Kelsey Mitchell finished the 2025 season with an average of 20.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.
Indiana Fever’s star guard Kelsey Mitchell opened up on her future and discussed her free agency this off season. Mitchell, who averaged 20.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists for the Fever had her one-year contract worth $294K expire at the end of the 2025 season. While team’s head coach, Stephanie White, said that Mitchell would be their number 1 priority as the WNBA heads into the offseason, Mitchell doubled down on her statement she gave during the team’s exit interview.
Mitchell appeared on “Bird’s Eye View” podcast, where she told Sue Bird that she would consider her family’s needs while making a decision about free agency. “The reality of it just from the standpoint of like, life is different when family dynamic changes,” the three-time WNBA All-Star said. “That’s important for me, I would say and I think that is always has to be first and foremost important for me when I think about free agency.”
“I think there’s so many what-ifs right now, Sue, with the CBA… It’s a lot of what-ifs. But I like to think that in the right realm of work, I can’t not not think about Indiana, you know?,” she added. “Like, I can’t not not think about Indiana. And on the other side of things, I gotta make sure I’m put in position to take care of my family, or be there for my family. I also know that this is for my family, as well. So it’s a combination of both.”
While she didn’t say anything concrete about her desire to return to the Fever, it’s clear that Mitchell feels valued there. If the front office matches her offer, the 29-year-old wouldn’t think twice before returning.
On the same podcast, Kelsey Mitchell praised her teammate, Caitlin Clark, and her impact on the league and team. Clark, the 2024 Rookie of the Year, took the league by storm ever since her selection as the first overall pick during the 2024 WNBA Draft. This season, she was expected to continue her dominance on the court, but a few injuries limited her appearance to only 13 games. Despite that, Clark continued to make an impact and Mitchell talked about the same.
“The biggest thing that I respected about Caitlin is that she was never bigger than the program,” Mitchell said. “She wasn’t trying to take over. … Within our locker room, she wasn’t trying to be bigger than anyone else, and I think the way her style of play, it ended up complementing me, it ended up complementing.”
“The one thing I love about Caitlin, too, is that we all love basketball the same way. We all have our different styles and ways of playing it, but the passion for it, with Caitlin, when she didn’t play, compared to when she did play, remained the same. And I respected that from her, because it could have easily not been that way.”
Despite a total of five season-ending injuries to star players including Clark, the Fever showed resilience and paved their way through to the semifinals. However, they couldn’t move past the Las Vegas Aces, the eventual 2025 champions.
In Game 5, Mitchell collapsed during the third quarter and was later diagnosed with “Rhabdomyolysis,” in which her “muscles stopped producing and reached its maximum capacity.” During the regular season, Mitchell led the team as a leading scorer, while Aliyah Boston finished as a leader in rebounding, assists, and blocks.
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