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Washington Mystics: An energetic and efficient LaToya Sanders is ready for a championship

By Lindsay Gibbs

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 07: LaToya Sanders #30 of the Washington Mystics handles the ball against Candace Parker #3 of the Los Angeles Sparks during a WNBA basketball game at Staples Center on July 7, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 07: LaToya Sanders #30 of the Washington Mystics handles the ball against Candace Parker #3 of the Los Angeles Sparks during a WNBA basketball game at Staples Center on July 7, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images) /
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LaToya Sanders has become a member of the WNBA’s elite in unlikely fashion.

In May, during Washington Mystics’ training camp, center LaToya Sanders was absolutely exhausted. And, not in the normal, we’ve-been-going-lights-out-for-two-straight-hours way. The practice had just started, she was only doing layups, and she already felt like she was going to pass out. She knew something was wrong.

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She alerted the Mystics’ coaching staff and trainers to her sickness, and immediately went in for a battery of tests. Soon, she had a diagnosis: anemia.

This was not how she’d envisioned her first WNBA practice in nearly two years — she missed all but four games of the 2016 season due to the Rio Olympics, where she played for the Turkish national team, and sat out the entire 2017 season because of surgery for her chronic heel pain and plantar fasciitis.

Instead of practicing with her team, the 31-year-old was receiving regular blood transfusions and sitting on the sidelines while the Mystics raced out to a 4-0 start. But slowly, her energy levels started to improve. Significantly. Sanders didn’t play at all for the first five games, and didn’t make it into the starting lineup until the ninth game of the season. But since then, the former Tar Heel star has not looked back.

This has been by far the best season of Sanders’ career. She’s averaging 10. 2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, all career highs compared to her other WNBA seasons. She has the best offensive rating in the league (130.0), the second-best field goal percentage in the league (60.7), the third-best true shooting percentage (65.4) and effective field-goal percentage (60.7) in the league, and is in the top 10 in offensive rebounds (65), total rebound percent (15.6), steal percent (2.7) and win shares per 48 minutes (.284).

“She’s so efficient, it’s ridiculous,” Elena Delle Donne told High Post Hoops. (And if Delle Donne is praising your efficiency, then you know you’re doing something right.)

Sanders is a huge reason why the Mystics went 22-12 this season, and will host the Los Angeles Sparks in the second round of the WNBA Playoffs on Thursday night. And, she’s a huge reason why the Mystics have a shot to win against one of the most athletic and dynamic front courts in the league. Her play this season has been inspiring, and she should absolutely be a part of any conversation about Most Improved or Comeback players in 2018. But, to her, it’s not surprising.

“

I never doubted myself that I could play at this level,” Sanders told High Post Hoops. “I mean, if I felt like I couldn’t play at this level, then I just wouldn’t come. You know, I just wouldn’t waste my time.”

For Sanders, family comes first

Sanders’s WNBA journey has been anything but typical. She was the 13th overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Phoenix Mercury. She played there her rookie season, then spent her sophomore campaign with the Minnesota Lynx. She sat out the 2010 season, then played for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2011. In 2012, the Mystics acquired her rights in a trade. However, she didn’t suit up for the Mystics for three whole years, when she surprised them by showing up about a third of the way through the 2015 season.

Her time off hasn’t been all about injuries or rest or money overseas, though. It’s primarily been about family. In 2012, she took the summer off to spend time with her father, who was terminally ill with cancer. He passed away that June.

“After that, I just kind of needed some some time to see even if even if I wanted to play basketball again,” she said. “He was a big part of my WNBA experience. So it actually took me a while to decide to come back from that.”

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 17: LaToya Sanders #30 of the Washington Mystics shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Sparks on August 17, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 17: LaToya Sanders #30 of the Washington Mystics shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Sparks on August 17, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

While Sanders did continue to play basketball overseas, earning money in the Euroleague and establishing herself as a key member of the Turkish national team — she was granted citizenship after playing the first few years of her career there during the winter months — she relished the summer months, when she could be with her family. She felt like she had to take care of them as they grieved the loss of her father, and, two years later, her grandmother. She wasn’t sure she’d ever return to the league. But, after a few years, she felt the timing was right.

“I guess I didn’t feel guilty anymore for always being gone playing basketball,” she said. “Once I realized like, okay, everybody is doing good. Then I could go focus back on me.”

The Mystics certainly are happy she made that decision.

A steadying force

At 6’3″ and 170 pounds, Sanders is one of the shortest and skinniest centers in the league. She regularly goes against players who have more than four inches and 40 pounds on her. And yet, Sanders always manages to hold her own.

“My coaches have always instilled in me, ‘You beat size and mass with quickness,'” Sanders said. “Maybe I can’t necessarily guard them on the post because they’re five inches taller than me and they also have me by 50 pounds, but I feel like they can’t keep up with me when we’re rolling and I’m picking and popping and shooting jumpshots. So, you know, sometimes you give up some, but I can dish it out just as much as I can take it.”

She’s certainly right about that. While Sanders does at times look overmatched going against centers like Liz Cambage and Brittney Griner, she’s been able to maintain her effectiveness because of her agility, speed, and unmatched reflexes. If there’s a loose ball, you can bet that Sanders’ long arms will be somewhere close by.

For most of her career, Sanders has been best known for her defensive prowess. However, this year, it’s her offense. She has phenomenal touch, and her confidence in her shot has simply skyrocketed as the season has worn on. If there’s an opening, she’s not going to hesitate to take it. That’s been the biggest difference for the Mystics; Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver are going to draw double teams. That’s going to leave a player open. Often, it’s Sanders. That never works out nicely for the opponent.

“I mean, if you’re going to give me a foul line jumper, I’m pretty good at foul line jumpers,” she says with a laugh.

But Sanders provides more than just buckets and boards. She provides a quiet confidence, a sense of serenity, to a team that has no shortage of emotion.

“Her mentality is just so chill. She brings a calm throughout the team, where it’s always like, ‘I got this,'” Delle Donne said.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 11: Elena Delle Donne #11 and LaToya Sanders #30 of the Washington Mystics go up for a rebound against Jessica Breland #51 of the Atlanta Dream on July 11, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 11: Elena Delle Donne #11 and LaToya Sanders #30 of the Washington Mystics go up for a rebound against Jessica Breland #51 of the Atlanta Dream on July 11, 2018 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Sanders agrees with this assessment, and fully embraces it.

“I don’t really get too high, I don’t get too low,” she said. “I don’t have the energy to be jumping up and down and chest bumping and stuff, or when things are going wrong in a game, you know, I don’t have time to be huffing and puffing and stomping. You know, I just don’t have the energy.”

“But then at the same time it’s just not really my personality. I guess maybe because of all what I’ve been through I kind of have that look at life. You know the sun is going to rise tomorrow. You know so you just got to roll with the punches I guess.”

Just don’t mistake that tranquility for apathy: She is competitive, and she wants to win. Particularly against the Sparks on Thursday.

An energy boost

Sanders, who retired from the Turkish national team last year, is still working on managing her anemia. It’s going to be a lifetime battle. She got her most recent blood transfusion just last Saturday, the day before the Mystics played their regular-season finale against the Lynx. When she gets the transfusions, she has to go to the doctor’s office really early in the morning, around 7:30 a.m., and stay there for more than an hour. Then, for about a day, she’s extremely nauseous. Often, at practice, she throws up. But after that, she’s usually “pretty good.”

It’s not a fun process, but it’s completely worth it for Sanders. Her legs don’t feel as heavy, and she doesn’t sleep nearly as much anymore. She never realized how fatigued she was on a day in, day out basis, until the fog lifted.

“I never knew I felt bad until I felt good,” Sanders said. “I was always like a sleepy person, but I thought that was just me.”

She used to feel completely depleted and tired going into the fourth quarter of games, even when she came off of the bench. But she doesn’t feel like that any more. All things considered, it’s hard to see it as a coincidence that this diagnosis coincided with the best season of her WNBA career.

“I’m looking at the diagnosis as a blessing in disguise, because I do feel probably as good as I’ve felt in all my career,” she said. “You know I kind of wish I would’ve figured this out earlier. Because, you know, who knows?”

Now that her health is in order, Sanders has her eyes squarely on advancing to the WNBA semifinals for the first time in her career.

“I still have that competitiveness, it just sometimes doesn’t show on my face,” she said. “But I want to win. I think we have the talent to win a championship.”

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