All-Star Kelsey Mitchell provides steadying influence for Indiana Fever

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell has embraced her role as a steadying influence this season and the team has benefited.

After a 4-4 start, Mitchell calmly challenged teammates to improve defensively, put a higher priority on attention to detail and maintain their perspective for the long haul of the season.

It worked, and now the four-time All-Star also has been a key player in the midseason turnaround that has Indiana re-emerging as a WNBA title contender.

“Kelsey’s awesome,” All-Star center Aliyah Boston said after finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday’s victory at defending champion Las Vegas. “She shows up every single day and gives us everything she has. She hoops out of her mind. She’s the fastest guard I’ve ever seen and for her to continue to do that and make teams guard her, she deserves the world.”

Mitchell has done it before. Last year, she and Boston may have carried the injury-depleted Fever into the WNBA Finals — if not for Mitchell’s severe cramping in her lower body where her legs and feet went numb for about seven seconds during a Game 5 loss to the Aces in a WNBA semifinal.

This season, Mitchell is on pace for the best season of her nine-year career. She's averaging 22.6 points while shooting 48.6% from the field and 41.6% from 3-point range — all career bests — and she'll start next weekend at the All-Star Game in Chicago.

But even as her stats climb, it's her impact behind the scenes that has really paid dividends.

Caitlin Clark's early season shooting slump was followed by a sideline spat between the three-time All-Star and coach Stephanie White.

That's when the 30-year-old Mitchell jumped into the fray with some perspective about successfully navigating this environment.

“I think hard times make you or hard times can break you, and hopefully it doesn't break us,” Mitchell said in early June. “I think losing is important, I think you find out a lot about yourself, about where you need to be, where you're missing the mark and I'm happy it's happening now. If there are frustrations, I would rather it be now than later.”

The team heeded the advice and has responded with a resurgence.

The Fever went 3-1 on a recent four-game Western swing, a trip that included two double-digit wins over the Aces. And though Wednesday's 88-75 loss at home to Golden State dampened the ascent, Indiana remains tied for fifth with a 14-10 mark heading into home games Friday against Seattle and Saturday against Commissioner's Cup champion New York.

Boston and Clark, also All-Star starters, have been on a roll.

Boston is averaging a career-best 17.2 points per game, and Clark is at a career-high 19.7 points per game while committing a career-low 4.6 turnovers.

Mitchell knows the next step is playing at a high level consistently.

“It’s about the discipline and maintaining it,” she said following Indiana's win at Las Vegas. “If we’re serious about being a top contender and being part of a championship culture, then we’re going to have to do what we do. I think it’s about us, and I think we can keep developing that culture and use these experiences we have as a group to put ourselves in a good position down the stretch.”

Just how good has Mitchell been?

The former Ohio State star scored 27 points in Sunday’s 109-75 rout over the Aces, finishing her 300th game — all with the Fever — by becoming the fifth player in league history with six consecutive games of 25 or more points. That streak ended Wednesday when Mitchell scored 20 points.

She's also broken Tamika Catchings’ franchise record for consecutive double-digit scoring games with her 39th in a row in the loss to Golden State.

And when she earned another Eastern Conference player of the week award Wednesday, Mitchell joined Catchings as the only players in franchise history to win the award five or more times.

Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said she’s one of the toughest players to defend and Mitchell’s teammates agree.

“I'm not too excited about that,” Clark said after learning she would not be Mitchell's teammate in Chicago. “I guess I'll probably just let her go by me even if I was trying or not trying. I would have liked it if we were all together, but I knew that probably wasn't going to happen with three of us. It will be kind of weird seeing Kelsey on the other side, though.”

The question is whether Indiana can continue to play this well over its final 20 games and into the playoffs.

“The past is the past as far I'm concerned,” Mitchell said. “I just look forward to growing with my group, getting the experience we need to constantly compete.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Indiana Fever center-forward Aliyah Boston (7) argues with a referee during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Phoenix Mercury, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White talks with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the first half of an WNBA basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) drives against Las Vegas Aces guard Chennedy Carter (23) during the first half of an WNBA basketball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) drives between Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) and Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani, right, during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, right, chases down a loose ball as Phoenix Mercury guard-forward Kahleah Copper, left, Fever guard Raven Johnson and Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani (8) look on during the second half of a WNBA basketball game, Thursday, July 9, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

NEW YORK (AP) — If LeBron James knows where he will play this coming season, he's still not saying.

The NBA's career scoring king and current free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, indicating that a decision is close — though stopping short of revealing which team he'll choose to play for this fall, despite at least one cry from someone in a jampacked room shouting for him to “pick a team.”

“I won’t hold you guys up too much longer," James said.

The four-time NBA champion had a pair of appearances Thursday: He recorded an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest, then spoke at the Game Plan Summit presented by CNBC and Boardroom later in the afternoon.

At the summit, he told Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman in an on-stage conversation that making this decision has a slew of layers — many of which, it seems, are off the court.

“It’s not just about the team,” James said. “There’s so many other factors that I’m factoring in right now on what best fits me as a player, what best fits me as a person and what best fits my happiness, and also my family as well.”

At Fanatics Fest, an 11-year-old in the crowd asked James about free agency and his next team — “first of all, that was a hell of a question and some of the media people here probably should learn from the young fella," James said — and the youngster got perhaps the best answer of the session, with James indicating that the 2026-27 season may not necessarily be his last as a player.

“It's a big decision for not only myself, but for my family as well,” James said. “Just for the last part of my career and where I want to spend the last few years or the last year or the last two years of my NBA career ... I'm going to try to fit into whatever team I'm going into — but also give them all the tools and give them all the knowledge that I've been able to grasp over the last 23 years. I know the game. I know the ins and outs of the game of basketball.”

James playfully chided Haliburton for asking him about his future — “didn’t we talk about this in the back?” James asked, and Haliburton said he would ”leave it alone.”

Of course, they didn't leave it alone. James made reference to a slew of teams such as Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State, though didn't appear to give much in the way of hints. He did sip from a bottle of red wine that he opened and shared with Haliburton, calling it one of his podcast traditions.

And when fans shouted out suggestions for James' next team — one even asked him to play for the New York Yankees — no clues were forthcoming.

“We'll see,” he said.

James is the NBA’s oldest active player at 41 and the only player in league history to have a career spanning 23 seasons; this coming season will be his 24th. Speculation has been rampant for more than two months about his future, officially starting in May when the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.

At that time, James said he didn’t know what he would be doing.

And the only developments that he’s revealed since came on June 30, when he said he would play this coming season and that he was leaving the Lakers after an eight-season run highlighted by the 2020 NBA title.

For more than two weeks, the NBA has been waiting to hear what comes next. James, as he did in a social media post at the time, lauded his time with the Lakers, who also offered him well wishes as he moves forward.

“I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said.

James’ resume is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.

James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons — where he won his first two titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, leaving in 2018 to start an eight-season run with the Lakers.

Cleveland and Miami are believed to be on James' radar again as he weighs this decision, as are several other teams including Philadelphia, Minnesota and Golden State.

“I’m looking forward to what comes next as I wind down my journey,” James said.

Reynolds reported from Miami.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James throws chalk in the air before an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)