Kelsey Mitchell and her teammates have witnessed the different sides of Caitlin Clark. Whether shouting ‘Lexieeee’ while celebrating Lexie Hull’s birthday or playing around with her teammates, Mitchell, a veteran herself, has seen it all, and she still hasn’t forgotten the first time Clark’s superstardom hit her. Mitchell confessed that she should hardly believe it.
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“When she first got here, and I saw all these people, and we had to go play the preseason game in Iowa.”
“I was like, bro, this is like some LeBron s—, bro. I couldn’t believe it. Hats off to the GOAT, LeBron James, [but] I’m just saying! To see the line and the people and the stuff, I’m in awe of CC every time because she [handles] it so well.”
Mitchell said in an interview with SLAM magazine.
Even before Caitlin Clark got into the league, she was already the most famous college basketball player in the world. When she joined the Indiana Fever, she put them at the center of the league and single-handedly changed the league’s viewership data. In the next three years, the WNBA has recorded an exponential increase in viewership, which eventually prompted a $2.2 billion media deal.
While cameras converged on Clark, controversies followed her. In the last three years, the Fever superstar has been pulled in two different directions. To her credit, the Fever star has handled it with utmost professionalism and refused to get distracted from the game. It was another part of her teammate that Mitchell has admired all these years.
“To see the light and the people and the stuff, I’m in awe of CC every time because it’s like she handled it so well,” Mitchell added.
“Her as a professional, too. It’s like she wants to be great, and I think that’s another reason we can be great together because her passion… She’s one of the ones that she wants to be great. I think that that’s one of the things that makes our group and our duo that people talk about.”
Clark has the talent and certainly the aura to become the center of Indiana’s offense. However, she has refused to do so. She has shared the offensive load with Mitchell and successfully executed her role as the primary playmaker. Mitchell leads her team in points per game (25.1 PPG), while Clark leads the team in assists (8.4 APG). She is also averaging 22.7 points per game. Together, they account for 49.4% of Indiana’s points this season.
“I’ve always kind of been behind the scenes, and so everything that comes with her is a little bit more out in person…”
“I don’t need to do a lot. I don’t need to say a lot. Just I’m here, and so I think that CC knows that. I think the relationship that we’ve built over the last couple of years has been that,” said Mitchell.
The respect has been mutual between both the stars. Caitlin Clark has previously called her teammate a “tremendous hooper” whom she loves both on and off the basketball court. The Indiana Fever is putting up historic offensive numbers this season as the best offensive team in the league, and it has been only possible because of the chemistry that Clark and Mitchell share.
It’s not hard to make a case for Mitchell and Clark as the best duo in the WNBA, at least this season. Two of the most elite offensive players in the league rule at the top of the scoring chart. Mitchell has established herself as one of the purest scorers in the league, while Caitlin Clark has elevated herself as one of the most dangerous double-threat offensive players.
Perhaps the biggest question for the Fever is in the postseason. As great as they are as an offensive duo, Clark and Mitchell are a defensive liability. They are one of the best teams in the league, but could they sustain playoff basketball while heavily relying on their offense? They are capable of outscoring their opponents on any given day, but doing that consistently would be extremely difficult.