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Michael Voepel, ESPN Senior Author
INDIANAPOLIS — In essentially the most profitable 12 months of her skilled basketball profession, Kelsey Mitchell is coping with her deepest loss.
It is not evident on the court docket, the place the guard has helped the Indiana Fever finish a seven-season WNBA playoff drought. Mitchell, the WNBA’s No. 2 draft choose in 2018, has performed for the Fever all through their journey again to franchise relevancy.
However the individual she credit with constructing her sport, her power and her fortitude is not right here. Her father, Mark Mitchell, a longtime highschool and faculty basketball coach, died abruptly in March at age 56.
“That was my greatest pal, and we did every little thing collectively,” Mitchell informed ESPN. “We type of lived by means of one another on so many ranges. He was my father, however we might speak about every little thing. And it sucks. Man, it sucks. It is simply, you understand, you would like you can return.
“I attempt to do the perfect job emotionally to maintain myself intact, realizing how a lot my dad performed a job in my life and being grateful for that. … It isn’t all the time straightforward.”
Making issues look straightforward is a trademark of Mitchell’s sport and persona. She does it with every high-arcing lefty 3-pointer, her signature shot. With every slash to the basket and acrobatic end. Along with her smiles on the court docket.
There weren’t numerous these Sunday because the WNBA playoffs tipped for the Fever, who fell 93-69 in Sport 1 of their best-of-three collection in opposition to the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun. Mitchell completed with a team-high 21 factors however shot 2 of 10 from behind the arc. She and the sixth-seeded Fever will want a greater efficiency Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) to maintain their season going.
However in a 12 months of grief and triumph for Mitchell, she is aware of perseverance.
“She deserves each little bit of the [acclaim] she’s getting, and extra,” Fever coach Christie Sides mentioned. “She does maintain to herself, although, and would not let you understand how she’s actually feeling. She might be having a extremely unhealthy day, however I will not learn about it. She’s all the time going to say she’s OK.”
Mitchell’s even-keel demeanor throughout this 20-victory season is similar because it was in 2022, when the Fever have been a franchise-worst 5-31. That 12 months, former Indiana star Tamika Catchings resigned as basic supervisor, the Fever had an in-season teaching change they usually needed to play in different arenas as a result of their common house, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, was being renovated.
In the meantime, the Las Vegas Aces‘ A’ja Wilson, the participant drafted No. 1 in 2018 forward of Mitchell, praised her and the way Mitchell’s play has impacted the Fever.
“I keep in mind our households have been collectively simply kicking it on the draft. It is taken a while for her and Indiana. However seeing somebody that stayed heading in the right direction, and now it is paying off. … I simply smile. I am so glad for her.”
A’ja Wilson on Kelsey Mitchell
“The enjoyment that she performs with, the enjoyable she has with others — it is contagious,” Wilson mentioned. “I keep in mind our households have been collectively simply kicking it on the draft. It is taken a while for her and Indiana. However seeing somebody that stayed heading in the right direction, and now it is paying off. … I simply smile. I am so glad for her. Even after we have been taking part in in Indiana, I used to be like, ‘Hold going, dawg!’ That is who she is, and the world is seeing it.”
Mitchell by no means appeared to pity herself or lament how draft place can lead to drastically totally different experiences. Wilson gained her third MVP award Sunday, has captured back-to-back league championships and has been WNBA Finals MVP.
The Aces gained 26 regular-season video games in 2022; the Fever had gained 36 video games whole in Mitchell’s first 5 years within the WNBA.
To Mitchell, the best praise is being known as a “hooper” — somebody who provides the sport every little thing irrespective of how rocky the circumstances.
“My dad skilled me my complete life,” she mentioned. “I am the blueprint of what he taught. It is all of me.”
Mark Mitchell performed soccer at Japanese Kentucky, the place he met his future spouse, Cheryl, who performed basketball. Alongside along with her three siblings, they’ve all the time been a household “with sports activities in our DNA,” Kelsey mentioned. She grew up in Cincinnati and loves its vibe, its basketball historical past.
Mitchell went to Ohio State, the place her twin sister, Chelsea, additionally performed and her father was an assistant to teach Kevin McGuff.
“Her dad was a terrific trainer of the sport and actually good at talent improvement,” McGuff informed ESPN. “She was engaged on her abilities from the time she might stroll. It was a fantastic factor to see how a lot her sport grew beneath his tutelage.”
Mitchell arrived in Indiana when it was amid a prolonged franchise low level. Catchings retired as participant in 2016, and Indiana did not return to the playoffs till this month. In 4 of Mitchell’s six seasons earlier than 2024, Indiana gained six or fewer video games.
The group’s struggles obscured the expansion in Mitchell’s sport. However final season, beneath new coach Sides and with No. 1 choose Aliyah Boston, Indiana improved to 13 victories and Mitchell was an All-Star. When Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 choose this season, the Fever had the expertise wanted to be a playoff group.
Clark scored an NCAA-record 3,951 factors with 548 3-pointers at Iowa. Mitchell had 3,402 factors and 497 3s at Ohio State. They each performed for schools of their house state and have been Massive Ten Gamers of the 12 months thrice. And because the finish of the Olympic break, Mitchell and Clark have been essentially the most dynamic offensive backcourt within the WNBA; each completed the common season averaging 19.2 PPG.
“She’s anyone I’ve tried to go as much as and take heed to and take recommendation from,” Clark mentioned. “As a result of she has it, and that is going to assist us construct our relationship. We each have one another’s greatest curiosity at coronary heart, and it has been numerous enjoyable for me to play along with her.”
Mitchell might be an unrestricted free agent after this season. The place her future will play out is not sure.
However wanting again on how this season began — 1-8, with Mitchell coping with a lingering ankle damage and a damaged coronary heart — it is gratifying that the Fever put the items collectively and whereas honoring her dad doing what he had beloved watching essentially the most: Kelsey balling out.
“She’s one of many strongest individuals I’ve ever identified or performed with,” mentioned Fever teammate Katie Lou Samuelson, who additionally competed with Mitchell in USA Basketball 3×3 occasions. “She’s such a life power, such a pure soul. We attempt to be there at any time when she wants it. However she’s been capable of push by means of.”
Mitchell visits her mom and household in Cincinnati — a few 110-mile drive from Indianapolis — at any time when she will be able to. And she’s going to typically insulate herself, watching favourite exhibits like “Regulation and Order: SVU.”
Mitchell finds sanctuary on the hardwood and all of the connective tissue she could have along with her father ceaselessly. He isn’t right here for the sold-out crowds this season, the long-awaited love raining down on the Fever once more. However Mitchell mentioned she is definite he is aware of it is occurring.
“After I do have sadder moments, I reside in them and do not attempt to run away from them. As a result of it is wholesome to get these feelings out, too,” she mentioned. “I do not assume I am going to ever be over it; the loss will all the time be with me. However my dad will all the time be with me, too.”
