{"id":974394,"date":"2026-08-01T22:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T22:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/974394\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T22:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T22:26:24","slug":"inside-lauren-betts-approach-to-her-rookie-year-with-the-mystics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/974394\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Lauren Betts’ approach to her rookie year with the Mystics"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0Washington Mystics rookie Lauren Betts<\/a> was angry when she went scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting in the team\u2019s season opener on May 8. She couldn\u2019t remember the last time she hadn\u2019t scored in a game. But a teammate told her, \u201cSome days you\u2019re gonna be like the shit, and other days you\u2019re gonna be like the fire hydrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018You\u2019re right,\u2019\u201d Betts said on the \u201cBird\u2019s Eye View<\/a>\u201d podcast on May 22. \u201cI was like, \u2018I am the fire hydrant today, and that\u2019s OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to July 22, when Betts faced off with Las Vegas Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> \u2014 someone Betts had looked up to since Wilson\u2019s college career at South Carolina. Betts scored 13 points to help the Mystics beat the Aces<\/a>, and she even made a layup on the three-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the draft, I said, \u2018Guys, if I score on A\u2019ja Wilson, I will cry,\u2019\u201d Betts told reporters postgame. \u201cI almost shed a tear. I almost did in the middle of the game, but I kept it together because I want to stay in the game. But \u2026 what a crazy experience to get to compete against one of your idols.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, the 6\u20197 Betts is averaging 6.6 points<\/a>, 3.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.6 blocks in 16.4 minutes per game off the bench. And day by day, the No. 4 overall pick<\/a> is building her confidence and getting increasingly comfortable at the professional level. That\u2019s helped make the Mystics\u2019 frontcourt one of the most imposing in the WNBA and helped put the league\u2019s youngest team in playoff position as the calendar turns to August.<\/p>\n

Betts has embraced her role backing up center Shakira Austin<\/a>, and she has learned a lot from the Mystics\u2019 26-year-old veteran<\/a> that has helped her adjust to pro basketball. Austin has given Betts and her teammates confidence boosts when needed and continually set the standard for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe expects the best out of me, and going into every game, I know that I have to finish. I know that I have to do the little things, play good D, because she expects that from me,\u201d Betts said after a win over the Seattle Storm on July 12. \u201cAnd I feel like she\u2019s been a really consistent leader for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Betts has scored in double figures five times this season, and the Mystics have won four of those games. She put up a career-high 18 points against the Toronto Tempo on June 12, and 13 in her lone start of the season against the Connecticut Sun on June 17. Against the Storm on July 12, she had 11 points, three assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block in less than 17 minutes, prompting head coach Sydney Johnson to describe her play as \u201cLauren Betts doing Lauren Betts things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep telling everyone she\u2019s really good, and she\u2019s getting just more comfortable,\u201d Johnson added. \u201c\u2026 She\u2019s just coming along, and I just think, man, between our four post players \u2026 the future\u2019s really bright, and [for] Lauren as much as anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went in, I was just focused on trying to play defense really well and just creating shots for other people and just getting deep seals,\u201d Betts said. \u201cSo I feel like when I just play my game and I go in confident, I\u2019m able to help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WashingtonWashington Mystics assistant coach Jessie Miller (left) talks with centers Shakira Austin (0) and Lauren Betts during a game against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 21, 2026. (Photo credit: John McClellan | The IX Sports)<\/p>\n

Focusing on her game also means blocking out external pressures and continuing her day-to-day process. The transition from college to the WNBA is a whirlwind for every rookie, but especially for Betts, who won a national championship<\/a> with UCLA on April 5, was drafted on April 13, moved cross-country and opened training camp on April 19.<\/p>\n

Though comparisons are inevitable throughout players\u2019 careers, especially between players from the same draft class, Betts recognizes that everyone has a different path to the pros and a different role on their team. So she isn\u2019t comparing herself to No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd<\/a> or No. 2 pick Olivia Miles<\/a>. For her, the only comparison that matters is herself today versus herself of the past.<\/p>\n

In that comparison, the current Betts is winning.<\/p>\n

In June and July, she averaged 7.0 points<\/a>, 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. Those numbers are up from 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 blocks and 44.8% shooting in May. (Her minutes also increased from 13.4 to 17.4 per game, but her per-minute stats either stayed constant or increased.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of the season, it was just figuring out her role in this different program,\u201d rookie forward Angela Dugali\u0107<\/a>, who was also Betts\u2019 teammate at UCLA, told The IX Sports on Tuesday. \u201c\u2026 So that was just a process at first, but she put in a lot of time, obviously, on the court [and] in film sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also I think [she\u2019s] just building her own confidence up. I can go up to her and tell her, \u2018I think you\u2019re the best player in the world,\u2019 and I do believe and say a lot of those things, but it has to come from within, and I think she\u2019s done a great job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Betts, the 2024-25 Naismith Women\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>, has also gotten more comfortable with the Mystics\u2019 defensive schemes<\/a> and the WNBA\u2019s defensive 3-second rule, which doesn\u2019t exist in college. Those adjustments have helped her show more of what she can do defensively, including guarding on the perimeter, which she did sometimes in college but is now being asked to do at another level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a big thing coming from college to the W defensively is the bigs have to be more engaged,\u201d point guard Georgia Amoore<\/a> told The IX Sports on Friday. \u201cYou can\u2019t park in the key anymore. \u2026 You have to be a bit more mobile. So she\u2019s adapted really well to playing inside and out defensively. So she\u2019s done amazing, and every challenge and opportunity that is given to her, she takes it and she crushes it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ConnecticutWashington Mystics center Lauren Betts (51) defends Connecticut Sun guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (4) during a game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on June 26, 2026. (Photo credit: Chris Poss | The IX Sports)<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like [I\u2019m] just trying to trust myself,\u201d Betts said on July 22. \u201c\u2026 The guards here are amazing every single night. So just going in, trusting my feet, knowing that I can move, and just meeting them at the rim and just trusting my instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Betts is learning to trust herself in Washington, her coaches and teammates already do. Johnson has sometimes put the ball in her hands late in games, including when the Mystics were down by a point to Toronto with 11 seconds left on June 12. That eventually led to guard Sonia Citron<\/a> hitting the game-winning jump shot at the buzzer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy being a post in this league, but at the same time, nobody can guard her, and I have full faith in that,\u201d Citron told The IX Sports on Tuesday, after Betts had 8 points and a career-high eight rebounds against the Sun. \u201cAnd \u2026 when Lauren is aggressive, we are a better team.\u201d<\/p>\n

In part, the Mystics trust Betts because they see that she isn\u2019t rattled by mistakes, which allows her to move on to the next play. On Tuesday, she had a sequence in the span of about a minute in the third quarter that showed that. First, Betts grabbed an offensive rebound of a shot the Mystics took with the shot clock expiring. But she got double-teamed and was tied up as she tried to get a shot off.<\/p>\n

The Mystics won the jump ball and found Betts again, but a defender swiped the ball away as she went up for her shot. Seemingly unfazed, Betts rebounded the ensuing Sun miss and eventually lobbed a high-low pass to Iriafen, who missed the shot. On the Mystics\u2019 next offensive possession, Betts called for the ball, got it, drew a foul on Sun center Olivia Nelson-Ododa<\/a> and hit both free throws.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a fighter,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cShe wants it. She competes. She doesn\u2019t shy away from the moment. \u2026 She\u2019s just a good player, and part of that is wanting to compete. And it takes a lot, especially when you\u2019re a rookie and there\u2019s so many things thrown at you.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I just appreciate how much she is bouncing back from \u2026 a turnover or a missed shot. We\u2019re gonna call your number again. We\u2019re gonna expect you to execute defensively on the other end, and we\u2019re not going to lower the standards. And thankfully, we have a locker room of players like that. But this one is 6\u20197 and [has] pretty good hands and can move well, and we\u2019re thrilled that she\u2019s in D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Betts has also managed to balance her whirlwind rookie season with several additional travel demands, while always keeping basketball at the forefront. Since mid-July alone, she\u2019s made two trips to New York for the ESPY Awards and the Collegiate Women Sports Awards and flown to Chicago for WNBA All-Star weekend. (She won trophies at both awards ceremonies for her dominant senior season at UCLA.)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s handled it like a champ,\u201d Amoore said. \u201c\u2026 Even though she might have driven from New York for four hours the day before or even the morning of practice, she still comes, she still brings her energy, and I think she never seems distracted. \u2026 She didn\u2019t even talk about the ESPYS till after we [did] what we had to do [as a team].\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how she\u2019s juggled it all, Betts told The IX Sports on Tuesday, \u201cNapping. Just taking naps. And just finding time, honestly, to just reset and get my mind right for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mental health was also something Betts spoke about at the ESPY Awards<\/a>, just as she did during her college career. She said in her acceptance speech that she wanted people to understand that she does struggle sometimes, but \u201cprotecting my peace has been the one thing that I\u2019ve been as fierce about [as] chasing my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is that Betts no longer lets her play on the court dictate how she feels about herself<\/a> like she did early in her college career. Even if she goes scoreless, she knows her worth, and that gives her confidence and grounding. That outlook has been indispensable early in her professional career, and it has fit well on a Mystics team that has emphasized finding joy in the game<\/a> and making incremental progress every day.<\/p>\n

\"WashingtonWashington Mystics center Lauren Betts (51) tries to get a shot off during a game against the Seattle Storm at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 12, 2026. (Photo credit: Hannah Kevorkian | The IX Sports)<\/p>\n

Now, Betts is living out her dreams in the WNBA. The experience has been especially rewarding because it has her thinking back to her childhood and how her basketball dreams began. She was born in Spain, where her dad, Andy, was playing professionally. She often came to his games and could be found dancing<\/a> with the mascots and cheerleaders during stoppages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like my dad is the reason why I wanted to play basketball, and I\u2019ve grown up watching him play professionally my entire childhood,\u201d Betts said. \u201cSo I feel like this is kind of full-circle for me to be able to play professionally and him watching me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Sports. The IX Sports\u2019 editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.<\/p>\n

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