Leilani Mitchell
Leilani Seamah Mitchell is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association. She was drafted 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2008 WNBA Draft. A dual citizen of the United States and Australia, she is a member of Australian women's national basketball team. In 2019 Mitchell became the first WNBA player to win the Most Improved Player Award twice.
Early life
Mitchell was born in Richland, Washington and is the only daughter of Dennis Mitchell and Eleanor Majid. Her father is American and her mother is Australian. She has five brothers: Tyler, Troy, Travis, Reggie, and Robbie. Mitchell has dual citizenship with both the United States of America and Australia. Mitchell's mother died from cancer in 2009.High school career
Mitchell attended Kennewick High School in Kennewick, Washington. Mitchell was a four-year starter at Kennewick High School. Mitchell was named first-team all-state and all-conference as a junior and senior at Kennewick High School and earned Big Nine Conference Player of the Year honors as a senior. In four consecutive years, Mitchell led Kennewick High School to state championship games, including Kennewick's title-winning season of 2000.College career
University of Idaho
Freshman season
As a freshman, Mitchell finished fifth in the league in scoring, first in steals and assists. She ranked seventh in the Big West in field goal percentage and third in three-point shooting percentage. Mitchell was just one of two Big West players to record a double-double with points and assists during the season. Against Portland State, she dished out 16 assists and scored 11 points. Mitchell was named the 2004 Big West Freshman of the Year, and earned a spot on the Big West First Team.Sophomore Year
Mitchell rose to national prominence in her sophomore year, and was named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press and the WBCA in 2005–06. She was named one of 11 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation's top point guard. Mitchell started all 30 games, averaging career-high 17.7 points, 5.9 assists and 3.9 steals per game. She set a school record with 118 steals, while her 178 assists were fourth-most on the Idaho single-season list, and her 168 free throws made ranked third on the school's single-season chart. She led the conference in both assists, and steals, and fourth in scoring.Junior Year
In her junior year, Mitchell led the WAC and ranked second in the nation in steals in 2005–06, averaging 4.0 per game. She ranked first in the WAC and 18th nationally in assists, averaging 5.6 per contest, and scored 17.6 points per game. As a junior for Idaho, ranking second in the WAC and 50th in the nation. Mitchell left Idaho with the school's career record for steals and 3-point field goals made in a single game. On the Idaho single-season leader boards, she left ranking first in steals, second in 3-point field goals made in a season and steals ; seventh in assists ; and eighth for free throws made. Career-wise she was second in assists ; third in free throws made and 3-point field goals made ; fifth in points and ninth in field goals made.Senior Year
Mitchell transferred from Idaho to the University of Utah. She sat out the 2006–07 season under NCAA rules, and then played the 2007–08 season for Utah. In her lone season at Utah Mitchell averaged 16.8 ppg, 7.5 apg and 4.1 rpg, with seven double-doubles. She won five Mountain West Conference Player of the Week awards, more than any other player in the MWC. She had eight 20-point games this year. That count included five 24-point outings and two season-high-tying 26-point games. Mitchell was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. She finished her college career one of only six NCAA Division I players since 1999–2000 to compile 2,000 points/500 rebounds/500 assists/300 steals in her career others.College statistics
SourceProfessional career
Mitchell was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury twenty-fifth overall in the second round of 2008 WNBA Draft. Mitchell was then traded to the New York Liberty during the 2008 pre-season after the Liberty acquired Mitchell in a trade in exchange for a 2009 third round draft pick.Initially a bench player, Mitchell made her first professional start on June 6, 2008, in place of the injured Loree Moore. In her first career start against the Houston Comets she had team-high 18 points going perfect 6–6 from the floor including 3–3 from three-point range. During the 2008 season she developed a strong fan following and a reputation for fearlessness in grabbing loose balls and occasionally driving to the basket. Mitchell scored 14 points in the Liberty's narrow loss to the Detroit Shock in Game 3 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals.
Mitchell had a breakout year in the 2010 WNBA season. She became the regular starting point guard in the 2010 season, after the Liberty released Moore in the offseason. Mitchell averaged career-high 9.3 points and 3.8 assists per game. She scored 10-plus points 14 times, and lead the league in three-point field-goal percentage. Mitchell scored her first 20-point game against the Tulsa Shock. She won the 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player Award. On September 2, 2011, Mitchell scored a career-high 24 points in a win against the Minnesota Lynx.
On April 21, 2014, Mitchell announced that she was taking the 2014 WNBA season off to spend time with her family in Australia. As a result, on August 7, 2014, the Liberty waived Mitchell. On February 4, 2015, Mitchell signed with the Phoenix Mercury. On June 12, 2015, vs Indiana Fever, Mitchell scored then career-high 25 points, going 8–14 from the floor including 7–10 from three-point range. On July 5, 2015, Mitchell hit the go ahead three-point shot in overtime with 3.9 seconds, in a 94–91 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. On August 27, 2015, she scored 16 points and made a three-pointer from the top of the key at the horn to give Phoenix an 81–80 win over the Connecticut Sun. In 2016, Mitchell signed with the Washington Mystics in the second half of the season to fill a roster gap at the point guard position. She played 10 games off the bench and averaged 5.9 ppg. In 2017, Mitchell returned to the Phoenix Mercury in free agency.
On May 23, 2019, the Phoenix Mercury waived Mitchell. After releasing Arica Carter and the standard 10 waiting period after Mitchell cleared all waiver, the Mercury resigned Mitchell on June 5th, 2019. On June 28, 2019, Mitchell recorded her first career double double as she had 18 points and career high 11 assists. On July 30, 2019, against the Washington Mystics, she scored then career-high 28 points and tied a WNBA-record 8 threes in a single game. Against her former team the New York Liberty, Mitchell scored her career-high 29 points on August 27. Mitchell ended the 2019 season averaging double figure points for the first time in her career as the Mercury finished 15–19 with the 8th seed in the league. The Mercury lost 105–76 to the Chicago Sky in the first round elimination game. Mitchell won the WNBA Most Improved Player Award, becoming the first player in either the NBA or WNBA to win the award twice.
In February 2020, Mitchell signed with the Mystics in free agency.
International basketball
During the WNBA off-season, Mitchell has played for ASPTT Arras in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball, a French professional league. For the 2009–10 season, Mitchell won the Import Player of the Year Award and was named to the LFB 1st Team. In 2012–2013, Mitchell played for the ŽKK Novi Zagreb in the Croatian League. Since 2013, Mitchell has been playing for the WNBL where she has played with multiple teams.Mitchell has been a regular member of the Australian national team, the 'Opals', since 2014, when won a bronze medal in the 2014 World Championship. She was a member of the Australian senior team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where Australia fell in the quarterfinals.