Mystics’ Shakira Austin Is Now the Adult in the Room

When her iPhone rang at 5 a.m. in Shanxi, China, Shakira Austin knew who was on the other end. She had switched her call settings to “Do Not Disturb” the night before, with one important exception. It was April 14, the morning of Game 1 of the finals of the Chinese women’s basketball league, and when Austin picked up the phone, she heard the familiar voice of her agent.

The deal was done, Fabio Jardine said. You’re staying in Washington.

Austin, 25, hadn’t slept much the previous two nights as she waited to hear whether the Washington Mystics would match the three-year, $3.57 million offer sheet with which the expansion Toronto Tempo had tried to pry her away. And now that she had confirmation in the affirmative, she posted quickly on her socials to the fans back in D.C. – “forever my cityyyyyyy,” she wrote – and crashed out into a deep and blissful sleep.

It had already been a transformative WNBA offseason for Austin, marked by a return to full health some two years after hip surgery and by dominant performances in international play and in the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league. The Mystics’ investment in her – keeping her in the region where she was born and raised (Fredericksburg, Virginia) and where she made her mark as a high schooler (Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, Maryland) and collegian (two years at the University of Maryland) – felt like the final piece falling into place for what had the potential to be a monster 2026 season.

Back in Washington now, Austin has spent the early part of this WNBA season providing answers to anyone who might have wondered: How great could Austin be if she ever put it all together – full health, full peace of mind and a full grasp of what it means to be a leader? The numbers tell part of the story, with season averages of 16 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game – all career highs by significant margins.

She may not be the best player in the WNBA, but at 6-foot-5, with the playmaking ability to score from nearly anywhere on the floor – a “unicorn,” as her college coach once called her – this much can be said about Austin: No one in the W who’s bigger than her is more skilled, and no one who’s more skilled has as much size and strength.

“She’s arriving. She’s blossoming,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said of Austin. “There’s a phrase: ‘Bloom where you are planted.’ I think that’s what you’re seeing. The game is slowing down for her. She’s playing at an incredibly high level, and she’s bringing her teammates along. It gives me chills.”

Mystics Coach Sydney Johnson said Austin is “blossoming” this season. Shaina Benhiyoun/SPP/Sipa USA via AP

What is less measurable is the leadership Austin has brought to the 2026 Mystics. With a roster averaging 24 years of age, the Mystics are the youngest team in the WNBA this season and one of the youngest in league history. An astonishing eight rookies have made their WNBA debuts for the Mystics this season, the most in the league in more than a quarter-century. Given that reality, the Mystics’ 4-5 record – featuring road wins at Indiana and Seattle, both playoff teams in 2025 – more impressive than it looks on paper.

Once a young, fiery protégé to stars like Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud in D.C., Austin now finds herself the stabilizing, veteran presence on a roster full of young stars such as Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Lauren Betts, all of them 22 years old. And she has made the transition without softening the edge that has always defined her on-court presence – from her distinctive neon-red hair to her animated gestures and smack talk. In the past, that edge was something that threatened to derail her at any moment. Now, in her fifth season, it’s just another tool in her seemingly endless toolbox.

“I think I’ve just figured out how to bring the team along, how to get the best out of all of us,” Austin said. “Someone has to continue to be the standard, and I want that for myself and also for the [rest of the] girls.”

According to Citron, the Mystics’ top scorer so far this season at 17.8 points per game, the difference between the Austin of 2025 and of 2026 is vast and obvious.

“When we need to be pushed, she’ll be that person that’s on our ass,” Citron said. “But also, when we need to settle down, she’s that calming voice, too – which is different.”

“I think I’ve just figured out how to bring the team along, how to get the best out of all of us,” Austin said. Daniel Kucin Jr./AP

Whether she needed it or not, Austin received a harsh lesson on leadership while playing in China this spring. She signed with Shanxi – a team based in the province of the same name in the country’s north, some 7,500 miles from Washington – just in time for the playoffs, putting up 15 points and 21 rebounds in her first game, and 36 and 15 in her second.

But then the team fired its interpreter, Austin said, forcing players to use translation apps on their phones to communicate. Later, following a team shootaround the morning of Game 3 of the finals, the team fired its head coach, leaving Austin, by far the most talented and accomplished player on the roster, to effectively act as a player-coach on the floor. It didn’t go well: Shanxi was eliminated in five games by Sichuan, though Austin put up 18 and 15 in the final loss.

“The patience and grace I learned to give out there, I didn’t think it would directly translate here [in the WNBA], but it’s clear that it helped me in a way, not only with my leadership, but communicating with Coach,” she said. “It’s definitely helped my game and my [basketball] IQ a lot.”

And in the middle of that whole chaotic, transcontinental, language-barriered, sleep-deprived ordeal, there was at least one welcome moment of peace and satisfaction – the 5 a.m. call from her agent, with the news of her three-year contract with the Mystics, at a seven-figure maximum salary made possible by the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, and representing a more than sixfold increase over the 2025 max.

Asked if she did anything to celebrate, Austin said, “Celebrate?” She paused, as if trying to hold back the old, edgy, brash Shakira and instead say something anodyne and scripted. The grin that spread across her face was the first signal that wasn’t going to happen.

“Nah,” she said. “I’ll celebrate on the next one maybe. I think they got me for a good little discount.”