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Fans In Tears Over Fever's Kelsey Mitchell Getting Playoff Tips From D'Angelo Russell

Lakers player D'Angelo Russell is getting cooked after Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell's response to a media availability question.

Grant Young

Jun 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) against the Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA game at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jun 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) against the Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA game at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

On Sunday, September 22, the Indiana Fever will be playing in their first WNBA playoffs game since 2016.

While every Fever player must be excited about this, perhaps none more so than their longest-tenured player: All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell, who has been with Indiana ever since being selected by them with the No. 2 pick of the 2018 WNBA Draft.

Since Mitchell is expected to be a leader for the Fever come playoff time, the former Ohio State Buckeyes standout reached out to someone she trained in college with: Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell.

When Mitchell was asked whether she has spoken with anybody about the difference in day-to-day preparation in the playoffs compared to the regular season during the Fever's media day, she said, "I recently talked to my close friend D’Angelo Russell. We go way back. Me and him go back to the point where we trained together at Ohio State. We kind of know each other so, from that perspective, it was good to get a conversation in regards to how [the playoffs] looked.”

Mitchell seeking playoff advice from Russell is an interesting choice because he has been known for underperforming in the playoffs.

While Russell has averaged 17.8 points per game in the regular season across his 11-season NBA career, he averaged 14.2 points per game across 32 playoff games and produced a notoriously poor 6.3 points per game during the 2023 Western Conference Finals, which earned him the ire of Lakers fans.

This is why Mitchell's response has fans on social media in shambles.

"Nah this gotta be fake Im crying tears 😭😭😭😭," X user @BronGotGame wrote.

Another user added, "That’s like me asking a deadbeat dad for advice on taking care of a kid".

"Thats like reaching out to Ben Simmons for three point advice," said a third.

Fever fans are surely hoping that Mitchell can produce better playoff results than what Russell has compiled thus far in his career.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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