{"id":678481,"date":"2026-06-01T20:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/678481\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T20:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:27:08","slug":"lauren-betts-trying-to-stay-present-as-she-enters-second-month-with-mystics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/678481\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Betts trying to ‘stay present’ as she enters second month with Mystics"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (7News) \u2014 Lauren Betts has been finding her flow in the WNBA<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Washington Mystics’<\/a> 4th overall pick went from the NCAA Championship to the WNBA draft and now has a full month as a Mystic. <\/p>\n

“I think that it’s definitely been a learning experience. I think just coming in and just trying to learn from everyone who’s been here in the league, and just trying to get better every single day, and focusing on my process,” Betts told 7News Jade Lawson following the game against the Los Angeles Sparks. <\/p>\n

SEE MORE | Mystics center Lauren Betts looking to build off of her best game in the WNBA<\/a><\/p>\n

While averaging 5.1 points per game and 2.7 rebounds, Betts is coming off the bench and slowly learning from her post player peers in Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen. <\/p>\n

The 6’7” center has also been open about her mental health challenges. <\/p>\n

In March 2026, the then-UCLA player posted an op-ed in the Players’ Tribune<\/a> sharing her battle with depression. She expressed the challenges of growing up with her physical size.<\/p>\n

“Growing up, I constantly heard opinions about the way I look. When you\u2019re a young girl and you\u2019re tall, people are always telling you, ‘One day, you\u2019re going to love it so much.’ And I\u2019d be like, ‘When? WHEN???’ I didn\u2019t want to stand out. I just wanted to be like everybody else. I mean, it\u2019s not like I was getting showered with all these compliments. Kids can be very cruel, you know?” the op-ed mentioned. <\/p>\n

Betts also shared the overwhelming expectations that come with playing basketball. <\/p>\n

“I think the thing about depression that a lot of people don\u2019t talk about is, it never really goes away. You can learn how to manage it really well and find ways to cope. You can take medication and pick up hobbies and work on your self-esteem,'” she shared in the article. “But it\u2019s an illness \u2014 it\u2019s not a choice that you make. So, there are days even now where I\u2019m like, OK, I can feel it. I\u2019m getting a little bit sad. And that\u2019s OK.”<\/p>\n

Now in the nation’s capital with a trove of new rookies on the young Mystics team. Betts is finding joy with her new team.<\/p>\n

“I’m trying to stay present every day, and just try to, you know, enjoy every single moment that I have here, and be with these girls,” Betts said. <\/p>\n

SEE ALSO | Athlete of the Week: Lauren Betts brings championship mentality to Washington Mystics<\/a><\/p>\n

The rookies are also finding team chemistry with Betts posting videos of her and her teammates singing and dancing. <\/p>\n

“I mean, they’re amazing, and I genuinely just enjoy their company, so I feel like I’ve been taking really good care of myself in this transition; they got me here, so it’s been really nice,” Betts said. <\/p>\n

When asked which player has the best vocals on the team: “Me not Cotie (McMahon),” Betts joked. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (7News) \u2014 Lauren Betts has been finding her flow in the WNBA. The Washington Mystics’ 4th overall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-678481","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\/678481","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=678481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}