Why Kelsey Plum gave her mom her Olympic gold medal (exclusive)

Kelsey Plum’s Olympic gold medal is safe and sound – with her mother.

“I gave it to my mom because I thought she would keep it much safer than I would,” the 30-year-old WNBA star tells PEOPLE exclusively, referring to the Olympic gold she won with the U.S. basketball team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

“I don’t want to be responsible for lost or stolen items, so I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ll just give it to Mom,'” Plum jokes during the interview about her collaboration with smartwater.

The WNBA season was suspended during the Summer Games so its stars could compete in Paris, but Plum and the other athletes on the U.S. team started the season right after winning the gold medal, leaving little time for additional recovery.

“We were in Paris for a month and came right back to play games, so honestly I’m just trying to catch up on sleep and sit by the pool when I can,” she says of her free time lately.

The Las Vegas Aces, on the other hand, want to win their third WNBA title in a row this season with Plum and MVP A’ja Wilson, who also represented the USA in Paris.

“We have a lot of fun together,” she says of her teammates. “It’s no surprise that we poke fun at each other, even on social media and stuff, or just laugh. We really enjoy each other’s company.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Plum says she “can’t” reveal the name of the team’s group chat, but promises it’s “really fun.” She also says they often play You Can’t Say Umm when they’re passing the time.

“Basically it’s a word game where you try to describe a word on the card without saying ‘um’. It sounds a bit silly but it’s really fun because we all say every kind of pause word like ‘um’ or ‘erm’ or every kind of ‘like’. So it’s really fun to see how people struggle to think of words,” says the athlete, adding that in addition to the party game, “we also play cards.”

As part of her collaboration with Smartwater, Plum – a self-proclaimed “pH 9.5 alkaline girl” – says she partnered with the water brand because “it’s something I’ve been drinking on my own for a long time.”

“I know that Smartwater is now an intersection of culture, sport and fashion, and it just felt like a really good fit. These are all things that I am very passionate about,” she continues.

“I think you can definitely say that the W is the hottest league in sport right now, simply because it includes so many different cross-sections and these women are awesome,” says Plums about the league’s increased sponsorship opportunities in recent seasons.