Like a growing plot related to the best players (6)
I believe the answer is:
seeded
'like' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a growing plot related to the best players' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'players' could be 'ee' (an abbreviation for a bridge player written twice) and 'ee' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for seeded that I've seen before include "Planted like top tennis player" , "top players?" , "Sown" , "set for growth" , "Among the favourites" .)