Shakira Austin has been nothing short of a star for the Washington Mystics this season.
Given a near seven-minute-per-game increase from last season, Austin has taken advantage, quickly becoming a team standout. Averaging over 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and one block, Austin has shattered most of her career-highs.
Austin's newfound role was a key reason for their 2026 playoff berth, but this drastic improvement didn't come easy for the center.
Austin suffered multiple injuries early in her career. She had a hip injury that hindered her between 2022-24. Then she had an ankle injury in 2024.
With Austin's injury history, most players would've taken the offseason to recover. But she took a different route, playing more basketball. She went to Unrivaled to work on certain aspects of her game.
She spent the rest of the offseason playing in China. She experienced some hardships there, but Austin believes that time is paying off this season.
"So just the patience and the grace that I learned to give out there, I didn't think it would directly translate here, but it's clear that it's helped me in a way."
Austin's three-point shooting has improved significantly as well. Before this season, she was a non-factor on the perimeter, taking just 0.4 attempts a game in 2025 and shooting 13.3%. This season, she's taking 1.3 attempts and hitting 34.0% from beyond the arc.
She talked about all the changes she had to make to her shot, which has now become a weapon in her arsenal. That skill set is important to how this team plays, with a lot of bigs on the roster. Her floor-stretching capabilities have opened up the Washington offense and created much easier scoring opportunities for the Mystics.
"And this offseason, I really put a lot of focus into that. Really, since I got drafted from my first rookie year, there was a lot of intentionality between just trying to fix my form, and that kind of caused some confidence problems. You can't really change a form right at the beginning of the season. But now that I've had some healthy off-seasons under my belt, it's just about continuing to put the work in and trust it."
All of the work she put in is paying off this season. Austin is starting to put the league on notice with her play, earning recognition for it.
With all the work she has been putting in, Coach Sydney Johnson felt like his center should've been an All-Star. With the strong play she has shown, it was definitely a big snub for Austin not to make her first All-Star appearance.
"Shakira Austin, with all due respect to everybody else in the league, she's probably the biggest snub All-Star-wise. She's been outstanding…But as much as anything, just being a great leader and a great teammate," said Johnson.
AP awarded Austin with their Player of the Week honors for the last week of July and the first week of August. She also won the Kia WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first week in August.
"Absolutely thrilled, so excited for her, for other people," continued Johnson. "We recognize and see the growth that she's had from month to month, from season to season. She's DC through and through. But to have the AP acknowledge her the way that they did was absolutely wonderful. It's a really good moment for us to be able to celebrate that."
The impact she is making on both ends of the floor has been crucial.
Austin has been an anchor not only on offense but on defense as well. She leads her team in rebounds and blocks per game. Her rebound average ranks fourth in the league, while her block average ranks eighth. Those numbers can give Austin a case for winning Defensive Player of the Year .
The Mystics currently rank second in the league with a 103.3 defensive rating . They also lead the l eague in rebounds with 37.5 per game.
"She takes a lot of pride on the defensive end and vocal extra efforts, versatility there. She's a wonderful player [in] that regard," said coach Johnson.
With the way Austin has been performing on both sides of the ball, she should be considered for one of the awards at the end of the season—possibly the Most Improved Player of the Year, as well as DPOY.
There's no doubt that Austin is the leader of this young Mystics team, who is turning a lot of heads while they prepare to make their first playoff appearance since 2023.
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