Colin Udoh
Multiple Authors
Washington Mystics star Kiki Iriafen says her Nigerian roots have helped make her the participant she is, crediting the mentality she inherited from her dad and mom with pushing her via a rapid rise within the WNBA.
“I love being Nigerian,” Iriafen mentioned in a social media video submit. “So even here in DC, I try to go to all the restaurants and all the events and everything.
“I believe it is positively made me who I’m, particularly this concept of no matter you place your thoughts to, you are able to do it.”
Her parents, Harrison and Yemi, are Nigerian, and Iriafen says the expectations she grew up around in the Nigerian community have carried over into the way she approaches basketball.
“I’ve by no means heard of a Nigerian that is like, woe is me or, oh, I can not do it,” she said. “So I believe that facet has actually simply helped me, pushed me far, and day by day, simply retains me going.”
Iriafen, who turned 23 on Wednesday, has emerged as one of the Mystics’ leading players in her second WNBA season, building on a rookie year in which she earned an All-Star selection and was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team.
Selected by Washington with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, the forward averaged 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 48.8% from the field in her rookie year.
She also recorded 16 double-doubles during that first season and became an immediate part of Washington’s rebuilding core alongside fellow 2025 first-round pick Sonia Citron.
Iriafen has followed that up with another All-Star selection this season, with her performances also earning her an opportunity with the USA senior national team.
She was part of the US squad for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico, playing in all five games as the Americans went unbeaten and qualified for the World Cup in Berlin.
But while Iriafen is now representing the United States internationally, she says her Nigerian heritage remains an important part of her identity.
“It means a lot,” she said. “My draft day was the largest day of my life, and I actually wished to embody our tradition, with my apparel, and my dad and mom are so influential in my life.”
On what it is about the Nigerian culture that makes her take so much pride in representing it, Iriafen simply said: “Just, all the things.”
Her Naijia roots got here beneath the highlight when she made that heritage a centerpiece of her look on the 2025 WNBA draft, carrying a customized gold outfit by Nigerian designer Nneka Alexander earlier than her choice by the Mystics.
Iriafen arrived in Washington after a school profession break up between Stanford and USC. She broke out as a junior at Stanford earlier than transferring to USC for her remaining season, the place she averaged 18.0 factors and eight.4 rebounds.
The WNBA, and the upcoming FIBA Women’s World Cup, air on ESPN’s channels in Africa (DStv 218 and 219, Starsat 248) and on Disney+ in SA.