🐶 PLUM DAWG RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS

When Kelsey Plum was selected first overall in 2017, it marked the beginning of a new era. The then-San Antonio Stars had fallen off and were a franchise-worst 7-27 in 2016. With Plum, the team found a star that would help carry them into a new era.

It took time, a new city, and some A’One additions along the way — but Plum was able to find herself and grow to be one of the best players in basketball, a player that could be counted on to make clutch plays in the biggest of games.

At the same time, there was a sense that Plum might have wanted something new. 2024 was heavy for the Aces in a lot of respects, and it felt like things needed to change. That change came in the off-season in the form of a mega trade that saw Plum exit to Los Angeles and Jewell Loyd enter from Seattle. In her time as a member of the Aces, Plum:

• Won Sixth Player of the Year

• Named to the All-Star team three times

• 2022 All-WNBA First Team

• Won two gold medals (one in 3×3 and one with the Senior Women’s Team)

• Won two WNBA championships

Her time there was incredibly memorable, and one day her jersey will be retired in Vegas. Leading up to her return against the Aces on May 30, Plum reflected on her time with the team,

Before the start of the game on Friday night, the Aces aired a tribute video for their former star:

KP didn’t dominate, shooting 6-19 from the field with five turnovers, as the Aces won 96-81. For the Sparks, the game represented an early test that showed they still have room to grow.

“You keep chopping wood, and eventually the tree falls. And I feel like we’re this close,” Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said in postgame.

The Sparks may not be contenders just yet, but they’re on the right path. And with Plum having a great start to the season, there’ll be sunny skies in Los Angeles quicker than we know it.

🥽 LISH SHINES IN ATLANTA

One of the best stories in the WNBA so far in 2025 has been Allisha Gray. The Atlanta Dream underwent significant changes this offseason and entered 2025 with the hope of ending their playoff losing streak. Under new head coach Karl Smesko, Gray has taken her game to new heights. As of this writing, Gray is averaging career highs in:

• Points (21.4)

• Field goal percentage (49.5)

• Three-point percentage (43.5)

• Free throws attempted (seven per game)

• Assists (4.6 per game)

• Turnover percentage (a career low 7.4 percent)

How great has her start to the season been? ESPN's Kevin Pelton shared his wins above replacement player (WARP) leaderboard on June 2, and Gray is in some very special company.

The league has taken notice. The two-time All-Star was named the Week 2 Eastern Conference Player of the Week for her performances against Los Angeles and Seattle.

Gray has been sensational for the Dream, and she is a sure bet to make it to the All-Star Game in Indianapolis this summer.

📰 WHAT WE’RE READING

At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in the women’s basketball community.

Here’s what we’re reading:

• Aces bounce back after 'butt kicking' in Seattle: Three takeaways from Las Vegas' dominant win over Sparks by Erica Ayala for CBS Sports

• WNBA's most underrated player can make Atlanta a contender by Justin Carter for Fansided

• Angel Reese deserves her flowers for the women’s basketball boom by Owen Pence for The Contrarian

• Sarah Ashlee Barker is Not Playing Like a Rookie for the Los Angeles Sparks – And That’s a Great Thing by Candace Pedraza for Winsidr

• Lusia Harris is the basketball pioneer we almost forgot. Shaq wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again. by Bryan Kalbrosky for For the Win

• Emotional Oranges are stepping out of the shadows by Amber Rawlings of Hunger Magazine

• This ‘NBA on TNT’ Producer is Scoring Telecasts With a Hip-Hop Flair by Andre Gee

⛹🏽‍♀️ UPCOMING GAMES

Here’s the schedule for the next few days (Eastern Standard Time)

💰MONEY MOVES

THE MYSTICS NAVIGATE NEW TERRAIN

Last Wednesday, the Washington Mystics took on the Indiana Fever. The game was special, as it was held at the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a great atmosphere and the Mystics gave the hometown fans plenty to cheer for as they won 83-77. Beyond the win, the night was special for so many more reasons:

The team plays most of their home games at CareFirst Arena, a building that holds around 5,000 people. The Mystics will play a few more games in larger arenas throughout the season, and that split speaks to an issue that has started to come into focus.

Ted Leonsis has owned the Mystics for 20 years. In his tenure, he’s seen his team compete and contend for championships during that timespan. He made news in 2023 and 2024 when he made efforts to move the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals out of Washington, DC and into Virginia. It failed, and Leonsis didn’t exactly cover himself in glory throughout the entire saga. The Mystics would’ve moved to the Wizards’ arena if the VA move happened, but they will be at their arena for the foreseeable future. Throughout the ordeal, it felt as if the Mystics were a non-priority in the discussions. And if you ask former Mystics, it’s been a consistent theme from the team ownership.

“I was told that I was only 1 percent of his company,” Natasha Cloud told Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports. “That was after we won a championship [in 2019].” Ariel Atkins confirmed that and went on to mention that the ownership were usually “focused on the Wizards.”

In a statement to Front Office Sports, the Mystics pushed back on the “1 percent” quote, calling it “mischaracterized” and adding that the quote was indicative of how much room the team had to grow.

The WNBA is growing monumentally, and has been in the years since the Mystics last won it all. With a strong start to 2025, they have a shot to prove Leonsis and everyone else wrong and earn much more than 1 percent of the respect.

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