Indiana Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell makes ‘unsettling’ Caitlin Clark admission
Indiana Fever veteran Kelsey Mitchell has admitted that she found aspects of the fanfare surrounding teammate Caitlin Clark “unsettling” during the youngster’s historic maiden WNBA season.
Having played seven seasons for the Indianapolis-based franchise, the two-time All-Star is well-versed in what the demands of a career in professional basketball usually entail. However, even the 29-year-old has been left astonished by the wider impact of the exponential growth of the popularity of the women’s game in recent times.
With teammate Clark having been selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft in 2024, she went on to be named Rookie of the Year after a record-breaking campaign. Having risen to prominence with Iowa during her collegiate career, the point guard’s fame has proven a major catalyst for a significant upsurge in interest in the WNBA this year.
Alongside setting new standards on the floor in terms of assists in both a single game and a single season, Clark helped the WNBA attract a new high of 54 million unique viewers across the year. In addition, attendances in arenas reached 2.4 million during the season – the best total in 22 years.
That clear increase in the league’s popularity has been accompanied by a significant degree of scrutiny for players including Clark on social media. Now, Fever star Mitchell has reflected on this phenomena, as she admitted that some elements of fame have been hard to adjust to for stars of the WNBA.
She said in her Players Tribune piece: “I’ll be honest, the spectacle was unsettling sometimes. Some of the newer fans have been really hateful online to the incredible women in our league, and to me and our Fever players as well.”
Mitchell also looked back on the moment when she realized that the standing of the league and its players had suddenly reached a new height. She continued: “I can tell you the exact moment I knew nothing would ever be the same. It was this “Aha” moment that clicked for me, back in May.
“We were getting ready to play New York at home, and my aunt hit me up. She is not a sports person at all. And she calls me like, ‘Kelz, how do I get tickets to the game?’ I’m like, ‘Now, hold the hell up!’ Aunt Stephanie is trying to see us play?? I must be dreaming. I think everybody in the league has a version of that story by now.”
“It wasn’t the sold-out arenas. The media attention. It was that one person hitting you up. People that never really had an inclination before to watch women’s basketball all of a sudden wanted to be a part of it. Now, they wanted to see the WNBA.”
On the impact of Clark, she added: “We obviously had a new spotlight on us, with Caitlin being drafted, who I’m proud to call a teammate. That was exciting in its own way, with the fans it brought to the arena, and the opportunity it gave our squad. But I think, in a weird way, the outside noise kind of made people forget sometimes that we’re still human, if that makes sense?
