TORRANCE — Kelsey Plum has been sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber and undergoing red light therapy to recover from something that she considers a blessing in disguise.
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“I have been rehabbing like a maniac,” Plum said when asked about her recovery process for a sprained right ankle injury that she suffered during practice May 26.
Plum, a four-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion, was a full on-court participant in Thursday’s practice at the team’s training facility in Torrance.
“I thought she looked great, but it’s not up to me, that’s the medical team,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “Hopefully, she can play.”
Before her first full go at practice since the injury, the 31-year-old spent countless hours recovering, including missing the team’s East Coast trip against the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun.
“I’m not going to try to blow it out of proportion,” Plum said, “but I spent, there’s a reason I didn’t travel because I felt like if I got those four or five days to try to really lock in here and see if I could get my swelling and bruising down, try to get everything rolling back, I’d have a chance to play sooner than later, so I threw the kitchen sink at it. I’ve been working. I better be in better shape than I was before, I’ll tell you that.”
The Sparks (4-5) have dropped consecutive games to the Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces. Guard Rae Burrell, who led the Sparks with a career-high 22 points in Tuesday’s loss to the Aces said she’s good to go after suffering an ankle injury in the final seconds.
“I’m feeling good,” Burrell said. “A little tweak, but I’m fine.”
However, with Plum sidelined for a third consecutive game, the Sparks shot 31% from the field on 20 of 65 attempts against her former Las Vegas team. Ultimately, they could not overcome four-time MVP A’ja Wilson’s double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
“(Plum) is the engine,” Roberts said. “She makes everything go. We’ve sputtered a little bit, but part of that is on me. We had to clean some things up offensively, simplify almost in a way, but (Thursday‘s practice) looked good.”
Plum, who is averaging a league-high 26.8 points and 6.3 assists per game, said she hated watching from the sidelines.
“I think the margin of difference in the W is so small this year,” Plum explained. “So, really like, game to game, every matchup is going to be a tough matchup.”
Sparks point guard Erica Wheeler, who is averaging 8.6 points and 4.9 assists, said she’s looking forward to having Plum back in the Sparks’ lineup.
“That’s the head of the snake,” Wheeler explained. “It means everything.”
Rookie guard Chance Gray, a second-round selection out of Ohio State, also knows the impact of playing with or without Plum.
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“I think she puts people in great places to succeed,” Gray said. “I know that we talked about getting to our spots and KP will find you.”
Gray played a season-high 21 minutes against the Aces but went 1 of 4 from the field and finished with three points.
“In college, it’s different,” Gray said, “Every time I caught the ball, I’m launching it, just because I know I have that capability, so finding a balance of do I shoot it then, do I swing it one more, to get a better shot, so it’s finding between a good and a great shot.”
Friday’s contest against the Dallas Wings will be the Sparks’ second game in Commissioner’s Cup play. The Sparks are 0-1 in the in-season competition.
“I just want to win,” Plum said. “I don’t really care what that role is, but I’m just here to try to impact winning.”
Dallas (6-3) is on a three-game win streak, including signature victories against New York and Las Vegas. All-Star guard Paige Bueckers is averaging 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Bueckers is shooting 42.5% from 3-point range. All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale is averaging 13.1 points. Rookie guard Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 selection in April’s WNBA draft, is averaging 12.1 points, including 43.8% from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, veteran forward Jessica Shepard, who is averaging 12.6 points and 11 rebounds, is the X-factor, according to Roberts.
“She’s having a tremendous year so far,” Roberts said, “and she kind of makes them go. Almost, like a point forward.”
The sixth-year player had a triple-double with 22 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists against Las Vegas on May 28. It was her second triple-double of the season, notching her first with 18 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists against Chicago on May 20.
The last time the Sparks beat the Dallas Wings was an 81-80 victory on Aug. 24. Bueckers, a rookie at the time, scored a career-high 44 points. Los Angeles dropped a 91-77 decision to Dallas two weeks later and went on to miss the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season.
DALLAS (6-3) AT SPARKS (4-5)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: ION
LA Sparks All-Star Kelsey Plum says she’s ready to return from her sprained ankle injury and go up against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. Plum missed three games due to injury. #WNBA #LASparks #DallasWings pic.twitter.com/Z05IpPYTdb
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— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 4, 2026