What nobody can understand is why the Stars aren’t even trying to answer the very real question of whether the trio of Plum, Jefferson and McBride can play together, and if so, how well. “She definitely can be doing more and should be playing so she can figure out how to play on this level,” one WNBA coach opined of Plum, wondering if “maybe VJ is mad she was made to pick her.”

It seems incredibly self-defeating, but the league is left scrambling for answers about the unprecedented situation, and the Stars aren’t providing them, in word or in deed.

Plum’s minutes per game would be by far the lowest in recent memory of any WNBA top pick.

And while the ankle injury Plum suffered in the latter stages of the preseason is often presented as a reason for her slow integration into the Stars’ lineup, it isn’t as if she’s playing more lately: just 11 minutes per game over her last five contests. On Sunday in Minnesota? She played 4:12, all in the first half.