Kelsey Plum Credits Trainer Susan King Borchardt for Her Remarkable WNBA Success

Kelsey Plum, the standout WNBA player, has been making waves in the league with her exceptional performance, and she attributes a significant part of her success to her trainer, Susan King Borchardt. Plum, who plays for the Las Vegas Aces, began working with King Borchardt after suffering an Achilles rupture in 2020. Since then, she has returned to the court stronger than ever, recently earning her first All-Star selection and averaging 20.1 points and 5.9 assists per game.

King Borchardt, a former Stanford standout and brief WNBA player with the Minnesota Lynx, has been instrumental in the careers of several top WNBA players, including Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, and Skylar Diggins-Smith. Her tailored individual workouts have been praised by her clients for their effectiveness in helping athletes achieve their goals. “The way we look at it is Sue is so different from Stewie is so different from Kelsey Plum is so different from Nneka,” King Borchardt explained, highlighting the importance of individualization in her training approach.

Sue Bird, another WNBA legend who has worked with King Borchardt since 2013, credits her for helping her reach her fifth Olympics in 2020. Bird praised King Borchardt’s impact, saying she wouldn’t have made it to the Olympics without her trainer’s help. King Borchardt’s influence extends beyond the WNBA; she also served as the performance and recovery coach for USA Basketball in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

King Borchardt’s success has led to the establishment of her own business, The Athlete Blueprint, which boasts a roster of over 10 women’s basketball players and two soccer players, including Megan Rapinoe, Bird’s fiancée. Her reputation as a “secret weapon” among athletes is well-deserved, given the significant improvements her clients have seen under her guidance.