WNBA star makes telling admission over tumultuous marriage to NFL tight end out to ‘save himself’

Kelsey Plum has recently established herself as one of the Los Angeles Sparks’ veteran leaders as she has sought to revitalise her life in the City of Angels. 

The WNBA star was traded to the Sparks from the Las Vegas Aces in the 2025 off-season, having spent her entire career and won back-to-back WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023.

Getty

The end of her tenure in Vegas also afforded the four-time All-Star the opportunity to start a new chapter, both on the court, and in her personal life. 

As a huge star in the WNBA world, Plum’s former relationship with NFL tight end, and former Las Vegas Raiders star, Darren Waller was a hot commodity. 

The two athletes tied the knot in March 2023, but filed for divorce just 13 months later  after it was revealed that their relationship had quickly soured. 

Rocky relationship made in Vegas

Plum, 30, recently opened up on ESPN’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ with Arielle Chambers at the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend over the tattoo of Waller that she is still ‘trying to remove.’

When asked if she had ever gotten a tattoo that she regretted, Plum was quick to respond.

“Girl, yeah, I got married and divorced,” Plum blurted out, drawing laughter from Chambers. “[I’m] Still trying to get it removed.”

Plum’s revelation came just days after the WNBA star was part of a collective that advocated for a greater split of revenue by sporting black t-shirts that read ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’ during All-Star game warm-ups.

This comes as it was revealed that WNBA players make just nine percent of the league’s revenue, compared to players in the NBA making 50 percent of their total revenue. 

Although they kept their romance largely private, following their break-up, 32-year-old Waller released a song in May 2024 titled “Who Knew (Her Perspective),” which many believe was about his former wife. 

Later on in 2024, Plum opened up about her devastation that their relationship ended in that way. 

Getty

IG/ @ariivory

‘I’m devastated. I walked through fire for that man, but now I see it’s time to go,” Plum wrote in a statement posted on social media back in April 2024.

“God has given me an incredible life, and I’m truly so grateful for the profound love from my family and friends. 

“One day I’ll share my story, today is not that day. Thank you for the grace to process my pain, to forgive and move forward. Today and everyday I continue to choose joy.”

Three months later, Waller sat down on Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, and made the admission that he needed to get honest with himself. 

‘You talk about getting honest or die lying, you kinda got to look at yourself and realize, ‘alright, what role am I playing that all the relationships in my life have always had the same patterns,'” Waller said in July 2024.  

“Any time I’m in a relationship, I feel like I gotta dance or do a certain thing to keep this person around, almost tying my self-worth to the success of a relationship, and you realize how much you lose yourself and doing the things that you love and things that take care of you on a daily basis.”

“Realizing the impact that it was having on me, as far as making decisions that were authentic for the life that I wanted, these are things that I couldn’t say 100 percent yes to. You have certain conversations and realize there’s so much life ahead of both of us, might as well just go ahead and live it and move on and no type of hostility,” he added.

New beginnings on opposite coasts

Since joining the Sparks, Plum has led the team in points scored (20.3) per game and assists (6.0) per game. 

The veteran has also shot 40.9 percent from the field, and 36.1 percent from deep, whilst also tallying 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 26 outings this season. 

Getty

Getty

She has also since featured in a cameo appearance of ‘Happy Gilmore 2’, and during promotion for that, she had time to address her new leadership role at the Sparks. 

“There’s a level of humility that you have to have going into a new role,” Plum told former NBA player Matt Barnes on ‘ALL THE SMOKE’ podcast.

“When we step into a new role in life, it’s okay to say ‘I don’t know how to do this, I’ve never done this’ and really lean in a lot of mentors and support. Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, women I’m tapping in with just to provide that wisdom.

“But for me, it’s just learning to be super adaptable. One game you might have to go score 10, 15 [points] in a quarter, and another you might have to go lock up the other best perimeter player. One game you might have to get into the paint, and get people going for assists. 

“It’s just one of those things where I’ve learned over time that my role is gonna change, not just in every game, but in every quarter, every time out, and just being okay with that and being super present, not allowing what happened, either off the court or what’s going on in that moment to affect the next moment. 

Waller, who was with the Raiders at the start of his relationship with Plum, spent the 2023 NFL season with the New York Giants. 

But after just one season with Big Blue, in which he had 552 yards from 52 receptions and just one touchdown, the 2020 Pro Bowler announced his retirement from the NFL at just 31-years-old. 

Getty

Getty

However, after missing the 2024 campaign, Waller decided to come out of retirement, and was subsequently traded to the Miami Dolphins along with a 2027 seventh-round pick, in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. 

Although he was put on the physically unable to perform list as the Dolphins opened training camp, Waller spoke out about how he feels it will be ‘possible’ to find the joy of football again in South Beach. 

“That joy has kind of been elusive but I’ve always found moments where it came back,” Waller said.

“It’s something I have been able to experience, and I feel like that’s possible this time around.”

“I’ve been in shape and doing a lot of crazy different workout things in my retirement, but it hasn’t been football specific movements. So there needs to be a solid foundation that’s laid before just going out there, because I’m going to want to go 120 percent, so sometimes you have to save me from myself.”

With the Dolphins having traded away Jonnu Smith as part of the Jalen Ramsey trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tua Tagovailoa’s list of tight end targets is incredibly slim, he joins tight ends Julian Hill, Pharaoh Brown, and Tanner Conner.

Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our NFL Facebook page, subscribe to our talkSPORT End Zone YouTube channel for all the offseason news, interviews and more.