Heading into the August awards, the Indiana Fever had a pair of standouts deserving of Eastern Conference Player of the Month, though the honor could ultimately go to just one. After taking home the honor in July, Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell has done it again this year, becoming a back-to-back winner for the Player of the Month award. 

Mitchell’s latest honor comes after a remarkable August in which she produced the highest scoring average ever recorded by a WNBA player over a full month. She averaged 28.9 points per game while shooting 55.6% from the field and 53.4% from three, beating out a strong case from her Fever teammate Caitlin Clark in the process.

“Kelsey Mitchell put together a month for the history books 📖✨,” Indiana Fever wrote on X, while sharing one of her highlight reels.

“Your Eastern Conference Player of the Month was unstoppable in August, averaging 28.9 PPG while shooting 55.6% from the field and 53.4% from three 🤯.”

Mitchell etched her name into WNBA history this August. Beyond her impressive scoring average, she shattered a league record by pushing her streak of consecutive 20-point performances to 24 games.

Considering Clark’s took home the honor in June, Fever guards have swept the East’s monthly accolade across three straight months. The team carries solid momentum into September on the heels of a two-game run. Now 26-14 and sitting fifth overall in the standings, the Fever are coming off a dominant 111-91 blowout against the Connecticut Sun. The Fever now have a 7-4 record in August.

While fans celebrated Mitchell’s milestone, a few Caitlin Clark fans questioned how the league’s biggest star was overlooked. Clark put up an eye-popping August stat line, averaging 24.4 points, 9.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. Mitchell may have carried the higher scoring clip, but Clark’s elite playmaking stood in a class of its own. Adding fuel to the debate, Clark took home two Player of the Week awards during the month, while Mitchell had none.

Alongside Mitchell, Las Vegas Aces star forward A’ja Wilson won Western Conference Player of the Month honors for the fourth time in a row, after posting an impressive August stat line of 25.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per contest. Meanwhile, Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles took home Rookie of the Month honors.

The recognition comes at an interesting time for Wilson, who was also expected to be part of Team USA’s World Cup campaign in Berlin. ESPN previously reported that the Aces star withdrew from the squad, citing health reasons. Her absence has further changed the makeup of a Team USA roster that will head into the tournament without several familiar faces.

Mitchell is among the notable names who will also be watching from home. Despite representing Team USA at the World Cup qualifying tournament in February, the Fever guard did not receive an invitation to the final roster for Berlin. That decision stood out even more given her current form and the fact that Indiana teammates Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston were both selected.

Kelsey Mitchell’s numbers made her Team USA omission hard to ignore 

Mitchell has put together the best scoring season of her career, averaging 25.0 points per game through 40 appearances for the Fever. She is also shooting a career-best 51.3% from the field and 45.5% from three, while contributing 2.8 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.

That production has put Mitchell second in the WNBA in scoring, trailing only reigning MVP A’ja Wilson. She has also knocked down 121 three-pointers this season, the second-most in the league. With those numbers, Mitchell’s absence from the Team USA roster becomes even more difficult to overlook.

Mitchell has also rewritten the Fever’s single-season scoring record. She surpassed the 890 points she scored in 2025, setting a new franchise mark and becoming the first player in team history to cross 900 points in a regular season.

Yet even that production did not earn her a place on Team USA’s World Cup roster. The decision quickly drew criticism from Fever fans, with many questioning how Mitchell’s season had not been enough to secure a spot.

“League getting too comfortable disrespecting Kelsey Mitchell,” a netizen said.

“Why isn’t Kelsey Mitchell an option?” another asked online.

The exact reasons behind Mitchell’s omission from the World Cup roster remain unclear. What the Fever do know is that they will have their leading scorer back after the FIBA break, with the team entering a crucial stretch of the regular season.

Indiana is currently locked in a battle with the Atlanta Dream for the fourth seed, which would give the Fever home-court advantage in the playoffs. With Mitchell putting together the best scoring season of her career, her return could prove crucial as Indiana looks to hold on to that position. The Fever will return from the FIBA break against the Toronto Tempo on September 18.