WASHINGTON — Shortly before Betnijah Laney-Hamilton debuted for the Washington Mystics on Aug. 11, head coach Sydney Johnson was asked how much of the playbook Laney-Hamilton had learned since the Mystics claimed her off waivers three days earlier. Johnson said she was still learning it, but he pointed out that she knew that night’s opponent, the Las Vegas Aces, better than anyone else on the roster.
That’s because Laney-Hamilton is in her 10th WNBA season, making her easily the most experienced player on a very young Mystics team. She had played 26 career games against the Aces up to that point, including four in the 2023 WNBA Finals and four in the 2024 WNBA semifinals. By comparison, the Mystics’ two next-most experienced players had combined to play 27 games against the Aces, none of which were in the playoffs.
Laney-Hamilton’s experience was a major reason the Mystics decided to put in a claim after the New York Liberty waived her on Aug. 6. She’d struggled to stick in New York’s rotation under first-year head coach Chris DeMarco and played in only 17 games this season for New York. She averaged 16.8 minutes and 4.7 points in those games, both significantly below her career averages with the franchise.
But the Mystics wanted the 6′ guard/forward for her defense, 3-point shooting and versatility, as well as for her leadership and experience. Her defense would add to what was already a top-three defense in the WNBA, while her 36.0% 3-point shooting in five seasons with New York would help a Mystics offense that was shooting a league-worst 29.3% from deep through Aug. 6. Plus, her championship experience with the Liberty in 2024 could help steady the Mystics in what will likely be the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2023.
“She is a very, very good player and has proven herself and then some in this league,” Johnson told reporters before a game against the Phoenix Mercury on Aug. 9. “… It was somewhat of a no-brainer for us to bring in some depth, some experience [and] a phenomenal person. … We thought about it not too long. We were just kind of hopeful.”
Meanwhile, Laney-Hamilton started packing up her New York apartment once she heard she was being waived. She didn’t know where she was going yet, but she knew she’d be on the move soon.
“The packing was a little overwhelming, just packing up five years of an apartment,” Laney-Hamilton told The IX Sports on Saturday, shortly after playing in her third game as a Mystic. “But outside of that, the transition’s been pretty easy.”
Laney-Hamilton was awarded to the Mystics on the evening of Aug. 8, and she met her new teammates at CareFirst Arena the next morning. It was a fresh start for her, about 225 miles down Interstate 95, and she appeared to be beaming.
“She was a little bit emotional, which was cute to see,” forward Michaela Onyenwere, who played with Laney-Hamilton in New York in 2021 and 2022, told The IX Sports that day.
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Laney-Hamilton didn’t play against the Mercury as she went through the medical clearance process and got her bearings in Washington. But the Mystics were ready for her, with graphics welcoming her on several video boards near the team’s practice courts and a clip of her already inserted into the pregame hype video.
The fans were ready, too. When Laney-Hamilton walked out to the court for the first time with about two minutes on the pregame clock, the public address announcer didn’t call attention to her presence. But many fans spotted her and started applauding, and some even rose to their feet.
Soon after that, Laney-Hamilton huddled with the Mystics’ reserves, nearly all of whom are rookies. She reminded them to stay ready and show the world how good the team can be.
“She got here today, and you could already hear her,” starting forward Kiki Iriafen told reporters postgame. “She’s super vocal … and she has great advice and great feedback for us, so I’m really excited.”
“The girls have been really receptive to me, which makes it a lot easier to kind of step in and share my opinion and all the things,” Laney-Hamilton said. “And then they’re also helping me as I’m trying to figure everything out and learning a new system.”
Laney-Hamilton had to start learning the Mystics’ system without many practice reps, as the Mystics played four games in her first week with the team and didn’t have a full practice until Tuesday. But the coaches made time for some on-court work and one-on-one film sessions to help her along. They focused on the plays the Mystics run most often, with the rest of the playbook to follow.
“Frankly, it’s not stuff that she hasn’t seen,” Johnson said. “She’s seen it all. I mean, that’s a credit to her experience. It’s just simply who she’s working with here in terms of the player to her left and to her right and the different names that we call stuff. … So just trying to speed that along as quickly as possible.”
Laney-Hamilton checked in for the first time as a Mystic with 4:19 left in the first quarter against the Aces on Aug. 11. Within her first 15 seconds of game time, she turned the ball over and committed a foul. But she soon settled in, notching assists to Iriafen and rookie center Lauren Betts before the quarter was up.
Center Shakira Austin returned the favor in the second quarter when she pushed the ball in transition and found Laney-Hamilton on the right wing. Laney-Hamilton drilled the 3-pointer for her first points as a Mystic.
In two games against the Aces, on Aug. 11 and a rematch two days later, Laney-Hamilton totaled 9 points on 3-for-5 3-point shooting, four assists, three rebounds and two turnovers in 30 minutes.
“[I] really liked what I saw,” Johnson said after the first game. “You could see a little bit of rust early, and then she got into the groove. … She’s got a really good feel for the game in terms of there’s some crafty things there that she was doing. … So we’ll get back in the gym with her tomorrow and try to build on a nice start.”
The Mystics’ trip to Las Vegas was well-timed for Laney-Hamilton, as she lives there in the offseason. She had family in town for the games, and she invited the team over to her house for a home-cooked meal. Her family made a full spread: wings, hot dogs, burgers, broccoli, baked beans, string beans and potato salad.
That was just one way that Laney-Hamilton has started to bond with her teammates. It hasn’t mattered that at 32 years old, she is nearly six full years older than any of them.
“This team’s definitely goofy, but I feel like we’re very inclusive, so anyone’s going to fit in,” second-year guard Lucy Olsen told The IX Sports Saturday. “But yeah, I think she’s hopped right in. … It’s been easy. It doesn’t feel like anything got changed.”
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The Mystics have also looked to Laney-Hamilton as a leader from the moment she arrived, as her command of the huddle on Aug. 9 showed. Rookie guard Cotie McMahon told reporters on Aug. 11 that Laney-Hamilton had already been imploring her to shoot the ball and giving her confidence on the court.
“Honestly, she came in as if this is her squad,” McMahon said. “… She’s a great addition. We definitely love having her, and it’s only been a couple days.”
“She just kind of makes the other four [players on the court] feel good and confident about what they’re doing on both ends,” Johnson told reporters after practice on Tuesday.
And Onyenwere is excited to follow Laney-Hamilton’s lead again, just like she did as a rookie in New York.
“We would have some ups and downs [in New York], but she was always super steady in just her accountability and her leadership,” Onyenwere said. “She showed up consistently every single day, her competitive nature. Just all together, we really just looked up to her in that way. And I think she can kind of be the same kind of role for us.”
After the Mystics got back from the West Coast, Laney-Hamilton played 16 minutes, including the final 4:04, in a 10-point win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday. She went scoreless but had two assists, two rebounds and a steal. Most importantly, the Mystics outscored the Sparks by 15 in her minutes.
“You see her poise and her understanding of the game on both ends of the floor,” Johnson said postgame. “To score zero points and be a plus-15, it just shows the impact that she’s having on our team already.”
“It felt good,” Laney-Hamilton said about finishing the game on the court. “The coach trusts me, so to be out there to help seal the deal was really nice.”
Laney-Hamilton has 10 regular-season games left to keep learning the playbook, developing chemistry with her teammates and helping the Mystics win. But she might be even more important after that, when most of the players will prepare for their first career playoff game. Though Laney-Hamilton will still be the newest Mystic then, she won’t hesitate to talk the group through it, just as she did within hours of her arrival in Washington.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Washington Mystics, holds a minority stake in The IX Sports. The IX Sports’ editorial operations are entirely independent of Monumental and all other business partners.
