"For a while I would shoot crying": Kelsey Mitchell opens up on emotional trauma following her father’s death

This season, Kelsey Mitchell was part of one of the WNBA's top backcourts alongside Caitlin Clark. While she had great success on the floor, the Indiana Fever guard recently opened up on the heartbreak in her personal life.

A few months before the start of the 2024 season, Mitchell's father died at the age of 56. In a column for "The Player's Tribune" published on Wednesday, the Fever guard reflected on this difficult period in her life. Mitchell shared a close bond with her father, with basketball being their shared passion.

Kelsey Mitchell did not shy away from sharing her feelings following the death of her father. She admitted to being left distraught on some game nights, but hurt in silence for nobody to see.

"For a while, I would shoot cryin’, trying to grasp such a big transformation," Mitchell wrote. "I knew I had to keep going. There were games that I cried in the locker room before tipoff. But you wouldn’t have known. I wasn’t letting people see me like that."

Despite going through these things in her personal life, Mitchell put together the best year of her WNBA career. She received her second straight All-Star nomination after averaging 19.2 points (career-high), 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

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Kelsey Mitchell credits her dad for a strong season with Indiana Fever

Even though he wasn't around to witness it, Kelsey Mitchell still credits her father for her success with the Fever last season. Before his death, the two were training together as she prepared for her seventh season in the pros.

As mentioned previously, Mitchell's father also shared a strong love for the game. He was a longtime coach, last working for Wilberforce University in Ohio. During her offseason training, Mitchell was accompanying her father to get live reps with the players he was coaching.

"When I think about some of the stuff I was able to accomplish this year, even through grief, it’s like even that came from him," Mitchell wrote. "I was training right up until he passed, with his kids. And so I thought, I’d be a fool not to want to compete. I was going to give my best to show the world what my dad showed me."

Since being drafted second overall by the Fever back in 2018, Kelsey Mitchell has slowly blossomed into a pillar for the franchise. Adding more talent in the form of Caitlin Clark only elevated her play, a positive sign for the organization. Fresh off making the playoffs for the first time in eight years, the Fever seem to have their backcourt of the future with Mitchell and Clark.

Even though he might not be around anymore, Mitchell seems poised to carry on her father's legacy through her play.