Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum is giving God all the glory after the team’s WNBA Finals Championship win. At a press conference after the game, she said, “I want to thank God. This is not possible without Him.” Plum continued, “This group has been through so much, but it’s here,” pointing to her heart.
She added, “There was a lot of years that we weren’t so super, but you can’t build a super team in a couple of months. It takes years. I’m just really proud of this group.” Plum also celebrated her win with her husband, Darren Waller. The couple have been making long-distance work after Waller’s trade from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New York Giants.
Waller told People Magazine, “It’s not ideal to have the person that you love the most not with you on a daily basis, but we make it work. We’ve been handling it the best we can.” He added that Plum will join him on the East Coast once the WNBA season ends, “and we’ll be back to living together, and it’ll be all good.” Plum has previously spoken about her Christian faith.
Plum entered the WNBA with massive expectations. She was supposed to be able to replicate what she did in college at the pro level right away. However, a right ankle injury during her first training camp made the transition even more difficult. Plum made 23 starts and averaged 8.5 points per game in her first year, appearing in 31 games.
These aren’t bad numbers for a rookie, but they’re not exactly what she hoped for. The adversity led Plum to evaluate her relationship with God. Raised in a Christian home, she never had faith forced on her by her parents, but she needed to learn what it truly meant to rely on Christ. She told Sports Spectrum, “I kind of had to go through life and figure out what’s important. It takes a lot of failure and mistakes and humility to be able to see that I need a relationship with God.”
In 2019, the additions of 2018 scoring champion Liz Cambage and No. 1 overall selection Jackie Young to Las Vegas’ roster presented a new challenge for Plum. Adding Young to the starting lineup meant Plum went from point guard, the position she was most familiar with, to shooting guard. Plum also missed training camp again due to overseas commitments.
She said, “I was struggling all year, and it was very hard for me personally. I think He was building me for something bigger.” Throughout the physical and spiritual trials, the 29-year-old athlete continues to trust that God has an ultimate plan for her life.
In a 2020 interview, Plum said, “I’m super grateful because I think that He’s always really been very precise about exactly where He wanted me to be, and He’s put certain people in my life to really help me. I’m just super grateful, so I think for me, as I continue to grow into a woman and a woman of faith, I try to make sure that I’m a light.”