The Washington Mystics is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. They started play in 1998, the second year of the WNBA and are one of the WNBA's first expansion franchises. Although the Mystics have had women's basketball legends Nikki McCray and Chamique Holdsclaw on their roster in the past, the franchise has had mixed success.
The "Mystics" are the WNBA counterpart to the Washington Wizards, but as of 2005 the two franchises are owned by different companies. The Mystics are owned by Lincoln Holdings. Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of BET and ex-wife of Charlotte Sting owner Robert L. Johnson is the managing partner.
The Washington Mystics were one of the first WNBA expansion franchises to be established. In 1998, their first season, they were led by Olympian Nikki McCray. Although they did not make the playoffs that year, the team had high expectations after drafting University of Tennessee star Chamique Holdsclaw in 1999. Holdsclaw would lead the team to the playoffs in 2000.
After being tied for the worst record in the WNBA in 2001, Coach Tom Maher and General Manager Melissa McFerrin both resigned. With the future of the franchise up in the air, Mystics assistant coach Marianne Stanley took over as head coach and with the duo of Holdsclaw and rookie guard Stacey Dales-Schuman, the Mystics made the playoffs in 2002. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost 2 games to 1 to the New York Liberty.
Rumors of Holdsclaw being unhappy playing in Washington came to a head in 2004 when the Mystics star was sidelined with an unspecified ailment, later revealed to be a bout with depression. With their all-star out, rookie and Duke University standout Alana Beard led a depleted Mystics team to a surprising playoff appearance, the second playoff appearance in Mystics history.
2005 saw deep changes in the Mystics organization. Former star Chamique Holdsclaw joined the Los Angeles Sparks and the team was sold by Washington Sports and Entertainment to Lincoln Holdings LLC, lead by Ted Leonsis. In 2005, the team finished the regular season with a win/loss record of 16-18 and failed to make the playoffs.
In 2008, the Mystics drafted Crystal Langhorne of Maryland with the 6th pick in the draft. The Washington Mystics led the WNBA in home attendance from 1998 through 2000 and from 2002 through 2004. To celebrate the fans turning out for games, they have hung six banners from the Verizon Center rafters celebrating each year the Mystics were "Attendance Champions."
The banners have been the focal point of much criticism over the years. With many people believing that the rafters are reserved for achievements in sports and not by the fans and thinking it is insulting to have banners for championships (such as the '84 Georgetown Hoyas and the '78 Washington Bullets) and retired numbers (for the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals) hang next to "attendance champion" banners.
Members of the press have addressed this controversy many times. Washington City Paper has called them "embarrassing", a 2005 ESPN.com article by Todd Wright had Wright commenting “it’s time to lose those Mystics attendance banners hanging from the rafters”, the Sports Road Trip website mocked the banners by stating "Oh... Mystics... WNBA "attendance champions" in '98 and '99. "Wheeeeeeee!”. When Washington Post writer Jon Gallo was asked about the banners, he stated "The attendance banners were largely achieved because the Mystics gave away approximately 30 percent of their tickets before Sheila Johnson took over the team. If the Mystics had made everyone pay for a ticket, then they would not have had the best attendance in the league.”
As of February 2008 only three of the attendance banners - the two earliest ones (1998 and 1999) and the one for 2002 (only Mystics team to win a playoff series to date) - now hang in the Verizon Center rafters; the other three were removed to make room for a Georgetown Final Four (men's basketball) banner, to go next to that team's 1984 national championship banner.
