“She got robbed!” Emily Engstler said back in 2022, when now three-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell didn’t get the nod for the WNBA All-Star Game. That was Mitchell’s reality then….constantly overlooked. She carried the Fever through six losing seasons, five different head coaches, and even multiple arenas during Gainbridge Fieldhouse renovations. And despite every reason to walk away, she never asked out. Loyalty defined her. But now that things have changed, is being overlooked still part of Kelsey’s story?

“Finally getting her flowers” is the right way to describe Mitchell’s regular season. She led the league in three-pointers made with 111, stacked up 890 total points (second-most overall), and still managed to carry Indiana through absolute chaos. That run got her into the top 5 finalists for MVP.  But when the voting results came out, A’ja Wilson walked away with the trophy (rightfully so), and Mitchell finished fifth in voting with 93 points—no first, second, or even third-place votes.

And that didn’t sit right with Rachel DeMita. “I do kind of think that Kelsey Mitchell has flown under the radar this whole season. If you see the kind of turmoil and all the things that the Fever have been through. In the way that Kelsey Mitchell has really put this team on her back, especially with Caitlin being out and scoring the way that she has scored this season,” she said.

We know that Clark only played 13 games. The Fever’s core was gutted by five season-ending injuries before the stretch run. Yet Mitchell played every game, never dipped into single digits, and dragged Indiana not only into the playoffs but through the Dream and straight into the semifinals. DeMita might’ve nailed the reason Mitchell gets overlooked. “I think another reason that Kelsey Mitchell flies under the radar is because she’s not like a super animated or flashy player. She really just goes out there, goes to work, gets the job done.”

The analyst called her “super humble,” the analyst added, “She doesn’t say much in the media. She is just probably one of the most humble players in the WNBA. And even when she’s out there, like she’s not celebrating when she makes a big three. She’s always just stone cold, locked in, focused.” And that’s true. Mitchell never really celebrates. Not after the Fever forced a Game 3 against Atlanta. Not after they upset the No. 3 seed Dream. Not even after she dropped a playoff career-high 34 points in Vegas to stun the Aces in Game 1. 

Why? 

Because in her head, the job’s not done. “I currently focus on this for like a couple more hours, and then it’s like, you gotta turn to the next one,” she said. That’s who she is. “I think that as a competitor, like, you know, you want to win. … I just try to keep it about basketball. So I think what you guys see is just me trying to just be a kid in the playground.”

And that is the exact “why” DeMita believes, “I do feel like she was definitely overlooked in these MVP votes. I don’t think that she deserved to be in fifth place.” She suggested that swapping Mitchell and Allisha Gray should’ve been ideal and added how the guard even made a case for the top 3. And well, looking at how Mitchell has tormented defenses in the playoffs vs Gray herself, averaging 26.0 points per game, it’s not a wild take.

Sure, the top 3 is still debatable. Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas were the only ones besides A’ja who even got first-place votes, which says a lot. But that doesn’t change the fact that Mitchell just had the kind of season that might put her on track to give Indiana only its second MVP in history.

Yet, true to form, Mitchell didn’t hype herself up and credited coach Stephanie White. 

Kelsey Mitchell credits coach Stephanie White for her success 

As we already discussed, Kelsey Mitchell created history vs Vegas despite being the underdog as the only lower seeded team in the semis. In just 34 minutes, she dropped 34 points, added three assists, two steals, and a rebound. That stat line set the record for most points by a WNBA player in their first career semifinal game and marked the second-most points a Fever player has ever scored in the playoffs.

It was one of Mitchell’s multiple records. But along with Mitchell’s heroics, there’s so much more to this Indiana team’s rise than stats. The key, according to Mitchell herself, is Stephanie White.

“I’ve had five coaches in eight years. I’ve been on the worst record teams here in [the] Indiana Fever, so I know where my career started at… And I’ve never had a coach that poured into me, respectfully, like Steph has,” Mitchell said. That statement is huge coming from someone on this roster for years.

And when they say, “For the first time in my career, I feel like I really have someone that values what I bring to the table as a player and a person, not just as a player, but as a person,” you know it’s special. The guard ended her words with a heartfelt, “Thank you, coach,” promising she’ll never take it for granted. By the time she finished, White was visibly moved, wiping away tears under her glasses.

This is precisely what makes the Fever different. Beyond talent, beyond wins, this bond, this mutual respect and love, drives the team. Kelsey Mitchell isn’t just playing for herself; she’s playing for a coach and a team that truly values her.