Ariel Atkins (born July 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League and EuroLeague Women for the off season.[1] In addition to her playing career, she served as a player development coach at the University of Michigan during the 2023–2024 off-season.[2][3]

Drafted 7th overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2018 WNBA draft, Atkins quickly established herself as a key player. She helped lead the Mystics to the WNBA Finals in her debut season and was a pivotal figure in their 2019 WNBA Championship victory. Atkins' defensive prowess earned her 4 selections to the WNBA All-Defensive Team so far in her career.

In 2021, Atkins won her first Olympic Gold medal with Team USA at the 2020 summer Olympics.

College career

Born in Dallas, Texas, Atkins attended Duncanville in Duncanville, Texas. She played college basketball at the University of Texas, where she was recognized for her athletic performance.

Professional career

WNBA

At the 2018 WNBA draft, Atkins was drafted by the Washington Mystics in the first round, as the seventh overall pick.[4] Atkins would join a Mystics line-up alongside players such as Elena Delle Donne, Kristi Toliver & Natasha Cloud. In August 2018, Atkins was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in her debut season.[5] Later in September 2018, Atkins was also named to the All-Rookie Team.[6]

On October 10, 2019, Atkins and the Mystics took home their first WNBA Championship after defeating the Connecticut Sun, 3–2.[7] In September 2020, Atkins was named to the All-Defensive Second Team for the third time in her three career seasons.[8]

In August 2023, Atkins signed a multi-year extension to stay in Washington with the Mystics.[9]

International

Atkins has also played internationally. She spent the 2018–19 season with InvestInTheWest ENEA Gorzów Wielkopolski in Poland and played for the Perth Lynx in Australia during the 2019–20 off-season.

Unrivaled

On February 21, 2025, Unrivaled signed Atkins to a relief player contract.[10]

National team career

2020 Olympics

In late March 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government postponed the 2020 Summer Olympics until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] On June 21, 2021, Atkins was named to the 12-player roster for Team USA for the 2020 summer Olympics.[12] She and Team USA went on to win the gold medal in the tournament, defeating Japan 90–75 in the final.[13]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes season(s) in which Atkins won a WNBA championship

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 regular season

WNBA regular season statistics[14]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2018 Washington 29 24 22.5 .432 .357 .824 2.4 2.1 1.3 0.3 1.3 11.3
2019† Washington 33 33 24.3 .416 .357 .811 2.8 1.9 1.5 0.5 1.0 10.3
2020 Washington 22 22 31.0 .438 .411 .886 2.9 2.4 1.8 0.3 1.9 14.8
2021 Washington 30 30 30.6 .407 .359 .831 2.8 2.6 1.6 0.5 2.0 16.2
2022 Washington 36 36 30.0 .420 .365 .845 3.3 2.3 1.4 0.3 1.4 14.6
2023 Washington 27 27 25.1 .414 .339 .897 3.1 2.3 1.2 0.3 1.3 11.5
2024 Washington 40 40 29.9 .437 .357 .848 3.4 3.1 1.5 0.4 2.3 14.9
Career 7 years, 1 team 217 212 27.7 .423 .362 .849 3.0 2.4 1.4 0.4 1.6 13.4
All-Star 2 0 15.8 .444 .333 — 2.5 2.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 5.0

Playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2018 Washington 9 9 27.9 .480 .424 .879 3.7 1.9 1.1 0.1 0.8 15.2
2019† Washington 9 9 19.8 .373 .333 .929 2.7 2.3 0.8 0.0 1.2 7.3
2020 Washington 1 1 36.0 .375 .000 1.000 4.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 13.0
2022 Washington 2 2 33.0 .379 .500 1.000 1.5 5.5 0.5 0.0 1.0 15.5
2023 Washington 2 2 33.5 .345 .250 1.000 5.5 3.0 2.0° 1.5 1.5 13.5
Career 5 years, 1 team 23 23 26.0 .416 .371 .907 3.3 2.6 1.1 0.2 1.0 11.9

College

NCAA statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2014–15 Texas 27 19 23.9 .363 .288 .825 3.4 1.3 1.2 0.2 2.2 9.7
2015–16 Texas 27 14 21.0 .536 .356 .819 3.9 1.3 1.3 0.2 1.4 11.2
2016–17 Texas 32 32 26.6 .456 .377 .818 4.2 1.6 2.0 0.3 1.4 12.8
2017–18 Texas 35 35 27.7 .534 .420 .859 5.5 3.2 2.5 0.6 2.0 14.9
Career 121 100 25.1 .475 .373 .831 4.3 1.9 1.8 0.4 1.7 12.4

Off the court

Philanthropy

In February 2024, Atkins joined the WNBA Changemakers Collective and their collaboration with VOICEINSPORT (VIS) as a mentor, "aimed at keeping girls in sport and developing diverse leaders on the court and beyond the game."[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "Ariel Atkins sağlık kontrolünden geçti". fenerbahce.org.
  2. ^ "Ariel Atkins joins Michigan women's basketball staff". Slam Hoops.
  3. ^ Hatfield, Jenn (2024-05-04). "How coaching at Michigan is helping Ariel Atkins lead the Mystics". The Next. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
  4. ^ "MYSTICS SELECT ATKINS IN 2018 WNBA DRAFT". mystics.wnba.com.
  5. ^ "Defensive POY Alana Beard Leads 2018 All-Defensive First Team". wnba.com.
  6. ^ "Diamond DeShields, A'ja Wilson Headline 2018 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com.
  7. ^ "Bringing It Home: Delle Donne, Mystics Earn First WNBA Crown". wnba.com.
  8. ^ "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com.
  9. ^ "Ariel Atkins Signs Multi-Year Extension". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  10. ^ Dalzell, Noa (February 21, 2025). "Unrivaled signs another surprise WNBA player in the wake of injuries". SB Nation. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  11. ^ "IOC, IPC, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government Announce New Dates for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020". Olympic.org. March 30, 2020.
  12. ^ Wimbish, Jasmyn (June 21, 2021). "Team USA women's basketball roster announced for 2020 Olympics, headlined by Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  13. ^ Wallace, Ava (August 8, 2021). "Dawn Staley and Sue Bird make sure their final USA Basketball moment is golden". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "Ariel Atkins WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  15. ^ "WNBA and the WNBA Changemakers Collective Team Up with Digital Community Platform VOICEINSPORT to Keep Girls in the Game". WNBA. February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  16. ^ Ayala, Erica (February 7, 2024). "Nneka Ogwumike, Aliyah Boston among 12 players to participate in WNBA's girls in sports mentorship program". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Atkins
No tags for this post.