WNBA playoffs 2024: Fever's Kelsey Mitchell on her dad -- 'I'm the blueprint of what he taught' - ESPN

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

It isn't evident on the court, where the guard has helped the Indiana Fever end a seven-season WNBA playoff drought. Mitchell, the WNBA's No. 2 draft pick in 2018, has played for the Fever throughout their journey back to franchise relevancy.

But the person she credits with building her game, her strength and her fortitude isn't 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 everything. And it sucks. Man, it sucks. It's just, you know, you wish you could go back.

»I try to do the best job emotionally to keep myself intact, knowing how much my dad played a role in my life and being grateful for that.… It's not always easy."

Making things look easy is a trademark of Mitchell's game and personality. She does it with each high-arcing lefty 3-pointer, her signature shot. With each slash to the basket and acrobatic finish. With her smiles on the court.

There weren't a lot of those Sunday as the WNBA playoffs tipped for the Fever, who fell 93-69 in Game 1 of their best-of-three series against the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun. Mitchell finished with a team-high 21 points but shot 2 of 10 from behind the arc. She and the sixth-seeded Fever will need a better performance Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) to keep their season going.

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

«She deserves every bit of the [acclaim] she's getting,