"I just want to be healthy."
Shakira Austin's goal for her 2025 WNBA campaign with the Washington Mystics is pretty straightforward. After tearing her labrum in 2023 and missing a chunk of the 2024 season with a sprained ankle, Austin hopes a clean bill of health awaits her for the 2025 W season, which tips off in May.
If the precursor to the WNBA season is any indication, Austin is on a path toward that goal. This winter, Austin was invited to play in Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 women's basketball league started by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
Austin and the Lunar Owls went 13-1 in the new league, which was created to give WNBA players a domestic league to participate in during the offseason. Throughout her time at Unrivaled, Austin took nothing for granted.
"God blessed me enough to not be on any injury reports for Unrivaled. And that was a big, a big moment for me, you know. So I want to be healthy, and I know that the byproduct of that will be a confident Shakira, who I feel like is truly unstoppable."
That feeling doesn't stem from nowhere, either. Austin has created success across leagues — and game types, from 5-on-5, to 3-on-3, and recently 1-on-1, as she won a first-round matchup in Unrivaled's 1-on-1 tourney against Chelsea Grey.
Austin made the WNBA's All-Rookie team in 2022, won a Gold Medal with the United States at the 2022 World Cup, and won both MVP and a championship in the Israeli Premier League in early 2023. Next up for Austin is sustained success in the WNBA, and taking the court in May at 100 percent is the first step toward that.
Recently, Austin was awarded the Athlete Recovery and Care Commitment Grant from the Women's Sports Foundation and Tylenol, joining nine other elite athletes on the road to recovery. Injury recovery for women athletes is significantly underfunded in comparison to their male counterparts, and this grant is designed to start ending that disparity.
"My first real injury was my hip. That happened almost two years ago, a year and a half now, and that just really, kind of changed my outlook on what it takes to be a pro, and what it takes to really be a healthy athlete. The grant that I've received has, you know, been extremely helpful for me to kind of plan out what more resources I can use for the season, physically and mentally. That's playing a big, huge part in really just getting back to myself and feeling confident, feeling 100%.
For Austin, "being a pro" starts well before she actually takes the court.
Right now, I've just been able to soak up as much knowledge as possible to, you know, just be able to prepare. I feel like preparation is the biggest key for me and for trying to get back to where I was — but also exceeding that."
Shakira Austin's roots in the DMV shaped the player fans see today
Austin, who grew up in a notorious basketball hotbed, got her start a little late, by her own admission. But being thrown into the trash-talk heavy, no-apologies-necessary world of basketball in Virginia quickly shaped her into the fiery player she has become.
"I actually started pretty late. I started playing ball in like seventh grade. That was my first time. And, you know, you see right away the impact of how much sports — but specifically basketball in general — is a big deal, playing for Boo Williams traveling, playing AAU, you know, going against the top opponents, that was something that was starting really early. So the trash talk, the competitive level, all that started at a young age, and it was, for me, the norm.
A competitive spirit was ingrained into Austin early — there was never a choice to play hard. It was built in on the courts all around the DMV, and it's clear from watching her that it's as authentic as can be.
It was weird to see people who didn't compete, and who were quiet. You know, that wasn't really what we do in the DMV. We talk and we compete at a high level. We hoop against boys. You know, it's just the norm."
Playing in an expanding league
The WNBA's popularity explosion isn't slowing anytime soon — three expansion teams will join the league in the next two seasons, in San Francisco, Toronto and Portland. Austin's experience, first and foremost, is practical; three expansion teams means three expansion drafts, so every WNBA team will lose some important talent.
"I think adding teams have both pros and cons to it. You know, for me, I will say a concern is just keeping a lot of top talent on teams. So kind of adding more teams, for me, like just disperses how many great people are on a team"
Off the court, Austin understands the importance of expanding women's basketball into cities and communities that haven't been given the chance to embrace it yet.
"But you know... this is what comes with the growth. I just hope we're really prepared for this and that we just continue to excel. So I'm excited for definitely the expansion, playing in new cities, and really just figuring out how we can dive into different communities that we haven't touched before."
A future in fashion?
I'll venture to say that Shakira Austin made the right choice by pursuing basketball as a career. If hoops weren't the answer though, Austin had another sport lined up — and if sports weren't in the question at all, Austin says the fashion world called her.
I would say, if we're sticking to sports, I would be a track star. Like, I really love track and field. That was actually my first true heart, I was running at seven years old. And I had so many different events I was taking, so I would say a track star. But other than that, I would probably be into fashion and modeling.
And the best fashion city in the WNBA? No shocks here.
Honestly, New York. Like, New York's vibe, it's really the closest to the DMV. So, I like it. It's a little chaotic — LA is too much for me, but New York is my type of party.
Thanks to Shakira Austin, Tylenol and the Women's Sports Foundation for making this interview possible.