INDIANAPOLIS – In the most successful year of her professional basketball career, Kelsey Mitchell is dealing with her toughest loss.

There’s no telling on the court where the guard helped the Indiana Fever end a seven-season WNBA playoff drought. Mitchell, the No. 2 WNBA draft pick in 2018, has played for the Fever all the way back to franchise relevance.

But the person she credits with building her game, her strength and her fortitude is not here. Her father, Mark Mitchell, a longtime high school and college basketball coach, died suddenly in March at age 56.

“That was my best friend and we did everything together,” Mitchell told ESPN. “We kind of lived through each other on so many levels. He was my father, but we could talk about anything.

“I’m trying to do the best I can emotionally to keep myself intact because I know how much of a role my father played in my life and I’m grateful for that. … It’s not always easy.”

Making things look easy is a hallmark of Mitchell’s game and personality. She does it with every high-flying left 3-pointer, her signature shot. With every shot to the basket and every acrobatic finish. With her smile on the pitch.

There weren’t many of those on Sunday as the WNBA playoffs were pivotal for the Fever, who lost 93-69 to the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun in the first game of their best-of-three series. Mitchell finished the game with a team-high 21 points, but shot 2 of 10 from behind the arc. They and the sixth-seeded Fever will need a better performance on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) to keep their season going.

But in a year of sadness and triumph for Mitchell, she knows perseverance.

“She deserves every bit of the credit she gets and more,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “However, she keeps to herself and doesn’t let you know how she really feels. She may be having a really bad day, but I won’t know about it. She’ll always say she’s fine.”

Mitchell’s even-keeled demeanor during this 20-win season is the same as it was in 2022, when the Fever had the franchise’s worst record at 5-31. This year, former Indiana star Tamika Catchings stepped down as general manager, the Fever had a coaching change during the season and had to play in other arenas because their home, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, was being renovated.

Meanwhile, A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, the player drafted No. 1 ahead of Mitchell in 2018, praised her and how Mitchell’s play has impacted the Fever.

“I remember our families being together just checking out the draft. It took some time for her and Indiana. But to see someone who stayed on the right path and now it’s paying off. …I just smile. I’m so happy for her.”

A’ja Wilson on Kelsey Mitchell

“The joy with which she plays, the fun she has with others – it’s contagious,” Wilson said. “I remember our families being together just checking out the draft. It took some time for her and Indiana. But to see someone who stayed on the right path and now it’s paying off. …I just smile. I’m like this.” I’m happy for her. Even when we played Indiana, I was like, ‘Keep going, buddy!’ She is, and the world is seeing it.”

Mitchell never seemed to feel sorry for himself or complain that being drafted can lead to a completely different experience. Wilson won her third MVP award on Sunday, won back-to-back championships and was MVP of the WNBA Finals.

The Aces have won 26 regular-season games in 2022; The Fever had won a total of 36 games in Mitchell’s first five years in the WNBA.

For Mitchell, being called a “Hooper” is the ultimate compliment – ​​someone who gives his all to the game, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

“My dad coached me my whole life,” she said. “I am the blueprint of what he taught. This is all from me.”

Mark Mitchell played football at Eastern Kentucky, where he met his future wife, Cheryl, who played basketball. Along with her three siblings, they have always been a family, “with sports in our DNA,” Kelsey said. She grew up in Cincinnati and loves the atmosphere and basketball history.

Mitchell went to Ohio State, where her twin sister Chelsea also played and her father was an assistant to coach Kevin McGuff.

“Her dad was a great teacher of the game and really good at developing his skills,” McGuff told ESPN. “She has been working on her skills since she could walk. It was nice to see how much her game developed under his guidance.”

Mitchell arrived in Indiana just as the franchise was going through a protracted slump. Catchings retired as a player in 2016 and Indiana returned to the playoffs just this month. In four of Mitchell’s six seasons prior to 2024, Indiana won six or fewer games.

The team’s problems obscured the development of Mitchell’s game. But last season, under new coach Sides and with No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston, Indiana improved to 13 wins and Mitchell was an All-Star. When Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 pick this season, the Fever had the talent needed to be a playoff team.

Clark scored an NCAA record 3,951 points on 548 3-pointers at Iowa. Mitchell had 3,402 points and 497 3s at Ohio State. They both played for colleges in their home state and were three-time Big Ten Players of the Year. And since the end of the Olympic break, Mitchell and Clark have been the most dynamic offensive backcourt in the WNBA; both finished the regular season with an average of 19.2 PPG.

“She’s someone I want to go to and listen to and take advice from,” Clark said. “Because she has it, and that will help us build our relationship. We both have each other’s best interests at heart and I had a lot of fun playing with her.”

Mitchell will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. What their future will look like is not certain.

But looking back at the start of this season – 1-8, Mitchell struggling with a lingering ankle injury and a broken heart – it’s gratifying that the Fever put the pieces together while honoring their father by doing what they did What he liked most was Kelsey shooting out.

“She is one of the strongest people I have ever known or played with,” said Fever teammate Katie Lou Samuelson, who also competed in USA Basketball 3×3 competitions with Mitchell. “She is such a life force, such a pure soul. We try to be there whenever she needs it. But she managed to push through.”

Mitchell visits her mother and family in Cincinnati — about 110 miles from Indianapolis — whenever she can. And sometimes she isolates herself and watches favorite shows like “Law and Order: SVU.”

Mitchell finds refuge on the hardwood and all the connective tissue that will forever bind her to her father. He’s here this season not for the sellout crowd, but for the long-awaited love that’s once again raining down on the Fever. But Mitchell said she was sure he knew it was happening.

“When I experience sadder moments, I live in them and don’t try to run away from them. Because it’s also healthy to express those feelings,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it; the loss will always be with me. But my father will always be with me.”