Mental Buckets Recap: Kelsey Plum

April 15, 2021

By Ellie Lieberman

Kelsey Plum comes from a family of athletes. Both her parents and all three of her siblings played Division I athletics, and she is the leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball history. She is the second for both and women and had the single season record 1,109 points in 2016-17. What may seem like a career marked by milestones, even before being the first overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft,  is one in which Plum still had much to overcome.

With that said, Plum faced insurmountable pressure, especially as she was nearing her record breaking career at UW. She recalls some pressure she would face as a senior for the Huskies.

“You played a really good game. Maybe you had 22 points, were 8/11, 7 assists, won by 20,” Plum said on Mental Buckets. Any other person would be super happy with that and I was happy with that and then someone in the stands, would be like you had only 22 today. The Seattle Times had a countdown every day of how many points you had left. “

Plum admits the expectations continued as she headed into the WNBA and people were set on her achieving what she had at the college level. Then she missed the entire 2020 season due to an Achilles injury.

“My performance was directly correlated to my self-esteem,” Plum said. That’s a slippery slope to live on.”

Plum realized that she couldn’t remain mentally strong with that attitude because the only thing she could control was the work she put in. She admits it takes time for a stronger mental reframing but with her developed confidence and recovery from injury, there’s nothing that can stop Plum now. And this all dates back to the very beginning.

“I remember my dad teaching from a very young age if you write your goals down and can see them everyday, then you’re way more likely to accomplish them and I really took that to heart.”