- Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell signed with Puma Basketball on June 29, 2026, joining the brand's Hali franchise.
- The deal was announced personally by Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton in a surprise video, gifting Mitchell a pair of blue Hali 1s.
- Mitchell left Nike to make the switch after wearing Haliburton's signature shoe all season.
- She's coming off a record-setting year: most three-pointers in Fever franchise history and a new single-season scoring record.
Indiana Fever All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell signed an endorsement deal with Puma Basketball, joining Tyrese Haliburton as part of the Hali franchise after wearing his Hali 1 shoes all season.
Mitchell has played for one team since Indiana drafted her in 2018, but she’d become a sneaker free agent this offseason, and like Haliburton, she previously wore Nike.
Haliburton posted a video announcing the deal, calling Mitchell to tell her to check her front door for a package. She opened it to find a fresh pair of blue Hali 1s, his signature shoe, with Haliburton telling her she was “family now.” Puma framed the partnership as building on Mitchell’s close relationship with Haliburton.
This is the latest move from a brand on a global creative spree. Puma recently unveiled a Neymar Jr. x Kidsuper signature boot collaboration and inked LSU star Flau’jae Johnson to a sneaker line honoring her late father.
Mitchell set new franchise records for points scored in a single season and became the Fever’s career three-point leader with 669, placing her eighth on the all-time list.
She also set a franchise record for 30-plus point games with 11, passing Tamika Catchings. She is a three-time WNBA All-Star, drafted No. 2 overall in 2018.
Takeaways
This isn’t just a sneaker deal; it’s Puma testing whether the Hali franchise can become its own Jordan Brand-style sub-label, now stretching into the women’s game.
Mitchell’s record-breaking season makes her a credible first signing, and the personal Haliburton-led rollout signals Puma wants authenticity over a corporate announcement.
Will Mitchell get her own colorway of the Hali 1, or eventually a signature shoe of her own? Could other WNBA stars follow her lead away from Nike? And does the “Hali franchise” model become Puma’s blueprint for signing multiple athletes under one star’s banner?
