INDIANAPOLIS — A southern Indiana family is showing that the game of basketball can you take you places.
For Kelsey Shaughnessy and her niece, Ava Hicks, the two will tell you that they are bonded by the Indiana Fever.
“Ava is an extremely shy child and the one time you see her personality is on the basketball court,” Shaughnessy told WRTV.
Shaughnessy says the 10-year-old started playing when she young.
“She was open to the world of NBA at like 4-years-old and became obsessed,” Shaughnessy said.
Hicks will tell you that she grew up watching New Albany’s own Romeo Langford, then turned to the late Kobe Bryant. She now has a new favorite player and team, the Indiana Fever.
“It’s helped her in a lot of ways other than physical, it's mental,” Shaughnessy added.
The bond between Shaughnessy and Hicks has taken them to countless Fever games with Hicks sporting Fever gear.
“That’s what you want for a kid — to have a role model that’s positive and someone you can say, 'Look at them, follow them,'” Shaughnessy said.
That love for the Fever inspired Shaughnessy to custom make Caitlin Clark inspired Nike Dunks all decked out in Fever colors.
“She is really nice and has good sportsmanship” Hicks told WRTV.
The goal, to have them signed by Clark herself at last Friday’s Fever game.
“Caitlin smirked when she picked up the shoe and when we walked away, Ava was like, 'She signed them, we got her to sign them,'” Shaughnessy said.
A moment etched in ink, an inspiration for the future baller.
“I’ll tell her that it means a lot to me, and she is a really good player,” Hicks said.
