It was a do-or-die game for the Dallas Wings, and their wonder rookie was there to give it her all. Paige Bueckers lit up the floor with a jaw-dropping 44 points on an incredible 17-of-21 shooting. She even knocked down the clutch free throw that nudged Dallas ahead of the Sparks. With the scoreboard reading 80-79 and just a minute to play, it looked like the Wings had the upper hand. But that’s when veteran guard Kelsey Plum stepped in.

In a game that went down to the wire, the four-time WNBA All-Star stood tall. Plum first stumbled, missing a deep 24-foot pull-up with just 35.8 seconds left. But champions are defined by how they respond. Moments later, she stormed back with a clutch 11-foot floater that flipped the scoreboard to 81-80. The Sparks had stolen victory from the Wings, and in that moment, Plum drew a Kobe Bryant comparison from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

While speaking with John Ireland, Shelburne spotlighted Plum’s fearless mentality, linking it to Bryant’s own approach. She pointed out that, like Kobe, Plum has never hesitated to make bold choices. The bold choice in question? Willingness to switch teams when she felt underappreciated. “She wanted a change of scenery, but she also just believed in herself. She just thought like we do this in the NBA all the time. Kobe tried to do right. Kobe did this, right? I want my own team. I want to be the focal point of my team. I’m not just a role player. And I love everything we’ve done here, but she believed that she could carry a team herself,” said the ESPN analyst.

Kelsey Plum spent seven years with the Las Vegas Aces before making the move to the Sparks this season. In Vegas, she was part of a powerhouse lineup alongside A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray, a true WNBA super team. So why walk away from such a dominant roster? For Plum, the answer was simple: she felt unappreciated.

She made this confession while sitting with Sue Bird. Sharing what was going through her mind, she said, “It’s just more feeling that ‘Okay, I’m going to take less money, I want to be here, but I have to take less again?’ And then like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll set cross screens and back screens for A’ja [Wilson] all day, no problem.’ But then you start to feel like, ‘Okay, am I becoming the fourth option?” 

This statement of Plum echoes loudly with the infamous Bryant interview with Stephen A. Smith in 2007, where Mamba said, “I would like to be traded.” Plum found herself on a similar trajectory with the Aces in 2024. The only difference was that Plum was allowed to go.

Was letting go of Kelsey Plum the right move?

When Kelsey Plum left Las Vegas, the entire WNBA lined up for a chance to sign her. “She had a lot of options. There were a ton of teams that wanted Kelsey this offseason. She was the biggest free agent to change teams,” Ramona Shelburne noted. And her move was nothing short of historic.

Plum’s decision sparked a blockbuster three-team deal involving the Aces, Sparks, and Seattle Storm. The trade made history as the first in WNBA history to feature two No. 1 overall picks, Plum, drafted first in 2017, and Jewell Loyd, drafted first in 2015. Since arriving in Los Angeles, Plum has found her rhythm again and elevated her game to new heights.

In just 34 appearances with the Sparks, she has already surpassed her career-best averages across the board: 20.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.3 steals. No longer cast as a supporting piece, she now has a team built around her. And she is thriving. Her career numbers and her recent buzzer-beater against rampant rookie Paige Bueckers are proof enough of just how valuable she has become.