Kelsey Mitchell is now one of the WNBA’s highest-paid players.
According to ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike, Mitchell and the Indiana Fever agreed to a one-year, $1.4 million supermax contract on Friday. The former Ohio State star is among the first players in league history to sign under the WNBA’s new supermax designation.
BREAKING: All-WNBA 1st Team and 3x WNBA All-Star Kelsey Mitchell is finalizing a $1.4M supermax one-year agreement to return to the Indiana Fever.
— Chiney Ogwumike (@chiney) April 10, 2026
After a career year helping the Indiana Fever reach the WNBA semi-finals, Mitchell becomes one of the first-ever players in WNBA pic.twitter.com/Ba8qMjt1BV
Mitchell was one of the league’s top performers last season, finishing fifth in MVP voting. A first-team All-WNBA selection, she averaged 20.2 points per game on 45.6% shooting across 44 games, along with 1.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest.
Her efforts were often heroic as she helped lead the Fever to the playoff semifinals despite season-ending injuries to Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham and several other guards. Mitchell guided Indiana to a first-round sweep of the Atlanta Dream and pushed the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces to the brink in a five-game series.
Mitchell has spent all eight of her WNBA seasons with the Fever. According to Forbes’ Tony East, she earned approximately $1.12 million over that span — meaning her ninth season alone will surpass her total career earnings to date.
Before her professional career, Mitchell starred at Ohio State, becoming one of the most prolific scorers in NCAA history. She finished with the second-most points in Division I history at the time and remains the Buckeyes’ all-time leading scorer, earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2018, multiple All-American selections and the Dawn Staley Award as the nation’s top guard.
