WNBA ALL-STAR GAME

July 10, 2022

Kelsey Plum

A'ja Wilson

Team Stewart- Media Conference

Team Wilson 134, Team Stewart 112

Q. Congratulations, Kelsey, on winning the All-Star MVP award. What was that atmosphere and hearing that crowd and being able to expand the league and bring some visual to the league?

KELSEY PLUM: It was a lot of fun. I think that was kind of the whole point. This is for the fans and this is to reach and expose people that maybe haven't seen the W. And what a way to send off Sylvia and Sue. I think for me, I just personally wanted to go out and have a ton of fun.

You know, shots started to fall, so obviously it's really fun when that happens, too, but regardless of that, I was just going to play and have a ton of joy out there.

Q. Kelsey, you play with a talented front court in Las Vegas but today played with two legends in Candace and Sylvia. What was it like getting assists from them all game?

KELSEY PLUM: I mean, I was a kid in a candy store. I'm having fun running -- I could have just run up and down the whole time and I would have been content. That's kind of my mentality going into the game. This is like, they do this every year, so for them this is like another time, and for me I'm over here asking questions, I don't know what's going on, I don't know where to go, I don't know what time anything happens at, I don't know if it's required or not required.

So, I just think I was picking people's brains this weekend but Candace and Syl, they have just been phenomenal mentors and female leaders and as a young player, you can't ask for anything more.

Q. Anything specific those two provided as far as advice?

KELSEY PLUM: Candace told me she was going to run and drop it off to me and just pull it. Syl was just telling me to run. That's what I tried to do.

Q. A'ja, when Sylvia went up and slammed home that dunk, what was your reaction and did you tell anything to Candace about following up with one of her own?

A'JA WILSON: I was shook. I'm not even going to lie, I was so focused on trapping Jackie, so she didn't score. When Syl got the steal and the breakaway I was like, oh, my God, no way. When she did it, it was crazy. Syl could have walked off the court at that point and I would have been happy.

We tried to get Candace in the locker room but she was not feeling it. Maybe next year.

Q. Kelsey, did you know you were getting close to breaking the record for points?

KELSEY PLUM: No, I had no idea. I just, like I wanted to hit one on the end on Jonquel, so when I got the switch, I was like licking my chops. I'm like, yeah, this is what I wanted here. I missed a couple before that. So I was like, man, it's one thing to score but I'm trying to get percentages. So, when I missed a couple I'm like, KP, you cannot let this like be the downfall. Just go out bricking.

Especially anyone saw yesterday, I had to redeem myself. I'm not a rack shooter. I'm more of a game shooter. I'm glad it worked out.

Q. When you guys came out with Brittney Griner's jersey on at halftime, what statement did you want that to make? How important was it to have this kind of platform, National TV, obviously she's being talked about a lot this weekend even though she's not here?

A'JA WILSON: Like we say, we are the most unified league in the world honestly and wearing the jerseys was a statement to show that we are BG. Yes, we have the shirts and the pins but BG is one of us. She's our sister and at the end of the day we are going to do whatever we can to amplify the platform that we have to make sure that everyone is doing what they need to do to make sure that she gets home safely.

It's hard. It's hard for all of us. It's not easy. Not a day goes by that I'm not thinking about Brittney Griner. So wearing her jersey and letting the world know we are not whole without her, I think that's a statement in itself. When we are playing on ABC and ESPN, showing that it's real and understanding that we are not going to stop until everyone understands how serious this really is.

At the end of the day always praying for BG, that's our girl and we are just praying she gets home safely.

Q. How would you assess Kelsey's performance?

A'JA WILSON: Yeah, I am so proud of KP. I was saying that before we went to starting lineups. This girl here she works so hard, countless nights in the gym and for me to be able to draft her and say that she's my teammate is truly amazing. This gives me no surprise. When she stunk it up yesterday, I just knew it was about time she was going to let loose.

I'm so proud that she has this accomplishment, but this is KP. She's worked hard for this. This doesn't come by a surprise. Proud of you, girl. I talk crazy about her but I'm proud of her.

Q. Seemed like you were all taking Dearica's Twitter and poking some fun. What was going on there?

A'JA WILSON: Whoooo, yeah, D was stinking it up today, too, but it's okay. She redeemed herself as well, but we are always -- that's us. That's us. As Aces teammates, that's who we are. We love to have fun. We are each other's sisters, and we get on each other's nerves but at the end of the day we have each other's backs.

Q. This had to be a watershed moment for you to a certain extent, given when you were first drafted into the league, you had some growing pains. Just mention how great is it to get to this point, especially given the early season struggles you had?

KELSEY PLUM: Yeah, something like this, I used to validate how good I was as a player and that's one of the reasons I struggled in the past. Like you have highs and lows based on other people's opinions and "accomplishments" or "benchmarks," and so I think when I stopped identifying with that, I was able to be free.

Like today was great, don't get me wrong, MVP is great, shooting is great, winning is great but at the end of the day I don't feel any type of better of a person or any higher of a value of a person than I did when I entered the gym than when I'm leaving it. So that is what I'm most proud of.

Q. You will be back here for the Commissioner's Cup in a week or week and a half. What are you looking forward to about playing the Sky and in a Commissioner's Cup and potentially meeting them again in the Finals?

A'JA WILSON: I'm going to go ahead and say it, the bonus, the money. At the end of the day, we're competing for something that's going into our pockets and that's always good. You know you're going to get a good game out of it.

But it's always a good game when we play Chicago. And like you said, people do have us as contenders. But just looking at the Commissioner's Cup as a whole, it's going to be a good game. I'm excited for it. Time to come back here and get some more buckets, girl.

Q. There typically is not a lot of defense played in All-Star Games, so refreshing to see you trapping Jackie Young all over the place. Did you come into the game just -- was that already on your mind to do that or did you want get on her nerves?

KELSEY PLUM: Both. We talked about it.

A'JA WILSON: Yeah, I was like, go get her. Come on KP. We literally knew we wanted to get the ball out of Jackie's hands. And she texted me during halftime and said "Yo, stop double-teaming me."

And I said, "I got you." And I didn't know that Syl was going to go and trap her on the next --

KELSEY PLUM: Started doing it, too.

A'JA WILSON: Yeah, it was just to really to get on her nerves and she's very upset with me. I don't know why she's not upset with KP, but that's okay. I'll see her on the flight to New York.

Q. That was actually my question, first hedge in All-Star Game history.

KELSEY PLUM: I loved it. Thank you.