The Indiana Fever's Cinderella run in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs may have come to a heartbreaking end, but the same can't be said for Kelsey Mitchell's time with the team. The franchise's breakout star of the season led the Fever to their best finish in a decade before going down in Game 5 of the semifinals with a scary lower-body injury. However, the front office plans to reward Mitchell for her performance with another contract to keep her in Indiana long-term.
While speaking to the media, general manager Amber Cox emphasized that keeping Mitchell on the roster was her top goal once WNBA free agency hits.
“I'm going to sound like a broken record from last year. The priority will be Kelsey Mitchell and making sure she remains in a Fever jersey. Wow, what a season for her. She laid it all out on the line,” Cox said. “[Mitchell] will continue to be a focal point as we enter free agency.
“Obviously sad the way that it ended for her in Game 5, but just tremendous.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding player signings due to the impending collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expiration date on October 31, the Fever are clearly all-in on Mitchell as a part of their future plans to surround second-year star Caitlin Clark with the strongest support possible.
And Mitchell's play this campaign proved that strong support is exactly what Indiana will get. Mitchell, as well as other players like Odyssey Sims, stepped up amid the flurry of injury woes the Fever had to battle all year to unexpectedly carry the team to the second round of the playoffs. The standout guard did as much as she could to propel Indiana forward until she physically couldn't anymore, describing her injury scare as playing “til my wheels fell off.”
After being helped off the court and not returning to Game 5, Mitchell revealed that she had been hospitalized and diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when overworked muscles break down and release contents into the bloodstream.
“I suffered from something called Rhabdomyolysis last night,” Mitchell posted on X, formerly Twitter. “My muscles stopped producing and reached their maximum capacity. I went into a sense of numbness/paralyzing feeling with no movement from my lower extremities for up to five to seven seconds.
“Because my muscles stopped producing positive blood into my bloodstream, my body locked up from a physical standpoint, and from there, fatigue and cramping settled in,” she continued.
“It sucked. I panicked because I began to think the worst when I felt like I couldn't move my legs. It was an out-of-body experience for me, and I thank God for covering me at a time like that.”
Luckily for Mitchell, the Fever, and WNBA fans, she reports that she's walking again and “will be fine very soon” with the ability to return to basketball healthy next season and take her guaranteed spot in Indiana's lineup.
