Leilani Mitchell

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.[4][5] She has five brothers: Tyler, Troy, Travis, Reggie, and Robbie. Mitchell has dual citizenship with both the United States of America and Australia.[6][7] Mitchell's mother died from cancer in 2009.

Mitchell attended Kennewick High School in Kennewick, Washington.[8] 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.

Mitchell in 2018

Mitchell was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury twenty-fifth overall in the second round of 2008 WNBA Draft.[12] 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.[13] 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 (48.6). Mitchell scored her first 20-point game against the Tulsa Shock.[14] She won the 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player Award.[15] 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.[16] On February 4, 2015, Mitchell signed with the Phoenix Mercury.[17] 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.[18] She played 10 games off the bench and averaged 5.9 ppg. In 2017, Mitchell returned to the Phoenix Mercury in free agency.[19]

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.

During the WNBA off-season, Mitchell has played for ASPTT Arras in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB), a French professional league.[4] For the 2009–10 season, Mitchell won the Import Player of the Year Award and was named to the LFB 1st Team.[20] 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.

On July 24, 2018, Mitchell's fiancée WNBL basketball player Mikaela Dombkins gave birth to son Kash Maxwell. [21]

• List of Australian WNBA players

• WNBA player profile