Plum calls out 'f---ing absurd' officiating after Sparks loss
Published
Kelsey Plum didn't mince words after the Los Angeles Sparks' 89-81 overtime loss to the expansion Golden State Valkyries on Monday night.
The 30-year-old guard heavily criticized the officiating after going to the line only six times in her 41 minutes.
Plum, in her first season with the team following an offseason trade from the Las Vegas Aces, prefaced her remarks with an acknowledgment that she will likely get fined by the league for them.
"I’m going to get fined for saying this, but I drive more than anyone in the league," Plum said, sitting at the dais alongside head coach Lynne Roberts and second-year forward Rickea Jackson. "So to shoot six free throws is f---ing absurd. I got scratches on my face, I got scratches on my body and these guards on the other team get these ticky-tack fouls and I’m sick of it. I get fouled like that every possession. Rickea gets fouled like that in the post all the time and they don’t call it. I don’t know what else to do. But it’s really frustrating, though."
A native of Poway, CA, Plum is averaging a career-high 5.6 free-throw attempts through 10 games this season.
Still, Plum said she especially dismayed by the officiating down the stretch in the loss that saw the Sparks outscored 11-3 in the extra frame.
“There are multiple shots at the end of the game, either going into the third, into the fourth, where they’re just coming and f---in' swinging and they just don’t call anything," Plum said. "I don’t understand how - that's six free throws. I’m playing 40 minutes, touching the paint on almost every play. It’s absurd. It’s absurd. So I’m saying I’ll get fined for that and that’s fine, but I mean, I needed to make more shots like late-game, but they’re fouling the s--- out of me [on] every single play. I’m very frustrated with that. And I’m sick of it. I’m sick of it. I don’t know what I need to do. I’ve talked to the refs nice, I pray before the game. Like f---, I'm over it."
The Sparks sit at 3-7 and in second last in the West. In her eighth pro season out of Washington, the three-time All-Star is averaging 21.8 points on .394 shooting, 5.4 assists and 2.8 boards over 36.2 minutes a night this season.
The Sparks return to action on Wednesday night when Plum makes her return to Las Vegas.