Mystics Are Already Feeling the Effects of Their Betnijah Laney-Hamilton Addition
When the New York Liberty took on the Las Vegas Aces at home, some fans booed head coach Chris DeMarco before the game. There’s little doubt that those boos were related to Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
Laney-Hamilton had been a star for the Liberty long before they became a super team. She took a step back when Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones became the franchise’s big three, but she was still instrumental to the Liberty’s 2024 championship run. And yet, she was wasting away on Chris DeMarco’s bench this season, collecting DNPs until the organization eventually waived her and signed Marine Fauthoux to a multi-year contract.
Laney-Hamilton wasn’t without a team for long. The Washington Mystics picked her up. They had to waive fan-favorite Rori Harmon in the process, who is expected to be back on a development contract, but it was well worth it to bring in a championship veteran.
Laney-Hamilton hasn’t played a game for the Mystics yet, but she was present during their 95-75 win against the Phoenix Mercury, and immediately made her presence felt. The broadcast showed Laney-Hamilton speaking to her new teammates in the pregame huddle. Kiki Iriafen also noted her positive impact already.
“She got here today, and you could already hear her,” Iriafen said in the postgame media availability, per a video by The Ballers Magazine. “She’s super vocal. I think that’s something as a young team—I think Michaela [Onyenwere] and Shakira [Austin] have done a great job up until this point and will continue to do so, but having someone who has championship experience and knows what it takes to really make a final push in the playoffs, I think is really important. But it’s her first day, and we hear her. She has great advice and great feedback for us.”
The Mystics needed another veteran leader
The Mystics started the season with two players who had more than one year of WNBA experience in Michaela Onyenwere and Shakira Austin, second-year stars Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, and a bunch of rookies. It worked out better than you could have expected. Citron and Iriafen were named All-Stars again, Austin probably should have been one as well, Onyenwere is averaging career highs in points, assists, and 3-point percentage, and they’ve been getting great contributions from rookies Cotie McMahon and Lauren Betts.
Everything has been clicking for the Mystics lately. They extended their win streak to seven games when they beat the Mercury, and they've officially overtaken the Atlanta Dream, New York Liberty, and Dallas Wings to climb into fifth place in the standings with several wins against playoff teams.
The Mystics have all the talent and potential a rebuilding team could hope for. What they lacked was experience and veteran leadership. Laney-Hamilton can bring that easily. She’s in her tenth season and helped lead a team to the kind of playoff success the Mystics hope to find soon.
Ideally, Laney-Hamilton will also provide tough defense, 3-point shooting, and scoring for the Mystics once she begins playing. But even if it takes her a while to find her rhythm on the court, her leadership will be invaluable, as the Mystics make their first playoff push with this new young core.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.