Kelsey Plum and the Las Vegas Aces had a spectacular ending to their 2023 WNBA season. They solidified their name in the history books of the league by winning their second consecutive title. The Aces became the first team in 21 years to win back-to-back titles. They currently stand two titles behind tying the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm’s record of four championships.
The Aces did not have the ideal season as it was filled with injuries. Candace Parker was also out for several months altogether. Regardless of the setbacks, they somehow pulled threw with a 3-1 against the New York Liberty. Plum had a great series but barely contributed to Game 4 of the finals. She played for 40 minutes but only recorded 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
A’ja Wilson remained consistent through the Aces’ finals appearance. She also won the 2023 WNBA Finals MVP trophy as well. The Aces did not have Chelsea Gray and Kia Stokes on the floor for the entire series which fans believed would lead to their downfall. Following the title victory, Kelsey Plum had a few comments regarding the Liberty that set her world ablaze. Her comments also had reactions from the Liberty players who had just lost their chance at winning the title.
Kelsey Plum apologizes after receiving backlash from Liberty players
Kelsey Plum made comments regarding Liberty’s lack of team effort, which according to her is why they lost. She said, “[Liberty is] not a team if that makes sense. They’re really good individual players, but they don’t care about each other. And you can tell in those moments. They revert back to individual basketball.” These comments did not age well especially since she claimed they did not “care about each other”.
JJ calls Kelsey Plum’s comments “classless.”
(Q: @ClassicJpow) pic.twitter.com/l9SbBjGrIJ
— Gigi Speer (@gigi_speer) October 20, 2023
Jonquel Jones of the Liberty did not hold back from her anger toward Plum. She told the media, “She doesn’t know what goes on in our locker room… I think it’s easy to kick people when they’re down and you’re up. Honestly and truly, to me, it felt kind of classless. You already won a championship. You get to celebrate with your teammates… yeah, I don’t care for it to be honest.”
After getting fired by fans and her peers regarding her comments, Kelsey Plum issued an apology via X. She said, “Never been the type to throw shade, quite the opposite actually. I see how it came off, never was my intention and I apologize. Our game grew immensely from this series, don’t let this bull s**t detract from the biggest win here.”
And getting through it doesn’t happen over night. Never been the type to throw shade, quite the opposite actually. I see how it came off, never was my intention and I apologize. Our game grew immensely from this series, don’t let this bull shit detract from the biggest win here. https://t.co/pWENnKC68l
— Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) October 20, 2023
Even though she claims she didn’t mean to hurt their feelings, it was quite obvious that the comments were a direct jab at the Liberty. If hurting her peers wasn’t the intention, her comments would’ve been worded better.