Imagine trying to name the best offensive player in basketball today, NBA or WNBA, and somehow leaving out the names that instantly light up the scoreboard. It’s like ranking shooters and forgetting Steph, or building a dream post player and skipping over A’ja Wilson. Wild, right? Yet, in a recent debate that got everyone talking, two of the most electric names in the women’s game – Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers – were left out of a conversation they almost always dominate. The take? Simply bold.
In this marquee matchup, Indiana came in still stinging from a fourth-quarter collapse against the Sparks, outscored 35-17 after leading by eight. Silver linings were hard to find in that one, but if anyone managed to shine through the wreckage, it was Kelsey Mitchell. It was Mitchell’s third-quarter grind of 11 points, three of which were nothing but net from deep, that gave Indiana the lead, 58-50. She also stretched her double-digit scoring streak to 15 straight games. At that point, it seemed like scoring 10+ was just part of her pregame warm-up routine, considering she hadn’t missed once all season. Then came June 27, and, of course, the story continued.
Kelsey Mitchell was absolutely unstoppable. Her 32-point explosion was only part of the story. What truly lit up the night was the reaction from the broadcast booth. The commentator couldn’t hold back, her voice rising with every bucket, but the sentence that stood out? “There is nobody better offensively in the WNBA. I don’t care.” Yes, she really said it. Kelsey Mitchell, the best offensive player in the league. Bold? Maybe. But in that moment, it felt impossible to argue.
She continued, “Running the floor, absorbing contact, knocking down the three—Kelsey Mitchell off the bounce. You can’t stop her. There’s stuff you can do about it. Valuable for her team, but certainly All-Star. All-Star voting is coming up. Kelsey Mitchell needs to be on your ballot.
Then another commentator pointed out what Mitchell echoed in her postgame comments. She said, “They do such a great job of getting her open in space. Then she can create her own moves off the dribble, attack the rim.” Now, that’s exactly what Mitchell called a Next-Step Mentality.
“Our shifts keep changing, everybody doing a different role, and so I think we all got the mentality where you give and you sacrifice. And I think that’s what y’all see,” Mitchell explained, and honestly, she wasn’t wrong. The Fever have struggled through plenty of second-half collapses this season, but on this night, the entire team came together as Mitchell led the charge and set the tone.
The Wings had outscored Indiana by 15 in the middle two quarters, with Paige Bueckers catching fire and Arike Ogunbowale joining her. But the Fever didn’t fold. Instead, they punched back with a game-shifting 12-2 run, sparked by Natasha Howard’s 15-point outing, to take a 91-82 lead with just over two minutes remaining. And do not forget that this was a Caitlin Clark-less game. But again, did that matter to one broadcaster? Not really. She set the record straight, saying, “She’s- Yeah, just when I was playing in the league, Kelsey’s gal is kind of funny that it’s kind of like Caitlyn’s gal. Do not let her touch the ball. Run off all screen. So before Caitlyn, there was Kelsey Mitchell. So I remember guarding her in the house“.
So, despite this being a marquee matchup because of a possible Clark vs. Bueckers showdown, thanks to Mitchell, everyone got their money’s worth. Yet, all eyes are now on July 13 longingly.
Injury delays Caitlin Clark vs. Bueckers, but the anticipation grows
Caitlin Clark was ruled out of Friday’s game against the Dallas Wings, marking her seventh absence after also missing Thursday’s matchup with the Sparks. While she’s been recovering from a recent quad issue, it’s a left groin injury that’s currently keeping her off the floor. According to an injury report released Friday, the Fever star is “day-to-day,” with head coach Stephanie White saying, “I thought it was very much a day-to-day thing … how she responds to treatment.” Clark revealed to NBC Sports that while she’s made progress, she’s been using this time to observe from a different perspective on the bench.
Even in her absence, her presence loomed large. Clark has been the engine for the Fever all season, averaging 19.0 points, 8.5 assists, and 5.6 rebounds across 49 regular-season games over her two years. She won Rookie of the Year, earned an All-Star selection, and shattered records along the way, including most points (769), assists (337), and turnovers (223) by a rookie in WNBA history. Though she didn’t miss a game in college or her first WNBA season, she recently sat out five games with a quad injury, during which Indiana went 2–3. Since returning, she had averaged 17.8 points in five games, though she’d been in a shooting slump, going just 1-of-23 from beyond the arc in her last three outings.
On the other side, rookie Paige Bueckers put on a show, nearly dragging Dallas back from a 24–5 deficit in what was supposed to be the first WNBA clash between the two former No. 1 picks. Though Clark missed the game, Bueckers turned heads with another statement performance, and earlier this week, became the fastest player in league history to reach 200 points, 50 rebounds, and 50 assists – doing it in 11 games, beating Clark, Cynthia Cooper, and Andrea Stinson, who each needed 12. She also became the first player ever to record 25+ points, 5+ assists, 2+ steals, 2+ blocks, and zero turnovers in a single game, according to Polymarket Hoops.
The Clark-Bueckers showdown didn’t happen this time, but the hype is only growing. With Kelsey Mitchell now entering the chat, this battle’s just getting started.
The post Paige Bueckers & Caitlin Clark Ignored As Broadcaster Dubs Indiana Fever Star As the ‘Best Offensive Player’ in the League appeared first on EssentiallySports.
