WNBA: Sabrina Ionescu & Jonquel Jones Slams Champion Kelsey Plum, Calls Her Classless
During the team’s exit interviews on Friday, New York Liberty star Jonquel Jones called remarks made by Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum during Game 4 of the WNBA Finals “classless.” In that game, Jones and the Liberty lost, ending their season, while the Aces won back-to-back crowns.
WNBA: Sabrina Ionescu & Jonquel Jones Slams Champion Kelsey Plum, Calls Her Classless
The shorthanded Aces, without two starters in Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes, trailed the Liberty by 12 points in the third quarter but could not finish the job. Plum provided a stern justification for the Liberty’s demise.
Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones call out ‘classless’ Kelsey Plum dig https://t.co/rvGyyvtk5H pic.twitter.com/g5EJGPUvOV
— New York Post (@nypost) October 21, 2023
“I think we knew we hadn’t played our best basketball,” Plum stated. “We also knew that, as much as they’re a team, they’re not a team, if that makes sense. They’re really good individual players, but they don’t care about each other. And you can tell in those moments. They revert back to individual basketball.”
Unsurprisingly, Jones was not happy.
Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and the Liberty respond to Kelsey Plum's comments on the team https://t.co/xxlMRzTEJz pic.twitter.com/3Hl6F0zK0D
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 20, 2023
“She’s not in our locker room. She doesn’t know what goes on in our locker rooms and our huddles,” Jones said. “I think it’s easy to kick people when they’re down and you’re up. Honestly, to me, it felt kind of classless. You already won a championship, you get to celebrate with your teammates, you get to talk about things that your team did to be successful, and you choose to essentially just s— on somebody else and their team and what they’ve built all year. Yeah, for me, I don’t care anything for it, to be honest.”
After receiving backlash for her remarks, Plum claimed on social media that they had been misinterpreted. She then apologized to the players and the squad and said she was trying to move on.
Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum e Jackie Young (somados).
72 Pontos.
Sabrina Ionescu, Laney e Vandersloot (somados).
28 Pontos. pic.twitter.com/QNILqjmj4x
— WNBA Brasil (@WNBA_Brasil) October 11, 2023
“Since the media wants to do clickbait, I’m going to cut this drama out right now so we can move on and be in peace,” she wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “What I said was taken extremely out of context.
Ionescu acknowledged on Friday that her hip injury sustained in Game 4 of the semifinals against the Connecticut Sun had an impact on her performance throughout the WNBA Finals.
Stewie’s response to Kelsey Plum’s comments about the lack of “team” the Liberty have:
“Congratulations to Vegas… we’re gonna just continue to carry ourselves with grace and keep that going forward” pic.twitter.com/wmzzygC3rc
— wnba lover 🏀 (@secretwnbawag) October 20, 2023
Ionescu stated that she had an injection prior to Game 1 and Game 2 in Las Vegas “just to be able to play,” but she reiterated that there is no justification for her or the Liberty’s performance in the series, which they lost 3-1 to the Aces.
Kelsey Plum still has the coldest photo in WNBA history pic.twitter.com/rmLgAl1NOF
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) October 19, 2023
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