Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu Combine for Heartwarming Gesture to LA Sparks Rookie

USA Olympics Women's Basketball teammates Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu coordinated to hook up Sarah Ashley Barker with Nike Sabrinas.

Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu Combine for Heartwarming Gesture to LA Sparks Rookie

Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum (Firstsportz Image)

With all the media noise around WNBA rivalries, the league needs some good publicity with all the racial hate flying around. The players undoubtedly love each other and maintain a healthy rivalry for the most part. Yet, these stories aren’t deemed newsworthy by talking heads on television. However, Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu have come up clutch with a gesture that shows the players’ sisterhood.

Plum was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks before the 2025 WNBA season. After finding her footing in her new surroundings, the two-time WNBA champion began building bonds with her teammates. In the process of doing that, she happened to notice rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker’s predicament. The eight-year WNBA veteran promptly found a nice way to help Barker with it. She told the tale on her Instagram Stories recently:

This is why the W is the best, okay? My teammate Sarah Ashlee Barker from Alabama, in training camp she’s wearing (Nike) Sabrinas. But they’re like, they’re old. I’m like ‘We gotta get you some new shoes. What’s going on here?’ And she’s like ‘Yeah, I got some, but they’re taking too long, blah blah blah, whatever.’ So it’s like ‘Okay, what do you wanna wear?’ She’s like ‘I like the Sabrinas, I like the grip, it’s great.’

Plum then used her position as an Olympic teammate and friend of Sabrina Ionescu for a sweet gesture.

I said, ‘Great. I know Sabrina. Let’s ask her for some shoes. Some good colorways.’ She’s like, ‘okay.’ So I hit Sab up, I’m like ‘Yo, help my teammate. It’s a nightmare out here.’ And she was like ‘I got you. What size is she wearing?’ I said ‘10.5.’ She said ‘Great, that’s the size I wear.’ I’m like ‘Great! Just don’t send any Oregon colorways. I can even deal with the Liberty (colors) but don’t send any Oregon colorways.’ She’s like ‘Okay, bet.’ Look what showed up at the door!

Plum then pointed her phone towards a newly unboxed package from the New York Liberty guard. It showed six brand new pairs of Nike Sabrina shoes, notably with no Liberty or Oregon colorways. Barker has also been spotted wearing the pink colorways at Sparks games.

Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu are in contrasting situations

Before the advent of Caitlin Clark and her monumental 2023 NCAA tournament run, Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu were the last two highly hyped guard prospects to enter the WNBA. Both played in the Pac-12 Conference – Plum played for Washington, while Ionescu represented arch-rivals Oregon. The two programs’ rivalry was the main reason why Plum didn’t want her New York friend to send her college colorways.

Plum and Ionescu have both endured rough rookie seasons in the WNBA before figuring it out alongside other talents. Plum and A’ja Wilson were back-to-back No. 1 overall picks who’ve transformed the Las Vegas Aces. After a few years of developing, the Aces ascended to the summit in 2022 and won the title. They then became repeat champions in 2023, beating Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and the Liberty in the Finals.

The Liberty got their lick back last year, beating the fourth-seeded Aces in the WNBA Semifinals. Kelsey Plum was under the microscope during the series for her reduced production. She has since earned a trade to the Sparks, who are very much in the developing phase that Plum found herself in as a rookie. However, she is now a two-time champion and the main veteran presence in her locker room. Ionescu, meanwhile, continues to star for the defending champions, who are unbeaten in 2025.

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