Kelsey Plum was born with an innate drive to excel at her passion. Before she even stepped on a basketball court as a WNBA player, she hustled her way into the pro basketball experience as an intern. While working with the Seattle Storm as a college freshman, Plum met Sue Bird and the rest of the roster. That encounter between remains an ever-strong memory in Bird\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n
Kelsey Plum\u2019s<\/a> goal since she was a kid was to play in the WNBA<\/a>. She got one step closer after committing to the University of Washington on a full-ride scholarship. Coincidentally, one of her assistant coaches with the Huskies, Adia Barnes, was a radio broadcaster for Seattle Storm games.<\/p>\n At the time, Plum was 18 years old. She saw an opportunity to gain experience and immediately pounced on it.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually took a class in Washington, and you could intern,\u201d Plum said<\/a> on\u00a0Bird\u2019s Eye View. \u201cSo I pitched it to her. I was like, \u2018Let me be your intern.’\u201d<\/p>\n Barnes accepted Plum\u2019s offer for the 2014 WNBA season. Sue Bird<\/a> didn\u2019t live under a rock, so she knew what a promising prospect Plum was. It\u2019s hard to judge whether she knew Plum would become one of the greatest female collegiate players of all time or not, but there is something she knew right off the bat.<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote my memory of you, and it was ambition. That\u2019s what I was struck by you in that moment. So the fact that you pitched this as an intern, that has ambition written all over it. You just had an ambition about you that this is what you were going to do,\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n That specific trait contributed to Plum\u2019s success and led to her becoming the first pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft, a two-time WNBA champion and a four-time All-Star.<\/p>\n That same ambition also pushed Plum not to remain complacent. As a result, she left a great situation with the Las Vegas Aces to join the Los Angeles Sparks in hopes of carrying a team on her back<\/a>.<\/p>\n