Kelsey Mitchell first joined the Indiana Fever in 2018 as the second overall pick in the WNBA Draft. Since then, Mitchell has endured a lot of losses. Before the 2024 season, Mitchell and the Fever never finished better than ninth in the league and finished last in several seasons.
Nevertheless, Mitchell stayed. She never left the Fever, patiently waiting for the organization to finish its rebuild. Mitchell spoke on that loyalty when she appeared on the Sports Are Fun! Podcast.
“I never jumped ship,” she said about staying with the Fever, “my loyalty was to the vision Indiana had.”
Mitchell’s patience is about to pay off big time. This current Fever roster is far from what the team looked like when Mitchell first came to the WNBA. Between Mitchell, Caitlin Clark, and Aliyah Boston, the Fever have three top draft picks who emerged as All-Star-level players. That big three was enough to carry the Fever to the playoffs last season.
While the Fever did not have enough to win a game in their first-round series against the more veteran Connecticut Sun, the 2024 season changed things for Indiana. Not only did the organization know who they could build around for the future, but the Fever also became a free-agency destination, landing several big names this offseason.
The Fever are a championship contender now
After she averaged 19.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists and was a great fit next to Caitlin Clark, re-signing Kelsey Mitchell was a simple decision for the Fever. It was just one big move in a successful offseason, though. The Fever also signed DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Brianna Turner, and Sydney Colson and traded for Sophie Cunningham.
Those additions make the Fever a championship contender. Between Clark, Mitchell, Boston, Bonner, and Howard, the Fever have plenty of offensive weapons and have already been experimenting with playing Clark off the ball. Any opponent will struggle to keep the Fever from scoring.
On the other side of the court, the Fever should be much improved after adding a defensive-minded coach and some players who can defend at a high level.
While the Fever will have to go up against strong teams, like the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, and Las Vegas Aces, they have a solid chance to make a deep playoff run.
“The sky could be our ceiling,” Kelsey Mitchell said on the Sports Are Fun! Podcast about the Fever’s potential.
For her, it is a full-circle moment. She joined the team amid a rebuild and was there for the entire process. Now, Mitchell should finally get a chance to compete at the highest level with the Fever.