Kelsey Plum is the newest member of the Los Angeles Sparks. The veteran WNBA point guard signed a one-year deal with the organization worth exactly one dollar less than $1,000,000.
Why? Great question.
Plum took less money to help the Sparks sign better talent around here through WNBA free agency. However, the exact dollar amount does not appear to hold any specific value.
Kelsey Plum signed with the Los Angeles Sparks.
At 31 years old, Plum was one of the top unsigned players on the market. She is a four-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion. This will be her second
Kelsey Plum was drafted No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Stars, which later became the Las Vegas Aces. The 5-foot-8 guard played her first eights seasons in the league with the same organization. She was traded to the Sparks last February but Los Angeles finished below .500 and missed the playoffs.
This year should be different. The goal is to win now.
Cam Brink is back at full health and 10-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike and three-time All-Star Dearica Hamby all resigned with the organization. The Sparks also acquired two-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist Ariel Atkins, who is still on her rookie contract, and added Erica Wheeler.
They also resigned their star point guard.
Although Plum was in line for the new $1.4 million supermax contract, she opted to sign at a discounted rate to give Los Angeles ~$400,000 to go sign another important role player. It was an extremely team-friendly deal designed in pursuit of a championship.
Why did she take $999,999 instead of $1,000,000?
To completely honest, I do not know the real answer to this question but I have a few theories. It is my belief that Kelsey Plum signed for exactly one dollar less than $1 million just to be funny.
She is quirky. I would not be surprised if she did this to get a rise out of the fans and to get them talking.
Otherwise, there is no clear reason as to why Plum took exactly $999,999.
The millionaire tax in California does not have anything to do with the financial decision. Although it is true that California currently imposes the highest top marginal income tax rate in the United States on income over $1 million at 13.3%, the tax only applies to every dollar over $1 million.
There is difference between $999,999 and $1,000,000. Someone who makes $1,000,001 would have to pay an additional $0.13.
The singular dollar that Plum respectfully turned down does not make a tangible financial difference. That is also true for federal tax, especially if she operates an LLC for corporate taxes in a different state— which I would imagine she does. There is no difference between $999,999 and $1,000,000.
Therefore, I can only assume Kelsey Plum agreed to take exactly $1 less than one million dollars because she received bad tax advice from someone who does not know how it works, or to get people talking exactly like we are talking right now. I am going with the latter.