Kelsey Plum gets encouraging injury update from Lynne Roberts

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks avoided a worst case scenario when it was revealed that star guard Kelsey Plum’s recent injury was not as severe as it could have been.

Kelsey Plum was officially diagnosed with an ankle sprain, an injury she initially suffered during Sparks’ practice last Tuesday. It was announced that she would be re-evaluated in one week, a date that coincided with the team’s game against the Las Vegas Aces this Tuesday.

Prior to the Sparks’ showdown against the Aces, head coach Lynne Roberts acknowledged that the star guard was considered day-to-day and had made progress while remaining back home during the team’s recent road trip.

“Just like anything KP does, whether it’s having breakfast or after a sprained ankle or playing a game, she attacks it with the utmost of her ability. And she’s done the same with this injury,” Roberts said during her pregame press conference. “We were on the road and rumor has it she practically lived at the facility and she’s doing well … she’s day-to-day.

“We don’t know when she’ll be back but if I know anything, she’ll be back as soon as she’s been given any sort of, I don’t know if it even has to be green in her mind, but just some sort of greenish light, and she’ll be back.”

Before the injury, Plum had gotten off to a MVP-caliber start to the regular season. She was leading the WNBA in scoring at 26.8 points. She was averaging a career-high in assists at 6.3 per game. She was putting up career-highs in efficiency with 58.9 percent shooting from the field and 48.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line.

In her last game before being a sidelined, a huge road win against the Aces, she had her best game of the year thus far finishing with 38 points, four rebounds, nine assists and one steal in 37 minutes. She shot 12-of-17 from the field, 6-of-7 from the 3-point line and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft, Plum is in her second season with the Sparks after being acquired in a sign-and-trade deal involving the Aces and Seattle Storm ahead of the 2025 season.

The Sparks have gone 1-1 so far in Plum’s absence with a win against the Washington Mystics and a loss to the Connecticut Sun.