LOS ANGELES — As the Sparks head into a pivotal stretch before the All-Star break, star guard Kelsey Plum, who has helped carry the team to a .500 record, has been ruled out with a lower left leg injury and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, according to team officials Wednesday.
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The four-time All-Star has anchored the Sparks’ offense by playing a team-high 34.5 minutes per game and is averaging a career-high 23.9 points on 52.7% shooting and 6.4 assists in 12 games. The team is 7-0 when Plum records seven or more assists.
The Sparks (8-8) are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season. They are more than 36% through the 44-game regular season.
The 31-year-old is set to miss at least 10 games before she is re-evaluated in July. Nearly 60% of the team’s games will be played by then.
Plum missed three games with a sprained right ankle injury in late May and early June, and one game with a lower left leg injury last week.
“The first one was a fluke,” Plum said after practice Saturday. “I stepped on someone’s foot in practice (on May 26), and then the other one is because I came back so fast from this one. I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I’m probably over the course of my career one of the healthiest players in the league and that’s not really going to change. I’m going to show up every day and do what I can to help my team win.”
Plum scored 12 points and had seven assists in 26 minutes in the team’s 98-97 comeback win against the New York Liberty on Sunday, but finished the game with her leg heavily wrapped and was seen limping afterward. The Sparks trailed by 17 points in the third quarter.
“KP, she’s a soldier for real,” Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said after Sunday’s game. “She was really playing through a lot of discomfort.”
Plum did not practice Tuesday before the team left for a two-game road trip against Toronto on Thursday and Indiana on Saturday.
The Sparks are 1-1 against Toronto this season, splitting two home matchups (99-95 win on May 15) and (106-96 loss on May 17). Thursday’s away game will be the season series tiebreaker between teams separated by only a half game in the standings.
Tempo guard Marina Mabrey, a Sparks 2019 second-round pick, is averaging 19.4 points for a team that has lost four of their last five games. That is partly due to Brittney Sykes, another former Sparks guard who is averaging a team-high 20.1 points, being sidelined with a foot injury.
Burrell back in the starting lineup, Brink still out
Guard Rae Burrell, who is averaging a career-high 11.6 points, including consecutive 19-point games, has started in Plum’s place when she’s been sidelined this season.
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“I feel I come in and do what I’m supposed to do,” said Burrell, who is averaging a career-high 26.3 minutes per game. “I feel like my teammates just put me in good position and when I play aggressive, I think it comes a little bit easier.”
Forward Cameron Brink, who suffered a sprained ankle June 15, is also expected to be sidelined into mid-July, head coach Lynne Roberts said.
“She’s doing great,” Roberts said. “She had a nasty ankle sprain and so it’s just a matter of treating it. There’s still swelling and all that stuff but she’s living in the training room. She wants to be back. I don’t have a timeline, a couple of weeks, I think, would be positive thinking.”
Rookie Laura Ziegler’s impact
Sparks rookie forward Laura Ziegler, a developmental contract player, was elevated to the team’s backup center and had four points, one rebound and one assist in her WNBA debut against New York on Sunday.
“I’m big on controlling what you can control,” Ziegler said, “and for me that’s working hard, trying to box out, get rebounds, run the floor hard, setting screens and stuff like that. I think the rest is just going to come.”
Ziegler, who has played in only one of her 12 allowable games on a developmental contract, could become a key reserve center between now and Brink’s return to action.
“That is a very underappreciated role,” Ogwumike said. “I was just telling her that I can sit her as someone who kind of knows when she’s going to get her minutes and tell her to stay ready, but every player in this league is fighting for their spot, fighting for opportunity and she showed an immense amount of maturity and grit to be ready (for Sunday night) and to come in a get some really big minutes.”
SPARKS (8-8) AT TORONTO (8-9)
When: 4 p.m. Thursday
Where: Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto
TV: Prime, Spectrum SportsNet
Kelsey Plum injury update heading into Sunday’s Sparks game against the NY Liberty.
Plum said over the course of her WNBA career, she’s been one of the healthiest players in the league and that’s not really going to change.
Plum said she’s going to show up every day and do… pic.twitter.com/D3WVaEsacL
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 20, 2026
Sparks forward Laura Ziegler on making her WNBA debut and helping the LA Sparks beat the NY Liberty 98-97 to celebrate the league’s 30th season. pic.twitter.com/ew3sss5NMb
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— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 22, 2026