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INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell said Wednesday that a medical condition prevented her muscles from functioning properly and left her unable to move her legs during Tuesday night’s WNBA semifinal.
The scary scene played out late in the third quarter of a 107-98 overtime loss to Las Vegas. The victory sent the Aces to their third WNBA Finals in four years and eliminated the Fever after an improbable playoff run.
All-Star centre Aliyah Boston drew her fifth foul while setting a pick as Mitchell drove toward the basket. Mitchell wound up down on the court as players and trainers gathered around, holding up towels to give her privacy.
A stretcher was sent onto the court, but it was not needed. Mitchell managed to get to her feet and was taken to a hospital where she was treated.
“I suffered from something called Rhabdomyolysis last night. my muscles stopped producing and reached it’s maximum capacity,” she wrote. “I went into a sense of numbness/paralyzing feeling with no movement from my lower extremities for up to 5 to 7 seconds.
“I panicked because I began to think the worse when I felt I couldn’t move my legs. It was an out of body experience and I thank God for covering me at a time like that.”
Mitchell said she is recovering and thanked the trainers and doctors who worked on her in the arena and at the hospital.
The 29-year-old former Ohio State star, who played high school basketball in suburban Cincinnati, was one of the catalysts of Indiana’s incredible run. After making her third All-Star Game, she led the team in scoring during the regular season, averaging 20.2 points. She did it again in the post-season by averaging 22.3 points in 32.6 minutes in eight playoff games.
The Fever were playing without four key players, including All-Star guard Caitlin Clark, because of season-ending injuries.
Yet behind Mitchell, Indiana won its first playoff series in a decade, rallying from a 1-0 deficit in a best-of-three first-round series against Atlanta. They pushed second-seeded Las Vegas to a decisive fifth game and then to overtime despite losing Boston to fouls and Mitchell to cramping.
“I played literally until my wheels fell off,” Mitchell wrote. “Thank you for the prayers, love, respect, and support throughout all of this.”
