Fans Call for WNBA to Punish Kelsey Plum After ‘Dirty Move’ vs Valkyries

Fans Call for WNBA to Punish Kelsey Plum After ‘Dirty Move’ vs Valkyries originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Kelsey Plum has caught the attention of many this season for how well she’s adjusted to a new system in her first season with the Los Angeles Sparks.

After six seasons with the Las Vegas Aces, Plum was traded to L.A. during the offseason in a three-team deal with the Aces and Seattle Storm.

The 30-yar-old guard has arguably been the Sparks’ best player this season, leading the team in points (19.8), assists (6.1), and minutes (35.5) per game, and she also ranks third in the league in assists, fifth in scoring, and seventh in 3-point shooting (36.2%).

Though Plum typically makes headlines for her frequent scoring outbursts, she was trending on social media during Saturday night’s matchup against the Golden State Valkyries—a 72-59 loss—for a less desirable reason.

While defending Valkyries guard Veronica Burton near the top of the 3-point line in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, Plum stuck her leg stuck out as Burton tried to drive to the lane seemingly trying and kick the ball loose, resulting in both players falling to the floor.

Burton jumped up to confront Plum before their teammates separated them.

Fans immediately flocked to social media to rip into Plum, who many of them started berating for the "dirty move" and for being a "dirty player" — a label Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts dismissed after the game.

Kelsey Plum definitely stuck the leg out on Veronica Burton there, and Veronica was NOT PLEASED at all about that.

The full 617 Boston, via Newton, came out of Burton there. Plum was given a flagrant 1 on it.

🎥 @sluggahjells#WNBApic.twitter.com/Bid2xevfab

— The Whole Delivery (@TWDTV1) August 10, 2025

“She was trying to kick the ball,” Roberts told reporters. “She didn't mean to [trip Burton]. I saw it live, but I didn't see the replay, so I don't really know how it all shook out. But I know she was trying to kick the ball. She's not a dirty player.”

Despite Roberts’ remarks, that didn’t stop the online backlash against Plum, which many fans expressing their disappointment the 30-year-old guard didn’t face any punishment from the WNBA.

“Plum needs to get suspended for that [expletive],” one fan wrote.

“Kelsey Plum is a punk [expletive]… plenty of examples of this and this really should be a suspension. We can’t have players purposely endangering others out of frustration,” another fan scoffed.

“Flagrant 1 is not enough for this crap play. If they are serious about it, ejection. I’m 69 and have watched a lot of basketball, this is NOT a basketball move,” a third fan sneered.

“Should have been F2 and ejection. The league will either tolerate that garbage or it won’t,” one user pointed out.

“Insane to me that this was not an instant ejection,” remarked another user.

“No ejection. @WNBA is a scam league,” one fan exclaimed.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 11, 2025, where it first appeared.