aces picked up guard Jewell Loyd from the Storm for the 2025 No. 13 pick (Aaliyah Nye) via Los Angeles while the Storm acquired the No. 2 pick (Dominique Malonga) in this year’s draft, centre Li Yueru and Las Vegas’ 2026 first-round selection.
Plum was drafted first overall by the San Antonio Stars (before the move to Las Vegas) in 2017 and after a slow start to her professional career that included missing the 2020 season recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, she blossomed in 2021.
She took home the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year award in 2021 after making zero starts that season but she became a fixture in the starting lineup from 2022 onwards. In Las Vegas, she won back-to-back WNBA titles in 2022 and 2023, was a three-time All-Star and named to the WNBA All-First Team in 2022.
With the Sparks missing the playoffs four straight years and Plum looking for a change, Los Angeles got the Poway, Calif., native in hopes she could usher the franchise into a new era.
While that hasn’t translated into instant contender status just yet, as the Sparks are 2-4 through the first six games of the season, Plum has been playing at an MVP level so far in 2025. She is averaging 25.2 points per game and 5.5 assists to start the year.
For Las Vegas, they are 2-2 to start the season and haven’t looked like the Aces of the past few years. They beat the winless Connecticut Sun handily 87-62 and edged out the Washington Mystics 75-72. But they are coming off a bad 20-point loss to the Storm on Sunday as they dropped a 102-82 decision on the road.
Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson continues to lead the Aces, averaging 20.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game to start the season but for the new addition Loyd, it has been an adjustment playing for her new team.
After a 10-year run in Seattle where she was drafted first overall in 2015 and won two WNBA championships, it hasn’t been a seamless transition into Las Vegas just yet for Loyd, who requested a trade from Seattle after the 2024 season.
Loyd is averaging 12 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists through the first four games of the season, well off last year’s numbers where she was averaging 19.7 points and 3.6 assists. She is also averaging five fewer minutes per game in 2025, down to 28.8 minutes from 33.7 in 2024.
While the blockbuster trade has paid dividends immediately for Plum in Los Angeles, the season is still young for Loyd to find her game with Las Vegas.