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Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum suffered an apparent lower right leg injury at open practice Tuesday. Plum had to be helped off the floor, per multiple people in attendance, and did not return to practice.
Coach Lynne Roberts told media afterward that Plum’s injury appeared to be to her ankle, but the team wasn’t yet sure.
The veteran guard has had a tremendous start to her ninth WNBA season — her second with Los Angeles after being acquired in a trade from the Las Vegas Aces during the 2025 offseason. She is leading the league in points per game (26.8) while making 58.9 percent of her field goals and 48.8 percent of her 3-pointers. Plum is also tied for fifth in the WNBA with 6.3 assists per game; the points and assists marks would both be the highest figures of her career.
The Sparks entered the season with hopes of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Plum is central to that effort, highlighted by her 38-point, nine-assist effort in Los Angeles’ 101- 95 upset over Las Vegas last week without injured Nneka Ogwumike.
Plum was unable to play in the 2020 season with a torn Achilles, but she has mostly been an iron woman since, missing only four games from 2022 to 2026. She is second in the league in minutes per game (35.2) behind Rhyne Howard.
The Sparks head to Washington, D.C., for a two-game road trip beginning Friday against the Washington Mystics before returning to Los Angeles for a rematch with the Aces on Tuesday to kick off their Commissioner’s Cup games.
Any long-term injury for Plum could affect her availability for the FIBA World Cup in September. She has been a stalwart for USA Basketball during her professional career. She won gold medals at the 2018 and 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics and also helped the USA to gold in the inaugural 3×3 event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
Coach Lynne Roberts told media afterward that Plum’s injury appeared to be to her ankle, but the team wasn’t yet sure.
The veteran guard has had a tremendous start to her ninth WNBA season — her second with Los Angeles after being acquired in a trade from the Las Vegas Aces during the 2025 offseason. She is leading the league in points per game (26.8) while making 58.9 percent of her field goals and 48.8 percent of her 3-pointers. Plum is also tied for fifth in the WNBA with 6.3 assists per game; the points and assists marks would both be the highest figures of her career.
The Sparks entered the season with hopes of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Plum is central to that effort, highlighted by her 38-point, nine-assist effort in Los Angeles’ 101- 95 upset over Las Vegas last week without injured Nneka Ogwumike.
Plum was unable to play in the 2020 season with a torn Achilles, but she has mostly been an iron woman since, missing only four games from 2022 to 2026. She is second in the league in minutes per game (35.2) behind Rhyne Howard.
The Sparks head to Washington, D.C., for a two-game road trip beginning Friday against the Washington Mystics before returning to Los Angeles for a rematch with the Aces on Tuesday to kick off their Commissioner’s Cup games.
Any long-term injury for Plum could affect her availability for the FIBA World Cup in September. She has been a stalwart for USA Basketball during her professional career. She won gold medals at the 2018 and 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics and also helped the USA to gold in the inaugural 3×3 event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
