{"id":655710,"date":"2026-05-21T03:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/655710\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T03:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:45:18","slug":"athlete-of-the-week-mystics-kiki-iriafen-focuses-on-taking-game-to-another-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/655710\/","title":{"rendered":"Athlete of the Week: Mystics’ Kiki Iriafen focuses on taking game to another level"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (7News) \u2014 We are only weeks into the WNBA season, but the Washington Mystics<\/a> are already turning heads. <\/p>\n

After a historic rookie year, forward Kiki Iriafen<\/a> isn\u2019t just picking up where she left off \u2014 she\u2019s elevating her game.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is just about being better than I was yesterday, without looking back but just knowing I can take it up a notch day-by-day,\u201d Iriafen told 7News Sports Anchor Natalie Spala. <\/p>\n

MYSTICS | Shakira Austin turning into a leader on and off the court for the Washington Mystics<\/a><\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Mystics forward is focused less on what she accomplished as a rookie and more on continuing to grow her game. While her talent has always been evident, her leadership has quickly become just as important for a young Washington <\/a>roster. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy coaches have pushed me to be a better leader and be a more vocal leader, which is something I didn\u2019t have to do last season but definitely this season,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When reflecting on her standout rookie year, Iriafen doesn\u2019t immediately point to her scoring, rebounding, or even her All-Star appearance. Instead, she talks about the relationships she’s built inside the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to have success and have a team around me that loves on me and supports me and allows me to be my best self, I feel like I\u2019m going to be emotional right now,” she said. “That\u2019s just super special and super rare. I get to go to work every day with amazing people, so I just feel a lot of gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

That gratitude continues to fuel her growth on the court. For Iriafen, the focus this season is staying present, continuing to improve, and trusting the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing present. That\u2019s my word for the season is just being present. Not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow, just today. I think just by having that mindset, we\u2019ll just, day by day, be able to stack days and get closer to achieving our goals,\u201d Iriafen said. <\/p>\n

The Mystics are 2-2 to start the season and return to the court Friday to face the Seattle Storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (7News) \u2014 We are only weeks into the WNBA season, but the Washington Mystics are already turning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-655710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}