Despite Caitlin Clark’s Superstardom, Highest Paid Fever Teammate Remains Underrated, Highlights WNBA Analyst

If numbers could talk, the Indiana Fever’s story would be one worth listening to. Just two years ago, the franchise struggled to draw 4,000 fans per game. Now? Sellouts are almost routine. Attendance has skyrocketed by 265% since last season, and the team’s valuation has surged to $335 million—a jaw-dropping 273% jump, making it the fastest-growing franchise in the WNBA. The reason, most would say, is Caitlin Clark. And players like Sophie Cunningham won’t hear otherwise. But as Clark commands the spotlight, have others on the roster gone unnoticed?

For instance, former WNBA player Lisa Leslie shared last month: “Kelsey Mitchell, even though she’s on you guys’ team — you guys have this biggest spotlight — she’s still the most underrated player.” For Leslie, a Hall of Famer, to hold Mitchell in such high regard says a lot.

Indiana’s front office built the rest of the roster around CC, and Mitchell is one of those key players. She has been with the team since 2018 and has been a driving force before Clark’s entry. However, she was also overlooked most of her career because she was playing well on a not-so-good Fever team earlier. But now that the team enjoys its spotlight, thanks to Clark, it seems a section of fans realize they should have paid Mitchell more attention, too. In fact, on the latest episode of ‘We Need to Talk’ podcast, reporter Erica Ayala told host Alicia Jay:

“Kelsey Mitchell has been holding down the Indiana Fever since she was drafted to the Indiana Fever. And although, obviously, Caitlin Clark is such a huge draw, such a compelling player to watch when she’s healthy for this Fever squad, we saw even last year that at the back end of the All-Star/Olympic break when Mitchell and Clark started working well together, when they started finding their rhythm, that’s when we were like, ‘Oh, dang. Yeah, this might be a fever squad that’s really looking to push for a playoff spot… And so I got to go with Mitchell.”

Kelsey Mitchell has indeed been a significant contributor to the franchise. Even when the team crumbled and missed the playoffs year after another, she stayed. President of Basketball and Business Operations Kelly Krauskopf did not downplay Mitchell’s role when they signed her to a maxed-out $249,244 (estimated) core contract this off-season. “She is one of the best guards in this league and is a cornerstone to building a championship roster,” Krauskopf said in January. With this, Mitchell became one of the highest-paid players.

She has been a primary scorer since 2018, where she averaged 12.7 points per game and carved her name in the All-Rookie honors. She then went on to score 20 points in seven consecutive games in 2024, and that same year, she recorded a career-high of 19.2 points on average. However, with Clark sidelined for more than half the season now, Mitchel has comfortably led the team to victories.

So Alicia Jay just couldn’t help but bring back Lisa Leslie’s prior comments. “When you have Lisa Leslie saying something like this, you don’t really need anything else.” And while Mitchell doesn’t get the same attention as Clark, she has carved a credible veteran reputation in the locker room.

Top Comment by Kaib

Absolutely, best and most consistent. I am a huge CC fan, but it is Kelsey Mitchell’s team no excuses, she...more

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Kelsey Mitchell stole the spotlight during the Chicago Sky game…

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell came under the spotlight during the highly anticipated Fever vs Sky game last month. 1.5 million viewers clocked in to watch the game live as Clark and Angel Reese sat out. And Kelsey Mitchell gave it her best shot.

As a reigning starter, Mitchell set the momentum early on, but what happened next was enough to rattle the opponents. In the next 30 minutes, she dropped 35 points, shot 12-for-19 from the field, and 7-for-10 from three. That was the ninth game of her career with 30-plus points. But wait, there was more to it.

Fever took to X and posted: “Kelsey Mitchell became the first player in franchise history to score 35+ points in less than 30 minutes of action yesterday against the Sky. She’s averaging 20.2 PPG this season, third most in the WNBA.” And that game against the Sky ended in a 93-78 victory for the Fever. “I love to win,” Mitchell told ESPN on ABC after the game. “I want to do right by myself and by the team and by everything I represent.”