Las Vegas guard Kelsey Plum, the WNBA's No. 1 draft pick in 2017 and the NCAA's all-time scoring leader in women's basketball, suffered an Achilles tendon injury this week and will miss the 2020 season.
The Aces announced that Plum, 25, underwent surgery to repair her left Achilles tendon Thursday, but they didn't specify when the injury happened. In a tweet on Thursday, Plum wrote that she tore the tendon "a couple days ago."
"I'll be back, better than ever," Plum wrote. "Just wait on it."
Plum scored 3,527 points in her career at Washington from 2013 to 2017 -- the most points for a women's player in the NCAA era that began in 1981-82. Her college career was also highlighted by the Huskies' first trip to the Women's Final Four in 2016.
Plum was the top selection in the 2017 draft by San Antonio, and she played one season for the Stars before they moved to Las Vegas and became the Aces. The past two years, she has been a starter for the Aces, who lost in the WNBA semifinals last season to the eventual champion Washington Mystics. Plum had a strong showing in the 2019 playoffs, averaging 15.2 points, 7.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds in five games, while shooting 52.9% from behind the arc.
Plum has averaged 8.9 points and 3.5 assists during the regular season in her three years in the WNBA.
"All of Las Vegas is in Kelsey's corner, and pulling for a quick recovery," Aces general manager Dan Padover said in a statement. "We know that she will attack her rehabilitation with the same intensity with which she attacks the court."
The WNBA hasn't officially announced the details of its 2020 season, as that's still being negotiated. The league reportedly will have a 22-game regular season beginning in late July, with the playoffs concluding in October.