Mercury's Mitchell Has Career High, Wins Special Award

Leilani Mitchell started her WNBA career in 2008. She spent her college years at Idaho and Utah, and after that, she was drafted by one of the WNBA's best teams. She was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, who had just won a championship the year before. The Mercury drafted her in the second round, but she did not play for Phoenix at that time. The Mercury traded her to the New York Liberty, and they received a draft pick in return. She played with New York for six seasons, and in that time, she won Most Improved Player. She took home the award after averaging 9.3 points, 3.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals. Mitchell played for the Mercury in 2015, and she averaged 6.7 points, 2.7 assists, 2.1 rebounds and a steal. She spent time with the Washington Mystics the following year, but she came back to the Mercury in 2017. In that stint with the Mercury, she made history, as she won another Most Improved Player. She became the first player to win it twice, and this time, she had an even better season than her fi