Shakira Austin’s father heard what the Washington Mystics were calling themselves before he understood it.
On the Nov. 11 episode of Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston, an AMP Sports Original Series, Austin said her dad called her after hearing the team had taken on the name “Young Hos.” Candace Parker, co-host of the show, said the name sent her the first time she heard it.
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Austin brought it up on her own, while describing what it took to lead the Mystics’ young players this season. They were “a trip,” she said, and she was built for that.
Her parents still do not understand it.
“I can’t even really pinpoint a player,” Austin said. “I feel like at first, we just embodied it. If you understand what the Young Hos is, it’s not what most people think, especially if you’re a little older. My dad’s calling me. He’s like, ‘You guys are calling yourself the Young Hos?’ I’m like, ‘No, but chill.'”
Mystics rookie forward Angela Dugalić, the No. 9 pick in the 2026 draft, brought in a box of shirts printed with the nickname, the team name, and every player’s face, Austin said.
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“I loved it. I feel like we definitely would sell out for sure,” Austin explained. “But I’m gonna blame Georgia [Amoore]. I feel like Georgia is the one.”
Every player on the roster was born after 1998. That made Washington the second-youngest team in WNBA history behind the 2020 New York Liberty, NBC Sports reported. The Mystics went 28-16, 12 wins better than in 2025. Only one team in the league improved by more.
Sydney Johnson’s Dances and Dad Jokes
Mystics coach Sydney Johnson went 16-28 in his first season in 2025, after a year as a Chicago Sky assistant in 2024. When Washington parted ways with general manager Jamila Wideman on April 6, ESPN reported, Johnson took over the team’s basketball operations. This season was his first trip to the WNBA playoffs as a head coach.
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Joy is one of the team’s core pillars, along with sisterhood, competing, playing hard, and getting better every day, and Austin credited Johnson with putting them in place.
“I’m looking across the league, I’m like, what coaches would really do that? I don’t think many would,” Austin said. “But also, a lot of coaches haven’t been in this position. A lot of teams haven’t necessarily went through this process and had so many rookies on the team, so many young people who just got out of college. With Coach Sydney, a lot of times he can have his moments where he’s cornball and just making the goofy dad jokes. And we’re just all side-eyeing him, like, ‘Bro, shut up.'”
The locked-in moments are still there, Austin said, because it is still about basketball and winning.
“He came in with a new trend every game,” Austin said. “I’m like, ‘OK, I know we want to keep winning, but at some point, you’re gonna embarrass yourself a little too much.’ He’s jumping on the floor, but that’s just our dynamic. I don’t think he would be able to be like that in any other group. I think this is just the greatest group for both.”
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Some of the team’s viral moments come from its chemistry with the coaching staff, Austin said.
“We’ve taught them the whole pause joke,” Austin said. “So now during film, we have some European coaches, and there’s a little bit of a language barrier. Shout out to Emre. We love Emre. Not going to get him in trouble, but he says he’s still learning. Everyone has to stop the whole film session, and we probably won’t even get to finish it sometimes.”
Emre Vatansever joined the Mystics in March 2025 as an offensive strategist. He had been with the Sky from 2018 through 2023, a stretch that included the 2021 title, and he finished that last season as Chicago’s interim coach and general manager.
Johnson drew an ejection in the third quarter of a June 6 loss at Atlanta. Vatansever finished the game on the sideline.
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Parker’s Pregame Talk With Johnson
Parker played on that 2021 Sky team, and she said Vatansever was on the staff when they won.
Before Game 1 of Washington’s first-round series against Atlanta, Parker sat down with Johnson in a coaches meeting. She said 18-to-22-year-olds are the hardest age to coach, and that a lot of the Mystics are just past it at 22, 23, and 24.
“I asked him, ‘What do you hope to bring across?’ And he said, ‘The joy,'” Parker said. “And obviously it is a process. To see what you all have done from one year to the next has been unbelievable.”
Atlanta swept the series. Washington holds Chicago’s pick in the Nov. 15 draft lottery through a swap, and that pick has a 16.1% chance at No. 1.
