Kelsey Plum is a four-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Olympian, and two-time WNBA Champion. She's also a shooting guard who has been trying to play the point for the Los Angeles Sparks, but it's about time for the team to come up with another idea.
The idea of Plum paying point isn't a bad one. She's an exceptional shooter and provides a lot of strong veteran leadership for the team. She's absolutely capable of providing her teammates with a few assists per game. But Plum is also just a bucket, and just about every time she gets the ball in her hands it becomes pretty obvious she's going to shoot it.
That's something that worked on the Aces, when she was often paired with Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, players whose abilities to get the ball around the court and take shots of their own aren't in question. They also gave Plum the ability to play to her strengths and not test her weak spots, something that's missing in Los Angeles as Plum struggles to create moments and shots for the rest of the team.
Kelsey Plum can still adapt her game to the point role
Creating looks for teammate is a crucial part of the job of running point. Floor captains need to be able to immediately read the floor for everyone, not just for themselves. Failing to do so doesn't make Plum a bad player or a bad teammate — it mostly just indicates she should probably be a shooting guard and Lynne Roberts should find someone else to run point.
The problem, of course, is that the Sparks don't really have a lot of options besides Plum. Teammates Nneka Ogwumike and Rae Burrell have the potential to create a kind of Gray-Young situaiton, but Plum will have to participate in that scheme. Last season she averaged 5.7 assists, a number that definitely gets her closer to those of Sabrina Ionescu (who also had 5.7 assists during the 2025 season), but stil pretty far from those of Caitlin Clark (whose 2025 assists total was 8.8 in a season shortened by injury and 8.4 in 2024).
It's entirely possible Plum is still figuring out how she can best support the Sparks as a point guard for the team this season. The 2026 season is very, very young, and we're hopefully not seeing anyone's best basketball on the court just yet. But if the Sparks want to be contenders this season — and there's every reason to believe they do — Roberts and Plum will need to come up with a plan that works for everyone.
Add us as a preferred source on Google