Drafted as the third overall pick in the 2022 WNBA draft, Shakira Austin is one of the most important players for the Washington Mystics. Despite the Washington Mystics seemingly having a poor campaign, she is having a strong year. Averaging her career best in points and assists till now, it\u2019s clear that Shakira Austin\u2019s game is developing at a steady pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind the success of her WNBA career is a tight-knit family that supported her throughout her basketball journey. Let\u2019s take a look behind the curtain and meet the family of Shakira Austin.<\/p>\n
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Who are Shakira Austin\u2019s parents?<\/p>\n
Shakira Austin\u2019s parents are David Austin and Jessica King. Her parents have been extremely supportive throughout her basketball journey. For the beginnings of her basketball career, she has her father to thank, who introduced her to the game and allowed her to choose the sport for herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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When it came to committing to a college program, Maryland, being an hour away from home, played a big role. In her college\u2019s profile, Shakira Austin said that \u201cIt\u2019s also an hour away from home, so family support is an even bigger bonus.\u201d This was due to the college being just an hour away, which would mean her parents could attend and support Shakira.<\/p>\n
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Does Shakira Austin have siblings and other family members in sports?<\/p>\n
While not in her immediate family, Shakira Austin has an uncle who played college and overseas basketball. According to her college profile, her uncle, Waverly Austin, played for the University of Oregon and then proceeded to have a professional basketball career overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She has six siblings. Being the oldest one, she serves as a role model for her five younger siblings. While there\u2019s no confirmation as to what her siblings are pursuing, seeing their eldest sibling make it to the big leagues can do wonders for their self-belief and inspire them forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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How did Shakira Austin\u2019s family influence her basketball career?<\/p>\n
Shakira Austin\u2019s family has played a big role in her basketball career. If not for her father, she might not have a career. Her father, David Austin, was the one who introduced Shakira to the game. He was also the one who convinced her to stick with the game when she started hating it and even stopped playing during the fourth grade. However, with her father\u2019s continued encouragement, she decided to give basketball another chance in middle school. When Shakira decided to get serious about the game, her father pushed her to her best self. In an interview with DBK News, she said, \u201cHe was always there just pushing me and making me better, and he still is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family is very important to Shakira Austin. While selecting her college, she insisted on how important the Maryland team\u2019s family environment was in swaying her decision. Now living her dream as a professional WNBA player, Shakira and her parents\u2019 hard work have paid off. With her game steadily improving and support from her family ever strong, there\u2019s no limit to how much Shakira Austin can improve and achieve in the WNBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drafted as the third overall pick in the 2022 WNBA draft, Shakira Austin is one of the most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-73371","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\/73371","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=73371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}