Mystics introduce new coach and general manager, with a focus on building a player-friendly culture

By Canadian Press on February 12, 2025.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a new general manager and coach, the Washington Mystics are just beginning the process of trying a build a contender again.

One part of the plan is obvious. The Mystics want to develop a reputation as a player-friendly organization.

“We want this to be a home, where players can find themselves and really want to be here,” coach Sydney Johnson said. “I think in doing so, perennial success will follow.”

The Mystics formally introduced Johnson as their new coach and Jamila Wideman as GM on Wednesday. Washington is coming off two straight sub-.500 seasons and has been quiet in free agency this offseason. At their news conference, Johnson and Wideman focused less on Xs and Os and roster building strategy and more on creating the right culture.

“These two in particular have spent so much of their lives pouring into other people,” said Michael Winger, president of Monumental Basketball, which runs both the Mystics and the NBA’s Wizards. “With little to no fanfare — they don’t celebrate themselves — but countless people have become better humans, better athletes, better advocates because of them. That was so incredibly important to us, that we could have leaders who understood that there is so much more to the athlete behind the jersey, behind the sneakers.”

With a new collective bargaining agreement expected after this season, free agency in 2026 could be a big opportunity for teams that need to add talent. Wideman cautioned against putting too much emphasis on just next offseason, but it was easy to read between the lines as she and Johnson talked about the future of the Mystics.

They want Washington to be an attractive WNBA destination.

Wideman believes Washington has a lot to offer, especially for international players. The team’s current roster includes Aaliyah Edwards (Canada), Sika Koné (Mali) and Jade Melbourne (Australia).

“This place, this city, speaks for itself. We’ve also got to speak to players why,” Wideman said. “As the league becomes more and more international, I think we’ve got something really special in this city in the sense that there are so many communities and there is such diversity.”

Wideman played at Stanford, graduating in 1997. She played in the WNBA’s inaugural game that year and was responsible for the first assist in league history. She spent the past six years at the NBA, most recently as the league’s senior vice president of player development.

Johnson was the Ivy League player of the year in his senior season at Princeton in 1997. He later coached the men’s teams at Princeton and Fairfield. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Georgetown under John Thompson III, who is now a senior vice president at Monumental.

Johnson was an assistant coach for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky last year.

The Mystics won their first championship in 2019 behind star Elena Delle Donne, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic and injury issues, she played only 51 games over the next four years. Then she sat out last season after the team gave her a core player designation.

Washington started 2024 with 12 straight losses, and although the Mystics nearly rallied to make the playoffs, they finished 14-26. The team replaced GM Mike Thibault and coach Eric Thibault with Wideman and Johnson.

Those two now start with a fairly clean slate.

“There’s a lot we can’t control. To win, to win championships, it’s luck, it’s dependent, it’s a lot of stuff,” Wideman said. “What we can do is do our best to control what’s in our hands. One of the things in our hands I think is simply building culture.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Noah Trister, The Associated Press