LAS VEGAS -- Kelsey Mitchell was speaking with reporters ahead of the Indiana Fever's opening game of the WNBA semifinals when shouts from across the court interrupted the guard.
"Kelsey for MVP, baby!" yelled teammate Sophie Cunningham.
Mitchell cracked a smile, chuckled and tried to stay on topic, answering a question about the Fever defense going up against the high-octane offense of the Las Vegas Aces. But the good-natured heckling from Indiana's injured players continued.
"Vote for Mitchell!" Caitlin Clark shouted.
The next day, for the first time in her WNBA career, Mitchell was named one of five finalists for the MVP award. But something even more consequential happened on the court Sunday: She scored 34 points on 12-for-23 shooting -- the most points by a WNBA player in her first career semifinal game -- to lead the Fever to a Game 1 upset of the No. 2 seed Aces on their home court.
"Clearly, we had no answer for Mitchell," Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. "Couldn't even attempt to slow her down a little bit."
The No. 6 seed Fever weren't expected to be here after losing Clark and three other guards to season-ending injuries in the regular season. As they look to keep their unexpected playoff run going, Mitchell has more responsibility on her shoulders than ever -- but keeps meeting the occasion. Regardless of how the next few weeks play out, this season has been Mitchell's coronation as -- in Hammon's words -- "one of the most difficult guards in the league to cover." And it has been a long time coming.
"Kelsey Mitchell has been through the worst parts of this franchise, and she deserves to go through the best," Indiana coach Stephanie White said Saturday while wearing a "MVP Mitchell" T-shirt. "And she's rising to the challenge."
In a year the Fever's backcourt suffered injury after injury, Mitchell saved the team from floundering and instead propelled Indiana to its first WNBA semifinals appearance since 2015.
Mitchell became the first Fever player to average 20 points in the regular season, and so far this postseason is averaging 26.0, tying four-time MVP A'ja Wilson for the best mark in 2025.
Mitchell's 104 points are also the most over a four-game span in franchise playoff history, and she's putting up those numbers with efficiency: 48.6% shooting from the field, 50% from 3-point range and 96% on free throws.
"I think everything that I've been through got me here," Mitchell said Sunday. "I think I can enjoy this moment and be prepared for the moment a little bit more."
Mitchell might be in the spotlight now more than ever, but the early years of her career came with little fanfare. As the No. 2 pick in 2018, she arrived in Indianapolis a prolific scorer -- leaving Ohio State with 3,402 points and 497 3s -- and has averaged at least 17 points each season since 2020.
But the Fever were largely irrelevant, compiling six or fewer wins in four of her first five years in the WNBA. As the franchise struggled to find its stride following the 2016 retirement of Tamika Catchings, it cycled through head coaches, with White being the fifth in Mitchell's eight years with the team.
The year before Indiana drafted Aliyah Boston with the No. 1 pick in 2023, the team averaged a league-worst 1,776 fans and played games in a venue at the state fairgrounds -- a far cry from the sellouts Gainbridge Fieldhouse has since become known for.
It got to the point, Mitchell said Saturday, where about three or four years ago she compiled a list of the people she felt had written her off: coaches who didn't want her around and media outlets that didn't want to talk to her.
"I was tired of losing," Mitchell said. "That's the growth, that's the experience, that's the being at the bottom of the barrel, that's the not being on anybody's radar, being a loser. I've seen it. I know what that looks like."
All the while Mitchell stayed the course and stuck around in Indiana. Individual and team success eventually followed.
After adding Clark to the mix with the No. 1 pick in 2024, the Fever have strung together consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since Catchings' retirement. Mitchell has been named an All-Star each of the past three years, continuing to establish herself as one of the best 3-point shooters in the league while also boasting speed -- "so shifty, so quick," Wilson said Saturday -- that can easily get her to the hoop.
"What makes her so difficult is she runs routes for 40 minutes," Hammon said. "She doesn't get tired. She should get pace assists because when she rips off these screens, her pace gets other people open. We're going to have to bring our track shoes to try to keep up with her."
Without injured guards Clark (groin), Cunningham (knee), Aari McDonald (foot) and Sydney Colson (knee), Mitchell's role has expanded. Not only does she have to shoot more, the Fever needed to use her more as a playmaker and asked her to take on greater defensive responsibilities.
She has also had to adjust to basketball, and life, without her support system: Her father, Mark Mitchell, died suddenly at age 56 in March 2024. Mitchell is still grieving his loss -- "That was my best friend, and we did everything together," she told ESPN last year -- but sees the ways in which she has grown.
"My sense of comfort when my dad was alive was big for me," Mitchell said. "When you don't have that [person to lean on], you've got to find different ways to adjust, different ways to be a pro. That's what I'm trying to do."
The Fever have helped fill that void. Mitchell -- who was a free agent this past offseason before deciding to return to Indiana -- has praised White, the coaching staff and her teammates for championing her on and off the court.
"I really never truly had the company, the culture, the organization that I have been surrounded by the last couple years," Mitchell said. "To feel value, and to feel like somebody's pouring into me and seeks out my value, it's everything to me.
"To know people believe in me, y'all got to know what that feels like because for a long time, nobody did. My dad was the only one. So when you lose somebody, and then you find somebody else that could replace that, it's big for me."
Mitchell might have an understated demeanor, but her impact -- her play, burgeoning leadership and renewed confidence -- is undeniable for the Fever and across the WNBA.
"She's a hooper," teammate Brianna Turner said. "If you cross by her, you would never even know. She's just so humble and so sweet. I'm like 'Kelsey, talk your s---, you're one of best guards in this league.' ... Everyone deserves a Kelsey Mitchell on their team."