Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of stories ranking the top 30 players in the WNBA as part of Quickbooks’ “WNBA Hoopers Hierarchy.” Check out the rest of the rankings here.
Before there was Caitlin Clark, there was Kelsey Plum.
Plum, a 5-foot-8 point guard out of the University of Washington, broke the all-time NCAA Division I women’s basketball total scoring record with a 57-point senior night that catapulted her total career college points to 3,397. For her senior season, she averaged 31.7 points on 53 percent shooting, while shooting 43 percent from 3. “I probably played one of the best individual years of basketball of all time,” Plum told Just Women’s Sports.
Nicknamed “Plum Dawg,” she became known as an electrifying scorer, and expectations for her were sky high as she entered the WNBA. The No. 1 overall pick in 2017 WNBA Draft, Plum struggled to adjust in her rookie season, shooting just 34.6 percent from the field in her first year with the San Antonio Stars—a nearly 20 percent drop from her college efficiency. Although many were willing to write her off as a bust after the early struggles, she worked at her game and eventually became the star that many expected her to be back in 2017.
That’s why she comes in at No. 13 in the WNBA Hoopers Hierarchy, Swish Appeal’s ranking of the top 30 players in the league in 2024.
Plum is essential to the Aces’ excellence
The San Antonio Stars franchise became the Las Vegas Aces in 2018, and since returning from a torn Achilles in 2020, Plum has enjoyed tremendous success with the Aces, both at the individual and team levels. The Aces have won the last two WNBA championships, and Plum is a major reason why, serving as one of the team’s lead guards. She was the second-leading Aces scorer in last year’s successful playoff run behind A’ja Wilson, averaging 18.3 points and 3.8 assists per game.
After a tough first few seasons in the WNBA, Plum’s breakout season came in 2021, when she averaged 14.8 points and 3.7 assists off the bench, ultimately winning Sixth Player of the Year and finishing second in Most Improved Player voting. She followed that up with two strong All-Star seasons; in 2022, she averaged 20.2 points on 42 percent shooting from 3, and in 2023, she maintained that level of offensive production, averaging 18.7 points per game. Perhaps most notably, both of those seasons culminated in the ultimate goal: a WNBA championship.
Today, Plum is one of the premier guards in the WNBA. She’s shooting almost 40 percent from beyond the arc for her career. And last year, she shot a career-best 47.5 percent from the field—a remarkable improvement from her 34.6 percent rookie figure. “Every year, I’ve tried to come back and be more efficient,” Plum said.
While Plum was primarily a scorer in college, she has worked with Aces head coach Becky Hammon to become a better facilitator. Surrounded by some of the best players in the league—like Wilson, a two-time MVP—she has recognized she no longer has to dominate the ball the way she did in college. Her willingness to defer has allowed Plum to become part of one of the most elite perimeter trios in women’s basketball history, sharing a backcourt with Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. “Their efficiency as a group is off the charts,” Hammon told ESPN of the trio. “Those three are so special to what we do, and they all impact the game differently. They’re such complementary pieces to each other.”
“Her willingness to pass kind of makes her unguardable,” Hammon likewise told the New York Times in 2022. In turn, so are the Las Vegas Aces—most of the time, anyways.
The Aces finished the 2023 season with a 34-6 record, setting a WNBA record for most wins in a single season. Last year, Plum averaged 4.5 assists, good for 11th most in the league, while the Aces became just the third franchise in league history to win consecutive WNBA championships. This year, with Plum at the helm, they’re eyeing a three-peat.
How Plum is growing the game
Now in her seventh WNBA season, she’s no longer the young player struggling to figure out how to adjust her game to the professional level. Instead, she serves as a veteran, resource and mentor for rookies and collegiate players making the similarly-difficult transition.
She hosts a trademark DAWG CLASS with Under Armour, where she invites top college players and incoming rookies for a three-day skills camp. She’s routinely discussed her own difficult transition to the league, using her experiences as model for other players to learn from. Her own career trajectory is a reminder that a tough first year is not an indictment on one’s career.
Kelsey Plum fell in love with the sport at a young age, picking up a basketball when she was nine years old after coming across a rivalry game between UConn and Tennessee that was headlined by Diane Taurasi. “I told my mom, ‘I just want to let you know I’m going to be playing in the WNBA,’” she said.
After all the ups and downs, she not only reached the point she said she would, but today, she’s she’s also unanimously considered one of the WNBA’s premier players. It took a couple of years to settle in, but at age 29, Plum is as dynamic a player as ever and a force to be reckoned with.
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