Kelsey Plum, the No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, was on hand in her new (temporary?) hometown of San Antonio on Tuesday night for Game 5 of Spurs-Grizzlies. The leading scorer in NCAA women’s history participated in a shirt toss promotion for fans and sweet sassy molassy, she has got a goddamned rifle for an arm. She throws this thing, like, to the back row of the first section of seats. To my learned eye, that’s at least an 85-yard pass. Maybe 120 yards.
let’s look again:
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This is damn near cinematic. The form, the power, the helpless feeling of being a cotton blob being launched into orbit. Whew.
It’s not all fun and games for Plum and the San Antonio Stars, though. They find themselves in an awkward situation because Plum was undoubtedly the best player in the draft, but she also plays one of the only positions San Antonio has locked up. There reportedly was a deal in place for a draft-day trade, but the Stars backed away at the last minute, so Plum remains in a crowded backcourt. There were rumblings that Plum would sit this year out and reenter the draft next year if San Antonio didn’t work out a trade somewhere, meaning the Stars wouldn’t get anything out of their No. 1 overall pick.
Plum does seem to be having fun here so maybe that awkward period is over and both sides are committed to making this work. If not, and the Stars are still looking to for a trade partner, might I humbly suggest the New York Jets.
