Sparks Face Stretch Without Kelsey Plum After Leading Scorer's Ankle Sprain

The Los Angeles Sparks will have to weather a stretch without their leading scorer after guard Kelsey Plum suffered a left ankle sprain at practice Tuesday, the team announced.

Plum had to be helped off the floor after the injury and did not return to practice. The Sparks said she will be reevaluated in one week.

Three games sit inside that timeline. Los Angeles travels to face the Washington Mystics on Friday and the Connecticut Sun on Saturday before returning home for a rematch with the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday. The Sparks must find a way to remain competitive in each of those matchups without the player who has driven their offense all season.

Plum, in her ninth WNBA season and second with the Sparks, leads the league in scoring at 26.8 points per game through six contests. She is also shooting 58.9% from the field and 48.8% from 3, and is tied for fifth in the league in assists at 6.3 per game. The points and assists marks would both set career highs if maintained.

The absence comes just days after Plum delivered the Sparks' biggest win of the season. She posted 38 points and 9 assists Saturday in a 101-95 victory over the defending champion Aces, her former team. The win pushed Los Angeles to 3-3 and was the early high-water mark of a season the franchise hopes ends with a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

The Sparks were not at full strength even before the news on Plum. Forward Ariel Atkins missed two games earlier this season with a concussion. Sania Feagin remains sidelined with a leg injury. Nneka Ogwumike, brought in during the offseason to help anchor the team's frontcourt, missed one game with a hand injury before returning to practice Tuesday.

Los Angeles will need to lean on Ogwumike, Atkins, Dearica Hamby, and Erica Wheeler during Plum's absence. Hamby and Wheeler delivered in the win over Las Vegas, with Hamby scoring 27 points and grabbing 15 rebounds the night Plum dropped 38, and Wheeler hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

The roster turnover the Sparks executed in the offseason was designed to give the team multiple lead options, but Plum's production has set the tone. Replacing the league's leading scorer, even for a short stretch, will test the depth Los Angeles built around her.

Plum has been among the most reliable players in the league in recent years. After missing the 2020 season with a torn Achilles, she missed just four games combined from 2022 through this season. Her 35.2 minutes per game this season rank second in the league behind Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard.

A longer-term issue could affect her availability for the FIBA World Cup in September. Plum won gold at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and at the 2024 Olympics.

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