Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell scored a new WNBA record of 1,086 points and shot at 45.0% from three-point range. However, the season ended with Mitchell saying she suffered emotionally while playing alongside Fever guard Caitlin Clark.

On his show, 'Don't @ Me', on the OutKick Network, Dan Dakich, an analyst, offered no sympathy in responding to Kelsey Mitchell's exit interview because he believed it was the kind of attention she sought.

"Let's understand something, Kelsey. Sports fans have disliked their own teams 10 minutes into sports being invented. I mean, let's just be honest about it. You want real fans?" Dakich said on Don't @ Me.

Dakich spoke out amid the heated discussions among fans. In Game 2 on September 29, A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces team got into an argument with a fan who was pointing at her and ended up getting a technical foul in a 99-89 Fever victory.

Arena security found no violation of the Code of Conduct and allowed the man back into his seat.

Dakich was reacting to Mitchell's October 3rd exit interview. The Fever media asked Mitchell whether she had tougher days in the season because of their fans.

"But playing with CC, and having the eyes that she got, we get a lot of flak just for being on her team," Mitchell said in her exit interview with Fever media.

Pressure is put on both ‌guards. Clark was averaging 22.3 points and 8.3 assists per game, whereas Mitchell had 24.7 points, helping their team become the leading-scoring team in the league at a 28-16 record. 

The third game against the Aces saw Mitchell shoot 7-of-23 and Clark shoot 6-of-18 to lose 94-83.

Dakich’s straightforward statement has been met with equal toughness from other sports commentators.

Jason Whitlock Defends Mitchell While Clark's Past Stance Resurfaces

Not everybody agrees with Dakich's opinion. The commentator Jason Whitlock has also come out in favor of Mitchell, whereas an earlier comment by Clark supports the opposing point of view.

"Facts. This is what the content cult did to Indiana Fever players. She's not weak for feeling this way. Any athlete would feel like this, male or female," Whitlock wrote in response to a post about Mitchell's comments.

"Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments, and threats. Those aren't fans, those are trolls, and it's a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization and the WNBA," Clark said in a 2024 interview with The Athletic.

This controversy is based on factual events. A man was fired from Hilton Grand Vacations because of a racist direct message he sent to Aces guard Chelsea Gray.

Fever general manager Amber Cox even maintained that no fan identified by a player had violated the code of conduct.

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Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Utsav Gupta