During the Indiana Fever’s end-of-season press conference on Saturday, Kelsey Mitchell said that with the attention Caitlin Clark draws, she and her teammates get a lot of flak for being on the same team as Clark.
The comments got back to Clark, who admitted in her end-of-season presser Thursday they made her “upset.”
“You care about your teammates so much. You don’t want any of them to go through something like that,” Clark said.
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Clark added that the “microscope” on her has led to “a lot of really great things, and at times, there can be some negatives,” including racist rhetoric, which she condemned.
“It kind of gets into this larger discussion in mainstream sports of what people go through… Any time I see something like that, it makes me upset, sad, really disappointed, because it’s not who I am, it’s not who I am about,” Clark continued.
Despite the speed bump in their relationship, Clark made it clear that she “needs” Mitchell, a pending free agent, back with the Fever.
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“She knows how much I love her. We’ve talked since the season has ended, and there’s nobody I would want to share the backcourt with other than her,” Clark said. “I think we had the best season of any backcourt in the WNBA, in the league’s history. I often tell her, ‘I feel like I have the best seat in the house every single night. I get to watch you do your thing and be right next to you and be on the other side of the ball with you.’
“I know this organization, we’re going to work our butt off to get her back, we’re going to recruit her as hard as we can, every player that’s signed to a contract is going to recruit her as hard as they can, we need her, we love her. I think more than anything, Kelsey’s a really great person, and I love getting to be in the locker room with her. She’s just a good soul, and this organization and these fans have rallied around her, have supported her more than anything. I hope she comes back. The arena’s chanting ‘MVP’ for her again. That’s what she deserves. That’s certainly our goal, our No. 1 priority. I hope for the rest of my career, I hope I play alongside her.”
Mitchell averaged 24.7 points while shooting 45.0% from 3-point range. The Fever were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
