The Mystics are the youngest team to ever make the WNBA playoffs. Scott Taetsch/Getty ImagesKareem CopelandSep 15, 2026, 09:00 AM ETMultiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsWASHINGTON D.C. — AT any given moment with the Washington Mystics, a dance party can break out. Rookies Lauren Betts and Cotie McMahon instantly start to rock when Tyler, The Creator’s “Sticky” plays at practice, mouthing the lyrics as they stand on the sideline.The next day at shootaround, it’s Betts and assistant coach Barb Turner shaking to Blac Youngsta’s “Booty.” Kiki Iriafen, McMahon and Georgia Amoore join in when “Super Gremlin” by Kodak Black comes on. Even coach Sydney Johnson will break out his own … unique moves after victories.It’s all fun and games the late August day before the Mystics take on the Toronto Tempo — until someone blows a defensive assignment in practice. That’s when the bass comes out of the typically mild-mannered Johnson’s voice, who laments that Marina Mabrey will hit that open jumper every time.Things have drastically changed in the past 23 months for the youthful Mystics, playoff-bound for the first time since 2023.
With six first-round picks from the past two drafts and a sprinkle of veteran leadership, the lightning-quick franchise rebuild has created a playful-yet-serious vibe that just seems to fit this particularly constructed roster. There’s even the nickname that would be considered derogatory if they didn’t give it to themselves (think of a garden tool that rhymes with rose).”Young h-s, we are fun,” McMahon said, barely containing her laugh. “Don’t take anything serious unless we’re on the court. This is an amazing group of girls.
This is honestly like daycare, you know. We come here for the day, work out, have fun. Then we go back home and it’s like, oh, so boring.”The coaches had to adjust to us. They had to figure out how to deal with us and how to handle us.
Some of the things we say, they can’t do anything but laugh.”Shakira Austin, an elder stateswoman at 26, added, “Them girls, they crazy.”The girls might be crazy, but they’ve already become the youngest playoff team in WNBA history just two years into a rebuild that began before the 2025 season. Mike Thibault, at the time the winningest coach in league history, was fired as general manager and his son Eric was let go as coach. The two had been with the organization since 2013 — Mike was coach for 10 seasons before being followed by Eric — advancing to the 2018 Finals and winning the title in 2019.Four years later, former Los Angeles Clippers GM Michael Winger was hired as the president of Monumental Basketball, which owns the Washington Wizards and Mystics. He was fairly hands-off in 2023 and 2024, primarily focused on the Wizards.
That changed in 2025. The Thibaults were let go, and the proverbial house was cleaned. Austin and head of domestic scouting Shelley Patterson are, essentially, the only two remaining from the previous regime. Jamila Wideman was hired as the new GM and lasted all of one season.As the reorganization took place on and off the court, one thing emerged: Winger would be the ultimate decision-maker, even when Wideman was on staff.
The draft-and-develop strategy first employed by the Wizards was eventually tailored to fit the Mystics. But while the Wizards had the worst three-year stretch in franchise history, the Mystics’ youngsters have had an immediate impact on winning.Six first-round draft picks in the last two years produced youthful depth: a pair of All-Stars in Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, both in their sophomore season; a rookie starting point guard in two-time all-American Georgia Amoore (she missed the 2025 season with an ACL injury). Betts, the two-time all-American and 2026 NCAA tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player, comes off the bench. Angela Dugalic and Cotie McMahon were also first-round selections in May.”It’s not fun if everybody around you isn’t having fun,” Iriafen said.
“Honestly, some days it feels like we’re in college again. Like, we come into practice and we hang out in the locker room. Then we’re like, let’s go get matcha. Or on the road, we’re like, oh, who wants to come to the movies with me?”So we definitely have a chemistry off the court that has just bled into on the court.”THIS SEASON’S ROSTER almost looked very different.Austin, the 2022 No. 3 overall pick, could have been somewhere else entirely.
She signed a three-year deal worth $3.57 million offer sheet with the Toronto Tempo in free agency and was prepared to head north to the expansion franchise. Sources in Washington claim that never was going to happen — she was a restricted free agent, and the Mystics were ready to match any offer — but Austin, the only player remaining from the previous regime, was considering her options.First, though, she wanted to have a conversation with Johnson. For all of 2024, the team’s record was essentially an afterthought; the new coach wanted to focus on building a cultural foundation. Johnson emphasized he wanted the team to play with “joy” more than anything else — so often that it became a running joke, as the coach would work “joy” into nearly every conversation ad nauseum.Austin understood the rebuild ahead, but heading into her fifth season, she wanted to play for more than just joy and felt that Johnson was being a bit “timid” in Year 1.”Do you want to just be okay with being okay, or do you want to go out there and see what the [expletive] we can do?” Austin said.
“I’m just too competitive to allow us to settle, in a sense. I really had to talk with Coach.”If they were to bring me back, I just truly wanted to be like, okay, we have enough players that we can be better than last year and we can still strive for success.”Austin wasn’t alone with those feelings. Citron and Iriafen wanted more, too.And while Johnson and the team have embraced his good-natured “girl dad” persona, they also didn’t want to compete for a participation trophy. This season, the fiery side of Johnson began to appear more often.
In a 32-point loss to the Atlanta Dream in early June, he had to be escorted off the court by three police officers after being ejected. Team security, three assistant coaches and Iriafen all failed to corral Johnson as he unleashed fury.”It was really important to go into Year 2 withholding that we’re going to have our joy, but we’re also going to be competitive and ruthless in competition and merge those two,” Johnson said. “Positive competitiveness is how I phrase it. It doesn’t have to be like s—ty, crappy behavior in the sake of winning. ‘The end justifies the means?’ I don’t believe in that.”When our players — Kira and Kiki and Sonia, especially — were like, Coach, you can push us more — all right, now we’re off and running.”With their stars on board, the front office was selective about what veterans to bring in as it looked to construct the roster this offseason.
They didn’t want to stunt the growth of the youngsters, but if they were going to shoot for the playoffs, some experience was necessary. Michaela Onyenwere, 27, spent 2025 in Chicago, where Johnson was an assistant, so there was already a relationship and knowledge about the type of example she would be.The organization was wary about the same things at the trade deadline and declined to make a move. But when the New York Liberty waived Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who never found a consistent role under new coach Chris DeMarco, the Mystics pounced. The one-time All-Star, two-time all-defense selection, 2020 Most Improved Player and 2024 champion was Onyenwere’s veteran when she entered the league as a rookie in New York.
Onyenwere said she would be a perfect fit.Laney-Hamilton proved that immediately. Before even being made active, she was leaning into huddles midgame and making her voice heard. Then games and a cookout were held at her home in Vegas during a road trip to face the Aces.”What’s really unique is just the energy in the environment
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