Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu had All-American college careers in the Pac-12, were No. 1 picks in the WNBA Draft and have been selected as All-Stars three times apiece in the women’s basketball league.
Now they have something else in common: Getting new shoes for Los Angeles Sparks rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker.
A former Spain Park High School star, Barker joined the Sparks from Alabama as the ninth selection in the WNBA Draft on April 14.
Plum also is new to Los Angeles this season, coming aboard from the Las Vegas Aces in a trade on Feb. 1.
On Wednesday, Plum took to social media to show off six pairs of basketball sneakers sent by Ionescu to Barker and detail how the New York Liberty star came to send her Nike model to a WNBA rookie.
“This is why the W is the best,” Plum said. “My teammate, Sarah Ashlee Barker from Alabama, in training camp she’s wearing Sabrinas, but they’re old. They’re, like, old 1’s. And I’m like, ‘Yo, we got to get you some new shoes. Like, what’s going on here?’ So she said, ‘Yeah, I got some, but they’re taking too long.’ Whatever, blah, blah, blah. So I was like, ‘OK, what do you want to wear?’ She said, ‘I like the Sabrinas. I like the grip.’ I said, ‘Great. I know Sabrina. Let’s ask her for some shoes, some good colorways.’
“So I hit Sab up, like, ‘Yo, help my teammate. It’s a nightmare out here.’ And she was like, ‘I got you. What size does she wear?’ I said, ‘Ten and a half.’ And she said, ‘Great. That’s the size I wear.’ I’m like, ‘Great. But just don’t send any Oregon colorways. I can even deal with the Liberty, but don’t send the Oregon colorways. OK?’ So she’s like, ‘OK, bet.’
“Look what showed up at the door. Dog, she hooked up SA. Come on, baby, I’m hyped for you. Sab, thank you so much. These are fire.”
Barker is six games into her WNBA career and has started the past four games after an injury to Rae Burrell left an opening in the Los Angeles backcourt. Barker has averaged 4.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.3 minutes per game for the Sparks.
Los Angeles plays the Aces at 9 p.m. CDT Friday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ion will televise the game.
Barker’s former Alabama teammate Aaliyah Nye plays for the Aces. Las Vegas added Nye with the 13th selection in this year’s WNBA Draft.
Barker and Ionescu will be on the same court on July 3, when the Sparks play the Liberty at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
