Is the Caitlin Clark-Kelsey Mitchell Era Over? Why WNBA Legend Agrees With Mitchell’s ‘Selfish’ Presser Quote

Mitchell may have played her last season with Caitlin Clark and the Fever.

Kelsey Mitchell shared some candid comments during her end-of-season exit interview with the Fever. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The spotlight arguably shone the brightest on the Indiana Fever this past WNBA season, but not always for basketball reasons. As the team prepares to navigate a critical offseason following its first-round playoff exit, one of the Fever’s most valuable pending free agents, Kelsey Mitchell, will have a difficult decision to make.

Mitchell, who has spent all of her nine WNBA seasons in Indiana thus far, now has a potentially career-changing opportunity to chase a title elsewhere. The 30-year-old paired up with Caitlin Clark in 2024 as the Fever’s star backcourt duo for the last three years, and she’s coming off an MVP-caliber campaign in ‘26, proving she was well worth the franchise’s short-term, one-million-dollar investment on the heels of the new landmark CBA.

If Mitchell does choose to leave the organization, it’ll be for her own “selfish” reasons, she candidly admitted in her Fever exit interview.

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“I think that I have to be selfish. I think that’s where I am in my career about what I probably need and what’s probably best for me. So I have to be selfish in that room,” Mitchell said. “... I’ve never had to talk [to], even discuss another organization. It’s a lot to hash out, I just think that I got to be selfish about where my career is going a little bit, in terms of some of the things as I get older—what’s important for me whether it be winning, whether it be my own individual success.

“I worked my tail off to be here though, man. And so whatever I do, it’s going to come from a selfish standpoint. I’ll be honest about that.”

And Mitchell has every right to put herself first, WNBA legend Candace Parker claimed on the latest episode of her Post Moves podcast with Aliyah Boston:

“She was very loud in her exit interview about making it clear that she has to be selfish,” Parker told Boston before paraphrasing part of Mitchell’s presser.

“And when I tell y’all, Kelsey Mitchell has been through all of the ups and downs with the Fever. From playing in barns to playing at colleges to now playing in the newly renovated arena, to losing 28 times in a season to now winning 28 times. ... As you get older you realize, you do have to be a little bit selfish, you know? But it is just crazy because she has stuck with the Fever through all of that, and now you guys are kind of winning. So it’ll be interesting to see [what happens].”

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It’s true: Mitchell has been through it all with the Fever.

Drafted by Indiana as the No. 2 pick in 2018, she survived years of coaching turnover and roster instability; the organization had a reputation as the W’s bottom-dwellers upon Mitchell’s arrival, and the Fever went 6-28 in her rookie campaign. In 2021 and ‘22 when Gainbridge Fieldhouse was being renovated, the Fever were forced to play some home games at the now-branded Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which also hosted cattle competitions. (Mitchell, the longest-tenured Fever player, is the only one on the roster who has played at the fairgrounds.)

In due time, Mitchell’s fate changed for the better. She quickly developed to become one of the franchise’s most productive scorers early on in her WNBA career, averaging 17.0 points or more in each season since 2020. However, it arguably wasn’t until Clark’s draft selection in 2024 when Mitchell soared to mainstream recognition alongside one of the most popular players in the league.

The brighter spotlight had its drawbacks, as Mitchell found out.

“Playing with [Clark] and having the eyes that she got, we get a lot of flak just for being on her team. … I think this organization is unbelievable, but I think that when it comes to really trying to be yourself, it hasn’t always been easy,” Mitchell said in her exit interview.

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If this is the end of Clark and Mitchell’s time together on the Fever, they ended on a high note—even if they failed to win any hardware. Indiana’s woeful record in the playoffs tell one story. Mitchell played in just 13 total postseason games in her nine-year career (all of them came after Clark’s draft pick); Clark played in five. But the elite duo hummed to the tune of a 28-16 regular-season record in 2026 and formed the most prolific backcourt partnership in WNBA and franchise history.

Clark and Mitchell averaged a combined 47 points per game—good for the highest-scoring duo ever—and spearheaded Indiana’s historic offense, which ranked first in points per game, true shooting percentage and three-point percentage. The Fever’s 115.0 offensive rating set a new WNBA record, surpassing the 2023 title-winning Aces (113.0). As for individual brilliance, Mitchell broke the W’s record for most consecutive games with 20-plus points (27), the W’s single-season scoring record (1,086 points) and the Fever franchise’s single-season record for most points per game (24.7), among other untouchable feats.

the squad showered Kelsey Mitchell with confetti after she set the new WNBA single-season scoring record tonight ❤️‍🔥🎉 pic.twitter.com/OKNecNbNSk

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 19, 2026

So, what’s next for Mitchell? She’ll likely take her time to weigh all her options, which may include some tough conversations with her teammates and coaches. Lynx guard Courtney Williams also gave the Fever vet some unsolicited advice ahead of her pivotal free agency:

“I feel like when you find that type of chemistry—I get that it comes with a lot of s---, because obviously the Indiana fan base and all the eyes that Caitlin Clark gets—I understand all that,” Williams said on a Twitch stream. “... But I’m just saying, basketball-wise? You had some of your best years, them folks over there giving you a bag. Y’all over there building a franchise together. So I’m just saying, bro, that grass ain’t all that green.”

There’s no question Mitchell elevated her game alongside Clark over the years. But, whether the Fever remains her best shot at winning her first-ever championship is firmly up for debate.

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