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Las Vegas Aces guard recovers from tear in achilles tendon

The Aces are currently 13-2 on the season.
Posted at 4:07 PM, Jun 21, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-22 14:52:39-04

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's been two years since Las Vegas Aces' guard Kelsey Plum tore her achilles tendon while playing 3x3 basketball with the USA Basketball Association. This was an injury that sidelined her for the 2020 season.

"When you rupture your Achilles, you have to relearn how to walk," Plum said. "You have to make sure everything is firing. You have to get your calf back to the size of the other one. It took a lot of work. I was doing double days, triple days. Just working on my strength, working on my conditioning."

In what could have been a serious career obstacle, the Olympic gold medalist says the injury was a blessing in disguise.

"Honestly, I think it was one of the best things to ever happen to me for my career just being able to reset. You know break everything down to start again," Plum said. "I think for me it was great for the balance. I didn't really understand the balance in life, and I think for me I was able to shift my mindset and learn some other skills aside from basketball. So I feel like one of the reasons why I'm having so much fun this year is cause I have good balance in life and that came from that injury."

It's the 2022 season that's seeing the Aces' guard become one of the league's top scorers, averaging 20 points per game.

"I'm just letting the game come to me. I think for me I'm just trying to grow and get better," Plum said. "It's a new system, a new offense so I feel like the further we go along, the more comfortable I'm getting with Becky and with what she wants. It's been a lot of fun."