INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell is planning to play through a fractured middle finger on her shooting hand this season.
She first suffered the injury while playing in China with the Shanxi Flame, where she averaged 23.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.
Mitchell didn’t get any medical attention for the broken finger from her team in China, she said, and it led to a crooked finger heading into the Fever’s training camp.
How is Kelsey even shooting??? Like wow! pic.twitter.com/IX8VVJ5dY7
“I didn’t do any rehab. No one helped me out in China, no one fixed it,” Mitchell said, holding up her finger to show reporters. The finger doesn’t have any specific bruising, but was crooked at the lower knuckle. “… It’s probably healing on its own now.”
Mitchell left China at the end of January to sign her core designation extension with the Fever, which made her the highest-paid player on Indiana’s roster at nearly $250,000 for the 2025 season.
She was originally set to return to China to finish out the season with the Flame, but ended up pulling out of the rest of the WCBA season because of personal reasons, according to a tweet from the Chinese Women’s Hoop Show on Feb. 14.
Mitchell opted to train stateside for the rest of the WNBA offseason, working on learning how to shoot with that fractured finger. She has also been working with the Fever’s athletic trainers on a plan for her finger.
“The trainers here have taken care of me to get done what I need to get done, but it’s only so much you can do,” Mitchell said. “Fractured fingers are a part of life, a part of basketball at this point. Normal stuff that athletes go through.”
Mitchell did not say whether she considered surgery to fix the fracture, or if she’ll consider surgery following the WNBA season. The recovery time after surgery for a fractured finger depends on the severity and the location of the break, but can range from 2-4 to 6-8 weeks.
For now, though, Mitchell is confident she can play with the broken finger. She showed that in the Fever’s preseason game against the Brazilian National team on Sunday, scoring a game-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting (4-of-6 from 3-point range) in 19 minutes.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kelsey Mitchell fractured finger playing in China in offseason, has crooked digit to prove it
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
