Shatori Walker-Kimbrough figured the best time to be at the YMCA was first thing in the morning. The world remained in the midst of a pandemic, but early in the day she could safely get her workout in before too many others showed up.
Walker-Kimbrough was staying with a friend in Connecticut this summer, and her days started around 6:30 a.m. She didn’t have a car, so she walked the mile and a half to and from the Y. The goal was to stay ready whenever the chance to return to the WNBA presented itself.
“I hated it,” Walker-Kimbrough said with a laugh.
The phone finally rang as the calendar flipped to July, nearly two months into the season. The Washington Mystics were ravaged by injuries and offered a seven-day contract. The fit was perfect, considering she was a rotation player for the organization when it won the 2019 championship. She knew the system, and the coaching staff that drafted her No. 6 overall in 2017 knew all about her skill set.
Advertisement
By her second game, the 5-foot-9, 140-pound guard was in the starting lineup. Then she got another seven-day deal. And when that expired, Walker-Kimbrough signed for the rest of the season.
The injury situation in Washington helped facilitate all of that, but that’s a major change for someone who was out of the league just over two months ago.
“I told my mom … a week ago I was at the local YMCA,” Walker-Kimbrough said, “and now I’m playing in Chicago with a sold-out crowd in a must-win. And I’m starting. Yeah, life comes at you fast.”
Walker-Kimbrough knows that as well as anyone. Two summers ago she was a recently crowned WNBA champion, winning just miles away from where she starred at the University of Maryland. But then Coach/General Manager Mike Thibault got the chance to acquire former MVP Tina Charles, and Walker-Kimbrough was headed to New York as part of the deal. The strange part was that the Liberty never called. Walker-Kimbrough said she didn’t get a welcome text message, and nothing was announced on social media.
Advertisement
Days later, the WNBA draft was held virtually and New York moved her to Phoenix. Walker-Kimbrough was excited to play alongside Diana Taurasi, but that lasted just one season, and she signed to play with the Atlanta Dream in 2021. The tandem that brought her in, however, would soon be gone: General manager Chris Sienko was fired, and coach Nicki Collen left for Baylor. Walker-Kimbrough was let go just before the start of the season; it was the first time she had been cut from a team.
“It’s so easy to spiral,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “It’s so easy to feel so sorry for yourself. I’m more grateful now than I was before. Not that I took my opportunity for granted, but when it’s taken from you, you’re just like, ‘Wow.’ You appreciate it a little bit more.”
Walker-Kimbrough has averaged 6.5 points and brought energy to the Mystics’ lineup; she had started nine of 11 games heading into Tuesday night’s contest at Seattle. The nostalgia was out in full force when the Mystics beat the Los Angeles Sparks, 78-68, in late August. Elena Delle Donne was back from injury for her second game and started alongside Myisha Hines-Allen, Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins and Walker-Kimbrough. The lineup was a reunion of sorts: All five were members of the 2019 title team.
“You kind of looked up and said, ‘Oh, snap, this is really part of the team that we had from 2019,’ ” Atkins said. “As much as it’s probably annoying for people that we keep referencing that, it’s just been a whirlwind of two years in the world. So whenever you’ve got some familiarity that feels comfortable to you, that you already know — you don’t have to talk things through.
Advertisement
“So I think that creates the difference just for me personally. … It’s fun when you have a person that you already know personality-wise and skill-wise what they can do. The flow is a little bit [better]. I’m happy for her to be back because I didn’t want to lose her in the first place. I’m glad that we were able to get her back home.”
Hines-Allen added: “It’s good to have her back. A familiar face. Someone who’s been around this team and knows what we’re about and what the coaches look for and what we look for as teammates.”
Walker-Kimbrough isn’t sure what the future holds and isn’t dwelling on whether the Mystics keep her beyond this year. The goal is to help push the team into the playoffs and put as much good video together as possible so she doesn’t find herself waiting for the phone to ring again.
Advertisement
“This summer has been a roller coaster, to say the least,” she said. “But I’m blessed to not only have another opportunity in the WNBA but to have it with the team that drafted me, with a great organization.
“[I learned] I do need to go harder. So if that situation ever comes again, I’ve got to be so good that they can’t waive me. I want to make it indisputable.”
Read more from The Post:
For the college athletes who aren’t stars, making money off their image is a job
Blackistone: Bishop Sycamore is the punchline, but an out-of-control prep sports industry is the joke
Wealth manager Humble Lukanga’s mission: ‘Generational freedom’ for Black athletes
Brewer: Our sports need a healthier version of masculinity, and men need to create it
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGd%2BcHyYaGdwZ6OdrrW70aJksJmcoLKzecqipJuqn6q0qXnMsqqtoZOoerOx1KegqKZf