Hometown star Abby Meyers ‘living a dream' with Mystics on hardship contract

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Hometown star Abby Meyers ‘living a dream' with Mystics on hardship contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

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WASHINGTON -- Abby Meyers grew up watching the Washington Mystics as a young teenager attending Bethesda, Maryland's Walt Whitman High School. She and her friends were inspired by the "amazing, heroic women" like Elena Delle Donne, Kristi Toliver and others within the organization she watched play back at their previous arena in downtown D.C.

Some of those heroes she looked up to are now her teammates as a midseason addition for Washington. It's a full-circle moment for the rookie guard who just six years ago was on the floor as a kid asking Delle Donne to take a picture with her.

"I'm definitely living a dream right now," Meyers said after her first practice. "Woke up at my own house that I grew up in and drove down a few blocks to get here. It is a dream come true."

Meyers came to the Mystics via a hardship contract last week. The exemption was given to the organization after Li Meng went back to fulfill Chinese National Team obligations for two weeks and Kristi Toliver was sidelined with a plantar fasciitis injury. Leaving the Mystics with only nine active players at the time, Washington was allowed to sign another player to fill out their roster.

Their choice was the local product Meyers, who spent her final season of collegiate basketball playing at the University of Maryland. As can be expected, Terrapin games are commonly attended by the organization when scouting for college prospects in the draft.

Her close proximity, familiarity with the coaching staff, and shooting proficiency (career 36.2% deep-ball shooter in college) made her a prime candidate for this temporary role.

"We like her skill level, the shooting but not just the shooting, she can put it on the floor and make a play," head coach Eric Thibault said last week. "And obviously, it helps when it's a quick turnaround with a hardship person that they're very smart and her resume speaks for itself."

Meyers has been with the organization for just over a week but has played all three games on the schedule, including a game against the Chicago Sky just two days after signing with Washington. Every game, Thibault has made a point to get her early reps in the first quarter as a part of his guard rotation. One, to get all the bench players settled into the game and two because there simply aren't many options.

Wednesday night was Meyers' first home game in a Mystics uniform. It was the first professional game for her in front of many of her friends, but unfortunately not her parents who had an ill-timed vacation coinciding with her hardship pick-up. She didn't want to make the moment any bigger than what it was - that moment she'll save and document in her journal - but she knew that the support would help calm her down.

"(My) feelings checking in (were) like, hearing my name get called, it's just a great opportunity that not many people get," Meyers said postgame. "And so for me, just being in that moment, feeling the butterflies, feeling the nerves and just going out there and trusting all the work I've put in just getting ready for that moment, it was just really surreal and special."

By the end of the contest, in the midst of a 109-86 blowout of the Atlanta Dream, the hometown fans began chanting "Abby, Abby, Abby," to show their support. She's just another local connection on a team full of Terps (joining Toliver, Tianna Hawkins and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough) and that makes her instantly loved.

Her tenure with the Mystics is going to be short-lived as is the nature of hardship contracts. Once the team gets back to 10 healthy players, which could be as early as next week, Meyers will hit waivers and then become a free agent. Her role with the Mysitcs is merely as a depth piece, knowing she's going to have few minutes on the court each game. The playing time, however, is a chance to audition for her next contact.

She's scored four points through three games and has yet to make a 3-point shot. But it's some of the intangible, non-statistical impacts she has on the game that has Meyers' teammates signing her praises.

"Man I love her, she's just a hard-ass working kid," Natasha Cloud said. "The ability to come in and just play and not know any of our plays and be sound defensively, offensively. She's been a joy in the locker room already."

"You could just tell she's a very wise player, very professional," Shakira Austin said before her injury. "Always coming in and you can tell she's a hard worker, she came in and she was asking me how to schedule for more shots and things like that."

Meyers was originally drafted by the Dallas Wings back in April as the 11th overall selection in the 2023 WNBA Draft. With a wave of young talents at a loaded training camp it was tough for her to stand out. D.C. has afforded her the opportunity that Dallas did not, to display her ability at this level, and to her credit, she remained ready through the whole process.

The next challenge is sticking on a team in a league where roster spots are rare and tough to come by.

But before Meyers' hardship is to expire, you can count on Myisha Hines-Allen to help recreate the 2017 Meyers-Delle Donne photo. This time, Meyers will be a little taller and in her own jersey.