Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum is off to one of the hottest starts in the WNBA this season, and she burned her former team Saturday.
Plum had 38 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds as the Sparks beat the Las Vegas Aces 101-95. Plum was 12 of 17 from the field -- 6 of 7 from 3-point range -- and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. Plum is now leading the WNBA in scoring at 26.8 PPG, ahead of Las Vegas center A'ja Wilson (24.8 PPG).
"Honestly, I'm trying to go out and be super-patient," Plum said. "You get to a point in the league where you're seeing a lot of different coverages. I really appreciate that coach (Lynne Roberts) has a lot of trust in me, and my teammates trust me to make decisions."
Sparks guard Erica Wheeler joked of Plum, "When she's on a heater, I'm running to the corner. Don't even look at me, don't pass me the ball, stay on the heater."
The Aces dropped to 4-2, with both losses coming in their only home games thus far and after ceremonies honoring their 2025 league title.
The Aces got their championship rings on May 9 at T-Mobile Arena, their alternate home, then lost to the Phoenix Mercury. They raised their championship banner Saturday at their primary home, Michelob Ultra Arena, before falling to the Sparks. The Aces have won all four of their road games, including their first meeting with Los Angeles on May 10, 105-78.
Wilson led the Aces with 24 points and 15 rebounds Saturday. But it wasn't enough to offset the Sparks' six players who scored in double figures despite starter Nneka Ogwumike being out with a left hand injury. Los Angeles forward Cameron Brink, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft who was limited to 34 games her first two seasons because of a knee injury, had her best game so far in 2026 with 16 points and 8 rebounds Saturday. The Sparks are now 3-3.
Plum lit up the scoreboard in Las Vegas many times in her six seasons with the Aces, winning two WNBA titles there. Before the 2025 season, Plum was traded to the Sparks in a three-team deal that also sent Jewell Loyd from Seattle to Las Vegas.
Saturday, Plum joined retired players Elena Delle Donne (2015) and Maya Moore (2014) as the only WNBA players to score 25-plus points in five of their first six games in a season. Delle Donne, then with Chicago, and Moore, who played her entire WNBA career in Minnesota, won the league's MVP award the year they did that.
Plum, 31, said she worked hard on aspects of her game during Unrivaled season in preparing for this WNBA season. It's her ninth since being drafted No. 1 in 2017 out of Washington, where she scored 3,527 points. That's second in NCAA history to Iowa's Caitlin Clark (3,951) now with the Indiana Fever.
"I want to come back every year better," Plum said. It's one thing to score, but my biggest thing is efficiency. My dream would be to go 50/40/90 [in shooting percentages for a season]."
So far this season, Plum is shooting 58.9% from the field, 48.8% from 3-point range, and 80% from the line. Her free-throw percentage is the only one she's disappointed in now, as she is a career 88.3% shooter from the line.
"She's competitive as hell," Roberts said of Plum. "I personally don't think she gets talked about enough in the best player conversations, those MVP conversations. She's fun to coach."
