WNBA star Kelsey Plum is leaning into her Aces' 'superteam' hype: 'If that gets people's attention, great'
- Kelsey Plum doesn't take issue with folks calling the Las Vegas Aces a WNBA "superteam."
- The star guard told Insider it's "great" if "that gets people's attention" and helps grow the game.
Kelsey Plum isn't shying away from her franchise's new designation as a "superteam."
But she's not convinced it's particularly unique, either.
"Personally, I think that if that works and that gets people's attention, great," Plum said. "But to me it's not anything different than I just think tremendous players in the league. And it makes for really fun entertainment, which is what it's about."
The fiery guard is one of five former WNBA All-Stars on this season's Las Vegas Aces roster. Plum — who ranked second in the league with 20.2 points per game last year — will now have her choice of two WNBA MVPs when she looks to pass down in the paint.
Reigning league MVP A'ja Wilson, who helped lead the Aces to their first-ever WNBA title last season, has called Las Vegas home since the very beginning of her professional basketball career. But now, she'll be joined in the post by league legend Candace Parker, who made a surprise decision to leave her hometown Chicago Sky for Sin City this off-season.
"When you add someone like Candace Parker to your roster, you're now on a global scale," Plum said. "Already taking what we did last season and continuing to use that momentum, we have the world's attention, and that to me is exciting."
"There's a lot of buzz right now and for good reason," she added.
But while plenty of observers have already dubbed this period as the WNBA superteam era — the East has the star-studded New York Liberty — Plum is reluctant to take it that far. She knows the league has seen plenty of powerhouse squads in its 26 seasons.
Take the now-defunct Houston Comets, which won the WNBA's first four titles behind the incredible trio of Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson. A little more than a decade later, a Minnesota Lynx roster stacked with league legends Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore, Rebekkah Brunson, and, later, Sylvia Fowles won four championships of its own over a seven-year span.
Plum also named the Los Angeles Sparks squad that took down those dominant Lynx in 2016. She remembers watching two of her now-teammates — Parker and point guard Chelsea Gray — help power the Sparks on that championship run.
"What's so funny is like, you talk about, 'They are now superteams,'" Plum said. "For me personally, growing up watching the league, I feel like there's been superteams throughout this day and age."
Still, Plum recognizes that the renewed attention on "superteams" — combined with "viewership increasing tremendously" across their sport — gives her, her teammates, and her peers across the WNBA a unique opportunity to further elevate women's basketball. It's a responsibility she takes incredibly seriously.
"More than anything, I think that to be able to be a part of this generation and what we're doing to grow the game really just pays respect to the people that got us to this point," Plum said. "So to be here in this position, I feel like it's a privilege and I'm gonna make the most of it."