Speculation remains among Indiana Fever fans about Kelsey Mitchell’s future. Their top scorer of the season is a free agent this offseason, and Mitchell’s “I have to be selfish” admission in her exit interview has the Fever fanbase on edge. But Courtney Williams believes that Mitchell’s partnership with Caitlin Clark has brought out the best in her, and it will be in her best interest to continue.
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“I see what everybody’s saying or whatever, but quite frankly, I’m gonna keep it a b**h. You had one of her best years since Caitlin Clark got there,” Williams said in a video call with Teresa Weatherspoon.
Since Clark joined the Fever, Mitchell and her team have played playoff basketball over the last three years. Before 2024, Mitchell was yet to feature in a single playoff.
“She’s like, “I’m going.” I’m not saying she’s not a great player because I think she’s going to be who she’s going to be wherever she goes, but I’m just saying, you find that type of chemistry with a player, y’all around here looking like, I mean, they had a season where they were the best backcourt in d**n near WNBA history,” Williams added.
The reaction from the fans to Williams’s honest take was immediate.
“The grass isn’t always greener. CC is top 3 in assists and points. Other guards won’t be giving both, nor drawing the same attention, which means, making it a little harder to get the points off. Courtney is objective. Courtney for VP, with CC as president,” one fan said.
Indeed, Clark contributes about 40% of Indiana’s assists, per WNBA Advanced Stats. And some of Clark’s 8.3 assists per game eventually contribute to Mitchell’s points tally. Clark’s presence on the court draws defenders, allowing Mitchell to play her natural game.
This has allowed Mitchell to boast a high scoring rate, and at 24.7 PPG, she finished second on the scoring charts in this year’s regular season, only behind A’ja Wilson.
“The way people keep framing this as who made who better, when the real answer is they just made each other unguardable, is so tired. Watching both of them thrive afterward proves it was never about one carrying the other,” another fan said.
Many fans spoke about the effect that Clark had on Mitchell’s game, with the latter having the second-best three pointers to attempts ratio in regular season.
“CC always saying KM makes her job easier,” one fan said.
Both Mitchell and Clark have broken several WNBA records this season. While Clark became the first player with 850+ points and 300+ assists in a single season, Mitchell surpassed A’ja Wilson’s single-season scoring record, finishing with a staggering 1086 points in the regular season. This makes it quite evident that both of them play well together.
“Exactly and I hope she doesn’t let a bunch of hateful fans take that from her. She had over a million fans watching her; my question is what percentage was s**t-talking her. Because they were chanting MVP every time she went to the free-throw line; they were not for cc!,” one fan said.
In her exit interview, Mitchell expressed that it was sometimes difficult to play for fans who “may or may not like you.” This admission took many Indiana fans by surprise, and it also gave rise to speculation about whether she would renew her contract or not.
“They never stopped to think or consider that this year was BOTH of their best years because Indiana’s style of play and pace changed. The amount of possessions they had this year was greater than last year’s. KM took far more shots this year, and her FG% went up as well,” another fan said.
Stephanie White’s tactics this season have made the Fever the best-scoring team in the league, averaging about 96 Points per game. This meant that both Clark and Mitchell could play their natural game.
Mitchell has donned Indiana’s red and blue since coming into the league as the number two pick in the 2018 draft, and the Fever GM Amber Cox has also shown inclination to renew her contract.
“Kelsey is obviously a major priority…You can see, feel and hear the love that this fan base has for her and that permeates throughout this entire organization,” said Cox on October 3.
Only time will tell if fans see Mitchell in Fever’s colors next season.