WASHINGTON — When Washington Mystics guard Brittney Sykes made two free throws just before halftime on Friday, they didn’t make a huge difference on the scoreboard. They cut the Mystics’ deficit against the New York Liberty from 14 points to 12, in a game they’d eventually lose by 22.
The free throws made a bigger impact in the history books, though, as Sykes reached 3,000 career points in her ninth WNBA season. She is the 90th player in league history to reach the milestone, and she did it in 246 regular-season games, which ranks inside the top 50.
“What she does on the floor is just amazing,” point guard Sug Sutton told reporters postgame. “And … she’s really a person to look up to as a basketball player. So congrats to her. It’s a huge milestone.”
“It’s just a blessing to be able to reach the type of milestone like that,” Sykes told reporters postgame. “And I’m really grateful that I got to reach it here at D.C. They’ve really provided a space for me to just do what I do best. … I’m just really thankful for them and just thankful that I’ve reached that milestone in my career.”
Sykes scored 20 points on Friday to lead the Mystics, finishing her night with 3,005 career points. But earlier in her WNBA career, it didn’t always look like she’d be a go-to scorer. She averaged about 11 points per game in six seasons with the Atlanta Dream and the Los Angeles Sparks, but she felt like she was “shoved in a corner” and sometimes discouraged from shooting.
| Share of Sykes’ career _ by team | Games | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Dream | 39% | 37% | 39% | 32% |
| Los Angeles Sparks | 35% | 31% | 31% | 34% |
| Washington Mystics | 26% | 33% | 30% | 34% |
When she signed with Washington in 2023, that changed. The Mystics encouraged her to shoot and wanted the ball in her hands much more. The result was a breakout season offensively in 2023 in which she averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. She received a handful of votes for WNBA Most Improved Player as well as Defensive Player of the Year, which has long been a goal of hers to win.
Last season, Sykes battled injuries and appeared in only 18 games. Now healthy, she has taken on an even larger role in the offense than she had in 2023 and has led a young Mystics team to outperform expectations early in the season.
“If she’s healthy and she’s involved, usually good things happen,” Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson told reporters on May 21, before Sykes scored a season-high 30 points against the Golden State Valkyries. “And so it’s our job to try to put her in those situations and allow her to kind of do her thing, allow her to continue to grow as a leader and as a playmaker. And … so far, [I’m] really happy with what she’s been able to do.”
In six games played this season, Sykes is averaging a career-high 21.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.2 minutes per game. She ranks fourth in the WNBA in scoring and has had at least 20 points five times. She also has the highest usage rate in the league at 33.4%, which measures the share of possessions when she’s on the floor that end with the ball in her hands.
Her role has been so significant that Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon joked on May 23 that the three keys to playing the Mystics were, “Keep the ball away from Brittney Sykes, keep the ball away from Brittney Sykes and keep the ball away from Brittney Sykes.”
“It’s no secret that she’s the engine for their team,” Atlanta Dream and former Mystics guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough told The Next before Sykes scored 22 points against the Dream on May 16. “And not just [with] this team, but any team, you want to stop the engine, and … that makes the car stop.
“But, I mean, she’s just so dynamic in all three levels that she can score on. With great players like that, it’s hard to completely shut them out.”
Sykes is taking 16.7 shots per game this season, the third-most in the WNBA and well above her previous best of 12.3. More of her shots are coming in the midrange (especially from 10 to 16 feet) than in past seasons, and she’s taking a smaller share of 3-pointers than she has previously with the Mystics.
Sykes has been elite at finishing from close range, shooting 77.3% in the restricted area. That ranks eighth-best in the WNBA among players who’ve taken at least 10 shots there this season and third-best among guards.
“We’ve got to fill the holes so that she sees no gap to go downhill,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello told reporters before Friday’s game. “She can go through the smallest gap.”
Sykes’ shooting percentages from farther out haven’t jumped off the page, but she’s made up for that by getting to the free-throw line. She leads the WNBA with 11.2 free-throw attempts per game, more than three more than any other player, and has already drawn more shooting fouls than she did in 18 games in 2024.
That has resulted in her scoring 9.2 points per game from the foul line — nearly half her average and also the most in the league.
On and off the court, Sykes has also flourished as the leader the Mystics need, and her teammates have been eager to celebrate and follow her. Point guard Jade Melbourne called her development “unbelievable” on May 21, and rookies like guard Sonia Citron have been eager to make her proud with their play.
“[The Mystics] play like she plays: with that toughness, with that swag,” Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White told reporters after Sykes scored 21 points in a win over the Fever on Wednesday.
Between Sykes’ offense, her leadership and her continued impact as a defensive stopper, the Mystics have been better with her on the court than off. They are getting outscored by 3.3 points per 100 possessions overall this season, but with her on the court, that number drops to 2.7. In addition, the pace increases — something the Mystics are looking for this season — yet they commit fewer turnovers per 100 possessions.
As much as Sykes appreciated reaching 3,000 career points on Friday, she was even prouder of the milestone she’d reached on Wednesday: 1,000 career rebounds. Echoing the timing of her 3,000th point, she got her 1,000th rebound shortly before halftime, leaping to grab a relatively uncontested Fever miss.
“I’m still striving for [Defensive Player of the Year], so if I can just add that to my campaign, then hey, [voters] can’t say I’m not rebounding,” Sykes said on Friday. “Trying to get a couple blocks there, couple steals, but it seems it always comes down to the rebounding. … So I’m proud of my 5’9 [self] getting 1,000-plus. That’s all I got to say.”
The next round number for Sykes to reach is likely 700 career assists. She is currently at 686 and will likely hit 700 in the next three to five games.
