When the Sparks acquired Kelsey Plum, they signaled they have been prepared to go away final season behind, and at first of coaching camp, their latest celebrity is making that clear.
“With all due respect, we finished last last year, so everything that we did last year was thrown out the window,” Plum stated Sunday in Torrance, the place the Sparks opened coaching camp. “I was brought here for a reason.”
After one other offseason spent rebuilding a once-proud franchise, Plum is main the cost. She got here to L.A. not solely to alter the staff’s fortunes on the court docket together with her playmaking skill, but additionally to deliver the management she demonstrated throughout her championship tenure in Las Vegas, serving to set up a successful tradition.
“It’s the turn of a new leaf in a lot of different ways, in leadership and investment in the franchise,” Plum stated. “That’s why I decided to come here.”
Plum, an All-Star for the third straight season final 12 months, is coming off a top-10 scoring season, averaging 17.8 factors per sport. However extra importantly, she’s transitioning from a 27-win staff and a WNBA semifinal look to a squad that completed with simply eight wins and landed in final place within the league.
However earlier than the Sparks can change into a successful staff, a cultural shift is critical, and Plum is spearheading that change by main by instance and uplifting these round her.
When gamers lined up for three-point taking pictures after sprints, Plum was the primary to catch and shoot, setting the tone for the drill. After observe, she stayed on the court docket, working alongside first-round decide Sarah Ashlee Barker and former first-rounder Cameron Brink, specializing in ball motion and publish play.
By the top of day one, she’s already seeing her efforts take form, assured that onerous work will rise to the highest — and her dedication will push her teammates.
“Changing the culture, that’s a day-to-day process,” Plum stated. “That’s not something that you can rush. There’s a lot of young talent…I’m excited about the opportunity, and I’m excited about the potential this team has.”
Regardless of being a two-time champion and well known as an “alpha,” first-year head coach Lynne Roberts says Plum’s management fashion is freed from conceitedness or ego, pushed solely by her sheer competitiveness. As Plum enters a brand new surroundings and begins establishing herself together with her new teammates, they’re already gravitating towards her.
Roberts is giving Plum the liberty to ascertain herself because the staff chief, permitting her to strike a steadiness between being a quiet and vocal chief — main by instance together with her work ethic whereas additionally talking up when needed.
“Kelsey is different, and I mean that in the biggest compliment,” Roberts stated. “Just everyone being around her, it’s going to elevate them in terms of how they prepare themselves, how they work and how they handle it.”
The Sparks open camp with 18 gamers on their roster, solely seven coming back from final season. Each Roberts and Plum emphasised that the struggles of earlier years are within the rearview mirror, making means for a contemporary begin this coaching camp with a shared need to be higher.
“The players are eager to get this franchise back where it belongs, and so there’s a definite commitment,” Roberts stated. “In conversation I’ve had, and even today, for them to just play their tails off and compete.”
