Plum's postgame plea takes center stage as Sparks drop OT heartbreaker

The guard delivered a minute-long appeal following the loss.

(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

LOS ANGELES -- Kelsey Plum was the third member of the LA Sparks to walk into the team’s postgame press conference following Monday night’s 89-81 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, a defeat that dropped the Sparks to a lowly 3-7 on the season.

While Rickea Jackson and coach Lynne Roberts sat next to her at the dais in front of gathered media, Plum, whose face was adorned with a plethora of scratch marks from the night’s festivities, was not interested in being an idle participant and used part of the allotted time to get something off her chest.

“I’m going to get fined for saying this,” Plum began, a subtle way of saying the cat was about to be let out of the bag.

“I drive more than anyone in the league. So, to shoot six free throws is fucking absurd,” expressed Plum. “I got scratches on my face, I got scratches on my body, and these guards on the other team get these ticky-tack fouls, and I’m sick of it. I get fouled like that on every possession. Rickea [Jackson] gets fouled like that in the post all the time, and they don’t call it.”

Plum finished the night with 24 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds on 7 of 20 shooting. But, as mentioned, the key talking point afterward, even more than the loss, was the lack of free throws for the guard, who attempted, as she said, just six.

“She shot six free throws—three of those were off a 3, and one was a technical, the 3-second violation,” coach Roberts said in defense of her superstar guard. “So, she got one time to the free throw line attacking, when you think about it. It’s not right.”