New York Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb says he respects Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum but took her recent comments personally.
Kelsey Plum will speak her mind if you haven’t figured it out. You could be Tom Brady, part of the group that signs her checks, and Plum will still give you hell.
On October 6th, two days before the WNBA Finals started, she was asked her thoughts on the recent conversations about the Aces and the Liberty being superteams. Both teams have been mentioned because of the talent their rosters have.
Plum didn’t think the narrative fit her team.
Kelsey Plum weighed in on the superteam talk in the WNBA. pic.twitter.com/kaH5NFn1Nz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 6, 2023
The star guard rejected the superteam label, saying, “Those of us who are homegrown players, every year, we’ve seen growth.”
Yet, Plum wasn’t done. She had more to say after the Aces won their recent title over the Liberty: “You can’t build a superteam in a couple of months. It takes years.”
The Aces have homegrown talent ♠️
(via @sportsiren) pic.twitter.com/55z3ZKXNVL
— espnW (@espnW) October 19, 2023
Then, Plum doubled down again. Per Alex Smith of Yahoo Sports, Plum drove a message home:
“We also knew that, as much as they’re a team, they’re 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.”
Whew.
During the Liberty’s exit interviews Friday, Kolb was asked about Plum’s comments. He delivered a subtly fiery but ultimately measured response.
GM Jonathan Kolb calls The Liberty “a team personified” in response to Kelsey Plum’s comments
(Q: @ClassicJpow) pic.twitter.com/lZBruxaIui
— Gigi Speer (@gigi_speer) October 20, 2023
“The fact of the matter is that this is a team,” Kolb said. “If you’re around these players day in and day out, they truly care about one another.”
He continued but clarified his point: “This is absolutely a team. It’s a team personified.”
The Liberty are fighting hard to defend their reputation, but with a Finals loss and a new fine from the WNBA, the off-season might not be moving fast enough for them to get to the healing they need.
