feature-image

Imago

feature-image

Imago

The Indiana Fever’s strategy for building a championship contender has involved an unusual quirk that has nothing to do with trades or free agency.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

Because if you take one look at the Fever roster, you’ll notice something almost bizarre. If you haven’t so far, don’t worry, we will help you.

ADVERTISEMENT

In what might be one of the most unusual quirks in the WNBA right now, the Fever have a roster that features four different players who are twins. And while the league has seen plenty of sibling stories over the years, having this many on a single team? That’s where things start to feel a little unreal.

Let’s start with Kelsey Mitchell, who recently signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax agreement with the franchise. As one of the team’s biggest names and a three-time WNBA All-Star, she has a twin sister, Chelsea, who isn’t just family, but a part of Kelsey’s basketball journey too.

ADVERTISEMENT

The two played together at Ohio State, but Chelsea sadly never made it to the WNBA. Instead, she went on to become a coach after playing in Europe.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kelsey Mitchell also has twin brothers, Kevin and Cameron, so clearly, the twin gene isn’t in short supply here.

Then there’s Lexie Hull, who comes from one of college basketball’s most recognizable twin duos.

ADVERTISEMENT

Alongside her identical sister Lacie, Hull led Stanford to a national championship in 2021, where they both became the inseparable twin stars.

“We can read each other on the court,” Lexie said in an interview with The Stanford Daily back in 2022. “Even in life outside of basketball, we see things, and we kind of think the same way or will respond to things in a very similar way.”

ADVERTISEMENT

However, when Lexie got drafted into the WNBA by the Fever, the twins had to part ways as Lacie went on to start her career at eBay in Austin, Texas. But they never came between their communication as they used “every form of communication—FaceTime, phone calls, text, Snapchat, Instagram DMs, TikTok DMs, you name it,” to stay connected.

Still, the list doesn’t stop there.

ADVERTISEMENT

Justine Pissott also has a twin sister, Gia, with whom she built her game growing up, with a shared competitiveness that has followed them to the next level.

And then there’s Raven Johnson, the WNBA draft pick by the Fever, who rounds out this unique group. While her twin is her brother Richard, the influence is just as strong. As she’s often said, watching him compete was what first pushed her toward the game.

Now, whether it’s a coincidence or not, it looks like the Indiana Fever is collecting twins. And in a way that might give these players a unique edge, because growing up, they all had a built-in, 24/7 practice partner pushing them every single day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Not the First Time Kelsey Mitchell and the Fever Have Seen This Kind of Twin Connection

As unusual as this situation feels, it’s not like this is new for Indiana.

Back in 2020, the Fever had a similar, albeit smaller, version of this ‘twin connection’ on their roster. While Kelsey Mitchell was playing with this franchise at that time as well, Jantel Lavender was another player who had twin sisters, while Candice Dupree added an even more unique layer by having a twin sister and then later becoming a mother to twin daughters.

ADVERTISEMENT

article-image

“It’s honestly like growing up with a best friend,” Lavender once said while reflecting on her bond with her sister. “Everything we do, you have somebody to do it with.”

That sense of constant companionship and competition was something each of those players carried into their professional careers. Whether it was sharing the college experience, as Lavender did at Ohio State with her sister, or simply having someone who understood them better than anyone else, the impact went far beyond basketball.

However, since then, things have changed.

Lavender went on to finish her career with the Seattle Storm before retiring, while Dupree transitioned into coaching and now works with the Tennessee State Lady Tigers program. While they may have moved on, the Fever still find themselves with four more players on the roster who share that same twin connection.

It may not be an official record in the Guinness World Records, but it’s definitely one of those quirky stats that deserves a spot in the conversation.

Now, coming back to the present, the 2026 WNBA season is right around the corner. The Indiana Fever will gear up to open against the Dallas Wings on May 9.

So if there’s any truth to the idea that growing up with a twin sharpens your edge by pushing you, challenging you, and preparing you for moments like these, then Indiana might just be bringing more than talent into the season.

ADVERTISEMENT

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Ojus Verma

716 Articles

Ojus Verma is a College Basketball and WNBA author at EssentiallySports. As head of the Analysis Desk and a former player with 13 years of experience, he specializes in decoding tactics, player development, and the evolution of rivalries shaping the game. Ojus’ coverage of the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese saga, dating back to their college days, has earned recognition for its balance of insight and context.

Know more

Edited by

editor-image

Snigdhaa Jaiswal

ADVERTISEMENT