Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Kate Martin (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Basketball fans were loving a viral image of Las Vegas Aces rookie Kate Martin and superstar Kelsey Plum during Saturday’s home contest against the Los Angeles Sparks.

During the fourth quarter of the game at Michelob Ultra Arena, Kate Martin blocked a shot by Sparks center Li Yueru to save two points for the home team. The Aces would squeak out an 89-82 victory to improve to 2-0.

Here’s the video of Martin’s highlight reel play:

ELITE defensive possession by Kate Martin ending it all with a big block.

Hard closeout. Active hands. Always seeing man and ball. Feet always moving. Great weakside help. pic.twitter.com/DozCRnuKDD

— Kendal Shell 🏁 (@KendalShell) May 18, 2024

And here’s an epic shot from a photographer of Plum’s reaction to the block:

kelsey plum reaction to the kate martin block is my absolute favourite, this is my dwade and lebron picture pic.twitter.com/XxcyGbwBHk

— aims (@yungaims) May 18, 2024

This image of Plum and Martin quickly went viral and garnered plenty of awesome reactions on social media:

The Aces selected Kate Martin in the second round (18th overall) in last month’s 2024 WNBA Draft. Martin and Caitlin Clark (the first overall pick to the Indiana Fever) helped the Iowa Hawkeyes to consecutive national championship game appearances in 2023 and 2024 which they lost to LSU and South Carolina, respectively.

In Saturday’s victory against Los Angeles, Martin played 26 minutes and tallied three points, five rebounds and three assists to go along with her block.

Las Vegas continues their four-game homestand with another contest against Phoenix on Tuesday before welcoming Clark and the Fever next Saturday.

Kate Martin & Aces Are Off To Excellent 2-0 Start

The reigning WNBA Champions opened their season with an 89- 80 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday. Five days later, they snuck past the Sparks to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

Center A’ja Wilson and guard Jackie Young are dominating in the early going. The former is averaging an impressive 26 points, 11.5 rebounds, three assists, two steals and 2.5 blocks per contest.

As for Young, she’s averaging 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. She nearly put up a triple-double in the opener against the Mercury (22 points, six rebounds and 11 assists) while going 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.