The conversations around Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell right now have largely centered on them being the best duo in the WNBA this season. In fact, with both players putting in MVP-caliber performances, the Fever themselves have started the co-MVP, aka “MVP²” campaign on social media. For WNBA broadcaster Ryan Ruocco, however, Clark and Mitchell’s performances have shown that they are worthy of something much bigger than just a seasonal co-MVP honor.
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The way Ruocco sees it, there is a strong case for Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell being the best backcourt duo of all time. In fact, beyond their combined performance, he believes both players have also put together some of the best individual seasons that the WNBA has ever witnessed.
“Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell are right now playing as well as any backcourt has in the history of this league. And, you know, if you look at it by the numbers, you could absolutely make an argument that Caitlin is having the greatest statistical season ever by a point guard in this league,” Ruocco said on Thursday’s episode of the Road Trippin’ Show.
“Kelsey is having the greatest statistical season ever by a shooting guard in this league. It’s not hard to make those arguments. Their numbers are ridiculous, and it’s now happened for an extended stretch for both of them.”
“Kelsey, essentially the entire season, except for maybe the first few games, and now Caitlin for what is like a 15- to 20-game stretch. She had had it going on too before she injured herself and missed those two weeks. So… I can say this definitively: they are playing like the most explosive backcourt in the history of this league.”
Right now, Kelsey Mitchell is second in the league in scoring at 24.8 points per game. Following right behind her in third place is Caitlin Clark at 22.1 points per game. They are the only backcourt in WNBA history to have both players rank in the top five in scoring simultaneously, and as a duo, have played three games where they’ve both scored at least 30 points, and that’s also a WNBA record.
When you look at each player individually, both players are also having historic, career-best seasons. Caitlin Clark especially is producing one of the most uniquely dominant offensive statistical seasons ever recorded by a perimeter player. Alongside her scoring, she is also averaging 8.3 assists per game, which also ranks her number one on that list. She is also shooting a career-high 45.0% from the field and 36.8% from three.
In the same vein, Kelsey Mitchell, with her career-high 24.8 points per game, also actually leads the entire WNBA in total points scored, with 861 points this season. And she’s doing that while shooting 51.0% from the field and an astonishing 45.5% from three-point range. She also recorded 23 consecutive games with 20+ points, a relentless nightly consistency that few players have ever matched.
Despite being in fifth place behind the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA leaderboard at the moment, Indiana still has the highest-scoring offense in the league with 96.6 points per game, beating the league leaders, the Minnesota Lynx’s 91.6 PPG, by a significant margin, even though the Lynx have the best record (31-8) in the league.
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Even Caitlin Clark herself has acknowledged that their duo is indeed something special. Following Kelsey Mitchell winning Player of the Month in July, right after CC had won the honor in June, the Fever guard had high praise for her backcourt partner.
“It’s really fun. It obviously makes my life easy, so I just try to give her the rock. It feels like every time she shoots it, it goes in,” Clark said in the Fever’s official statement on August 5.
For Ryan Ruocco, this Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark’s duo, alongside Aliyah Boston, is one singular reason why he sees them as serious contenders for the WNBA championship this season.