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Spike Lee and Kelsey Plum of the Aces exchange heated trash talk

Spike Lee and Kelsey Plum of the Aces exchange heated trash talk

In the fourth quarter, with less than eight minutes left in Game 1 of Sunday’s semifinal game between the Liberty and the Aces, Las Vegas’ Alysha Clark cheated far to the basket to help Breanna Stewart on defense and let Sabrina Ionescu pass open wing.

Stewart sent the ball to Ionescu, who made one of her two consecutive 3-pointers in the Liberty’s 87-77 win in front of a sellout crowd at Barclays Center.

Spike Lee shouts from the sidelines during the first game of the 2024 WNBA
Semifinals at Barclays Center on September 29, 2024. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

After sinking the shot, Ionescu ran past Spike Lee and jubilantly pointed at the filmmaker and Brooklyn native.

Lee, wearing an Ionescu jersey, pointed back at the Liberty star with enthusiasm.

While the friendship was in the spotlight during the Liberty’s playoff run, the growing relationship between the two New York celebrities dates back to 2020, when Ionescu was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft out of Oregon.

“To be honest, I think he was the first person who called me when I got drafted here,” Ionescu said after the win. “I think that’s a story that I don’t know if I’ve ever said. But I think he was the first one to call me and just tell me how excited he was about New York becoming No. 1. Every time I saw him out and about, we’d just have a quick chat and I’d keep telling him he had to come to a game because this was different than anything else. To be able to see him here cheering us on loudly, he was over there chirping at the referees and talking to the players, which was really fun. But of course it’s exciting to see the support we get from all the New York fans.”

Ionescu and Lee also shared a high-five in Liberty’s Game 2 victory over the Dream in the first round of the playoffs.

Before he hit the ball downfield, Lee held out his hand to the three-time All-Star, and just seconds later Ionescu drove in for a layup.

Aces star Kelsey Plum during the team’s Game 1 loss to the
Freedom on September 29, 2024. NBAE via Getty Images

She said she felt like New York had been injected into her veins at that moment.

Jonquel Jones called it the “Spiderwoman” touch.

Lee was seen on the sidelines at countless Knicks games and always singled out a specific player.

On Sunday, he brought that same energy to the start of the Liberty semifinals, choosing to attack Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who tweeted back and told Lee to “speak louder.”

Spike Lee, Clara Wu Tsai along with Sabrina Ionescu #20 and Breanna Stewart #30 of the New York Liberty after the win against the Las Vegas Aces on September 29, 2024. Michelle Farsi/New York Post

It was all “fun” for Plum, she said after the game.

She also admitted that it was “cool” to have him there at the start of the best-of-five series.

Ionescu scored 21 points while shooting 50 percent from distance while also notching five assists, two steals, four rebounds and a block.