It feels like there’s been some magic spreading across the District. The Mystics have a core full of youthful energy, highlighted by some All-Stars and a recent college champ. The neophytes are excited, ready to venture into the lion’s den and see what their alchemy can accomplish. They don’t know what they don’t know, you know?  

That’s where Shakira Austin comes in. 

The fifth-year pro is the team’s emotional base. She’ll serve as a wellspring of knowledge and a release valve for on-court pressure. She’s been through the ringer having overcome challenges both on and off the court. As a youngster growing up in Fredericksburg, VA, she left home and confidently walked into the unknown, living with a family she didn’t know so she could compete against better talent. That transition from James Monroe High School to Riverdale Baptist would be mirrored in her college journey. Austin again chose the more difficult route. After a pair of very solid seasons with the University of Maryland, she decided to attend Ole Miss. The road less traveled turned out to make all the difference. Austin helped lead the Rebels to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly two decades. 

Austin’s intensity, work ethic and competitiveness quickly became calling cards. In addition to her on-court skills (a 6-5 big with a wide-ranging offensive and defensive skillset that challenges basketball norms), it’s her desire that really sets her apart. So much so that the Mystics took her with the third overall pick in the ’22 draft. 

Right away, Austin got straight to it in her first season. She made All-Rookie First Team and finished second in the W’s ROY voting. She’s continued her upward trajectory ever since, even while battling a serious hip injury. She suffered a significant left hip labrum tear in June of 2023, which required surgery in December of 2023. It took about two years for her to make it to a clearing, where the game is fun again and she’s unlimited in her movement. 

The Mystics will need all of Austin—her game and her voice—this season. Back when she was the youngest player in D.C., she was being guided by multiple vets with priceless experience, lessons in professionalism just floating around her on the daily. Now, as one of the oldest players on the team, the 25 year old will be in charge of sharing those lessons. 

And don’t get it twisted—she can still flat out hoop. In her first four games of the 2026 season, she’s averaging 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists per game. The Mystics’ abundant first and second year talent will look to her for help in more ways than one. 

We spoke with Austin near the end of training camp. The following interview has been edited slightly for clarity. 

SLAM: You’ve given a lot of interviews where you’ve talked about how you value being different. When it comes to your competitiveness, where do you view your separation factor as a competitor as opposed to your peers in the WNBA, in Unrivaled, even when you were overseas?

Shakira Austin: I’ve grown up in this sport with a lot of confidence from my dad. He’s someone who has taught me all the abilities. It’s not just as a post player. It’s being able to dribble, being able to bring the ball up and create, being able to shoot and extend my range. 

My mentality from that alone makes me feel like it’s a little bit of separation between me and other 6-5s of the League. 

But also just growing up in the DMV and having that charisma, having that, you know, pop and talk and being able to back it up, it’s something that I just carry with myself. A lot of people might feel like it’s delusion or, you know, seeing how my career has played out and my journey hasn’t been easy so far, but my expectations for myself are so high that it’s only one way to get there and to continue to get to the success. And if I fall, at least I came out and gave it the best that I have. But my goals and dreams are to be the best in the world, so I’m just trying to get to that every single day. 

 SLAM: You mention your pops and the foresight to make sure you were versatile on the court. It sounds like between him and working with the McMiller family, Mike and Kiyomi, you had to do some crazy drills. What were some of those drills that helped to mold your game? 

SA: Yeah, the work ethic that my dad established in high school was really separating. Having me work out with trainers like Mike McMiller and seeing him put me through [what] felt like hell. I’ve never had workouts, still to this day, as intense as some of the stuff he had me doing. It was just pushing me past my limit, whether it was on the court with ball handling drills—his daughter has one of the best handles I’ve ever seen, in basketball, in general. So working out with her, guarding her, and then going out after a two-hour workout and running up hills at University of Maryland, like, got the parachute on your back, like, it was some psycho stuff. But, like I said, it set the tone for my work ethic and getting here, it’s continuing to bring what I learned there into who I am every day. 

Yeah, it was really about figuring out basketball is one specific workout, but there’s so many other things that can help apply, like footwork in soccer. I played a lot of different sports growing up, you know, track and field for my sprints, high jump, triple jump, like, so many different things that helped, I think, contribute to my abilities here. 

SLAM: Which leads perfectly to the next question. You’ve mentioned examples of cross training, understanding the bigger picture, having foresight and it brings up the fact that you’ve been a consummate professional who has consistently sacrificed for the betterment of the Mystics. It’s an impressive awareness and emotional maturity. Where do you think this high level of emotional intelligence comes from?

SA: I think God has given me the tests to be able to fail and pass them along this journey of life. Basketball is only a small portion of what we do and just as someone who’s gone through hardships, I’ve gone through, you know, a journey that was more so up and down than maybe anybody else’s journey. My testimony is something that’s really given me the maturity. Being the oldest out of seven has given me a little bit of maturity. And just, you know, being very empathetic. I truly love people that I’m around. I want to figure out how I can show up better for them and how I can make their life easier and I think basketball is quite literally all about that. I think you get the best out of people when you have that type of mindset and when they reciprocate it as well. 

SLAM: It’s an approach that feels perfect for this year’s Mystics. Among others on the squad, Kiki Iriafen is also very empathetic and it seems like Lauren Betts has a similar capacity for love. What do you view your role as on this year’s team?

SA: I’ve really thought long about this. I’m not a player who knows exactly what it takes to win a championship. I don’t have that under my belt, but I do have my journey, my experiences and things I’ve learned along the way that I feel I can share with them and I feel like it’ll help them in their journey. Just advice in general, of valuing yourself outside of this sport as well. I’ve been injured, I’ve had the game taken away from me. And also with the height of the women’s sports going up in general, it can put more pressure on your shoulders and a lot of more people are watching. So for me, it’s about valuing yourself outside of this game. 

But when we step on the floor, it’s about competing and that’s what I know [how] to do. I know how to compete every single day. I take every match-up personal. The one-on-ones are very big for my mental. Like, I feel like, I’m better than this person, oh, this person got All-Star last year, or this person is, you know, MVP, let me go at her. I think that’s the mentality that I can help share for them. We’re the youngest in the League and a lot of people might look down upon that, but we just have to be ready. We have to be ready to step on the floor and compete every day and just not back down to anybody. That’s the one thing I don’t want to see this year. No matter what the result is for the game, no matter what’s going on in the middle of a play, like, we can make a mistake, we can, you know, do certain things, but we’re not gonna back down from who we’re looking across. 

SLAM: You just brought up having the game taken away from you. You posted on Instagram during that trying period where you were dealing with devastating injuries where you had this heartbreakingly eloquent caption, that in part, contained this: “This is my happy place, this is where I found myself, where I grew my confidence, where I found love being me. And now I found myself being broken down by the same thing I love.” Have you fallen in love with the game again? Is it back to being your happy place?

SA: For sure. I was just looking at that caption. I like to look at it a lot because it took a long, a long, time to get here. To just be healthy, to fight in the offseason for my work and my body. To be disciplined and sacrifice. A lot of players may have enjoyed their offseason seeing their family, but I stayed in D.C. as long as I could because the opportunity and the resources here. I want get to the player that I want be. And it was really about health for me. I’ve gone through a full year, I played Unrivaled, I played 3×3 in Thailand, I played in China, and now I’m back starting and I’m healthy, like, it’s such a relief for me. I feel like finally I can focus on just continuing to get better. Even last year I started off with some knee issues, tendonitis, and as much as I wanted that to be a big breakout year, I still had some lingering stuff that was bothering me. I enjoy being at the gym all day. I couldn’t get two workouts a day for two-three years now, so being able to get back to that routine, not worrying about, you know, oh, my gym load is up, I can’t get extra work after practice, like, I can get back to just being hungry. Because for so long my body took that away from me. So I’m excited. I think this year is going to be way better than last year and I just want to continue to get to that person.

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Photos via Mystics & Getty Images