Shakira Austin on Mystics Breakout: ‘I Had the Skill Set to Do More’

Shakira Austin set Washington Mystics single-season records with 722 points and 408 rebounds in 2026. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons combined, hip and ankle injuries limited her to 31 games, Andscape reported.

Austin came to Washington in 2022 to play alongside Elena Delle Donne, she said on the Nov. 11 episode of Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston, an AMP Sports Original Series. The Mystics had won the 2019 championship and, as she put it, made the playoffs every year.

“For me, it was my approach to my offseasons,” Austin said. “I’ve been through a whirlwind of coming back from injuries and, honestly, just trying to finally get to where I felt I could be in the league. Coming back and trying to have a healthy season, and also trying to get better, I just wanted a bigger role.”

Washington traded down from No. 1 to No. 3 in the 2022 WNBA Draft and took her out of Ole Miss. She made the All-Rookie Team, finished second to Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard for Rookie of the Year, and won gold with the U.S. at the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Sydney that fall.

She played 12 games in 2024. In 2025, a lingering knee injury kept her out of the starting lineup for the first eight games, and she played on a minutes restriction, Andscape reported. She appeared in a career-high 38 games and started 30. The Associated Press named her its Comeback Player of the Year, the first Mystics player to win it.

Austin entered restricted free agency in the spring. On April 11, she signed an offer sheet with the Toronto Tempo, and Washington matched the three-year, $3.57 million deal inside its 48-hour window.

With the U.S. 3x3 national team, she won bronze at the Champions Cup in Bangkok. She had won gold at the 2025 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup in León, Mexico.

Growing her basketball IQ was the mental adjustment she set out to make.

“We played a lot of three-on-three,” Austin explained. “Every month, we were in the Mystics facility for a week straight, and we were training in preparation for whatever the rest of the team was doing. I had the skill set to do more, especially as a post player.”

In Austin’s view, few WNBA posts have been as versatile as Candace Parker was.

“I felt like I just wanted to be in a bigger role to showcase not only can I be dominant, but I could playmake,” Austin said. “I could attack from full court. I could dribble off the wing, come off ball screens, and we just worked on it. I worked on shooting threes, things that I’ve always been capable of doing. It was just the opportunity to finally do it.”

She averaged career highs of 9.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 2026 and recorded 20 double-doubles. Her streak of 25 straight games with at least 10 points and 5 rebounds was the first in franchise history.

Over 16 games starting July 2, she averaged 20.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, Andscape reported, citing ESPN Stats & Information. She had 21 points and 11 rebounds in an Aug. 7 win over Atlanta and scored 31 in a win at Portland on Aug. 23.

The WNBA named her to the All-Defensive First Team on Oct. 15 and the All-WNBA Second Team on Oct. 24. She finished second in Most Improved Player voting behind Dallas’ Jessica Shepard.

Austin said she made mistakes during the season, and her approach to the work was the one thing she could always depend on.

“It truly reminded me the most of Ole Miss,” Austin said. “We didn’t make much noise in the tournament, but the leadership I was able to figure out, how I can get the most not only out of myself, but out of these players who aren’t five, seven, ten years into the league. They’re rookies. So I’m like, ‘OK, how can we approach going against the Indiana Fevers, and going against some of the best with Vegas and in Minnesota?’ At the end of the day, they were ready for the moment.”

Austin transferred to Ole Miss from Maryland after the 2019-20 season and was a two-time first-team All-SEC pick there. In August, Andscape described her as the longest-tenured player on Washington’s roster.