Lauren Betts had a rookie season in the WNBA that can really only be described as fun — at least, that's how it looked from the outside. Betts was drafted by the Washington Mystics just days after winning the NCAA Championship with UCLA, and helped her team make it all the way to the playoffs this year. That's not too bad for the youngest team in the WNBA, and there are plenty of reasons to expect the Mystics will come back even stronger next season.
One of those reasons is a decision Betts made for her offseason. Though the new WNBA CBA means she doesn't have to travel overseas for financial reasons (at least presumably), Betts has opted to anyway — because she wants to develop her game.
A lot of stories about WNBA players going overseas during the offseason in the past focused on the financial aspect. That's fair because it was a huge part of the reason they did — players needed to be able to afford their lives when they weren't on a WNBA court. But Betts is part of the first group of rookies who get to enjoy the CBA and the fruits of the league's labor.
In an interview with The Washington Sun, Betts noted that she had two days off between her WNBA season and the day she was due to travel to Turkey, where she's playing for Fenerbahçe. And though she admitted to having days when she wanted to take a break from the sport, Betts laced up her sneakers anyway. It turns out that her family shares the experience: her dad played overseas in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Ukraine. The Betts family moved back to the United States when she was in 3rd grade.
Betts is a bit of an outlier: as The Sun also noted, Betts is the only player drafted in 2026 who is going overseas to play with a traditional 5x5 basketball team. She said that having the chance to play against some of the best players in the region was a huge part of the appeal, and so far she's averaging 11 points, 8.5 rebounds, and two assists across two games.
There will be plenty of chances for Betts to hone her game, and she's playing for one of the best teams there is. She also said that it's "kind of full circle" that she's getting the chance to do what her dad did. And, of course, the WNBA and the Mystics will reap the results of what she's learned in Turkey next season.
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