Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell Fuel Fever’s Rise Through Resilience
Resilience has become the defining theme of the Indiana Fever’s 2025 campaign. Long before All-WNBA debates started circulating, the Fever were forced to confront wave after wave of setbacks, particularly injuries. Yet through the adversity, two leaders—Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston—have risen to the occasion, turning personal growth into a collective ascension for their team.
Both players have positioned themselves firmly in the All-WNBA conversation, with compelling cases for selection.
Navigating Injuries and New Roles
The Fever’s backcourt has been decimated this season, losing Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald, and Sydney Colson for extended stretches. Without a stable group of guards to run the offense, Indiana was forced to get creative. For Boston, that meant shouldering a bigger share of the playmaking burden.
“When you’re missing all of those guys on the floor, we’ve almost had to try to reinvent how we get AB touches,” head coach Stephanie White explained. “Sometimes it’s more successful than others, but you know, her leadership has continued to improve…She’s a real instinctual, high IQ player. Her passing continues to improve as well.”
Despite those challenges, Boston has turned in a career-best season, averaging 15.2 points and 3.7 assists while shooting nearly 54% from the field. She’s expanded her game far beyond her back-to-the-basket roots, serving as a facilitator in addition to her scoring dominance.
“We’ve seen her in so many different roles,” White added. “In college, predominantly back to the basket. Her rookie year, predominantly back to the basket. Then you get her playing with [Clark] and you see her in so much of the pick-and-roll. And I think we’re adding to her game this year just using her as a hub and facilitating as much as being able to score.”
Boston’s adaptability, coupled with her leadership in a turbulent locker room, has been central to keeping Indiana afloat.
Mitchell’s Relentless Versatility
While Boston has expanded her inside game, Kelsey Mitchell has been the Fever’s Swiss Army knife on the perimeter. Forced to play point guard more than ever before in her career, Mitchell has embraced the challenge and thrived.
“She just wants to play basketball,” White said. “She’s a competitor…Every time we’ve had a reshuffling of the guard, so to speak, she’s taken her game to another level. We’ve needed her to. She’s put this team on her shoulders.”
That adaptability has shown in the box score. Mitchell has recorded four 30-point games this season, each of them paired with six or more assists. On nights when scoring isn’t the focus, she shifts into a distributor, logging 10 games with five or more assists. She’s also stepped up defensively when called upon.
“We’ve also had to ask her, at times, to be the best defensive player on the floor,” White noted. “…I just continue to be really proud of her and the way that she has embraced everything, and in her leadership on the floor as well. I mean she’s just been a joy to be around and to coach and she continues to lead by example every day.”
Leaders Beyond the Stat Sheet
Both Boston and Mitchell have embraced uncomfortable circumstances, using them as opportunities to grow. They’ve taken on unfamiliar responsibilities, elevated their teammates, and consistently delivered when Indiana needed them most.
For Mitchell, the formula is simple.
“You’ve just really got to care about the people that you play with,” she said. “And I think it just fuels who we are as people. And y’all get to see it as a team for us.”
The Cornerstones of Indiana’s Future
The Fever’s 2025 season has been defined by adversity, but the growth of Boston and Mitchell has turned obstacles into opportunities. Both are delivering career years in the midst of roster instability, proving that their resilience is more than a buzzword—it’s the backbone of Indiana’s resurgence.
For the Fever, the duo represents not just the present, but the foundation of their future success.
