The Indiana Fever's 2025 WNBA season was challenging. Now, star guard Kelsey Mitchell finally reveals how the team reacted in the dressing room amid a barrage of injuries occurring to the Blue and Red from time to time.

"It was demoralizing, we were all just flooded with tears. ... We didn't know why were crying," Mitchell said in an interview with Just Women’s Sports.

Apart from the headline-breaking news of star player Caitlin Clark being out for the whole season early on, the Fever also suffered in other areas, as Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, and Aari McDonald were all forced to be put on the sidelines with season-ending injuries of their own.

"Our entire dynamic shifted. Who we became as people. Who we became as players, as a team. We took a bad moment and we turned it. We learned so much about what we could accomplish. That's what made it fun." The 30-year-old added.

Kelsey Mitchell stepped up and became the leader of the team, averaging a career-high 20.2 points on 45.6% shooting in 31.4 minutes per game, along with 3.4 assists and 1.8 rebounds.

Her efforts resulted in the Fever going past the first round of the playoffs before falling to the eventual champions Las Vegas Aces, in the semis. Mitchell also suffered the same fate as her teammates in the third quarter of game 5, but it was already too late by then.

Kelsey Mitchell on Head Coach Stephanie White’s Positive Impact

In a recent “Between the Lines” podcast alongside WNBA legend Lisa Leslie, the 30-year-old addressed how White’s mindset has differed from her previous coaches, and how validated she has felt being the coach’s no.1 option amidst rough times.

"She really believed in me. I felt it. I could sense it. That was the first time I got dealt a hand with a coach … that believed in my abilities, and it made me feel like I had superpowers. That's what you really need."

Ahead of the 2026 WNBA free agency with trade rumours centering around Mitchell, the Fever coach addressed how she has been a cornerstone of the franchise and that she deserves to be where she is, eight years into the league.

"We want to continue to build around her and continue for her to have success. I thought she was so instrumental in everything that we did," the 48-year-old said.

Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar