Basketball player Nika Mühl is saying goodbye to her UConn team after getting drafted by the Seattle Storm, and she’s clearly ready for the WNBA chapter of her career. Mühl, 23, was tagged in a Seattle Storm official Instagram picture of herself posing on the basketball court in black leggings and a hoodie. “Heard some people wanted @nika.muhl content 😉,” reads the caption on the post. “She’s all yours, admin 🫡,” the official UConn account commented. Here’s how Mühl prepared for this exciting chapter in her life.
Mühl looks to fellow WNBA professional players like Breanna Stewart for support and encouragement, especially when things don’t go to plan. “This is all a process, this will all make sense later,” Mühl says Stewart told her. “I’ve been in your shoes, I’ve been in your position, just lead your team. … Stay strong. There’s no better person to get advice from. That was a huge moment for me personally. I was so deep in my thoughts after that game. Getting some words of encouragement to say, it’s OK and it’s part of the process, even though I know it, just hearing from a legend is huge. I kinda changed my ways after that.”
Mühl has learned to handle her emotions and channel them into something positive. “It’s been a weakness in many aspects in which I didn’t look at things rationally or I just didn’t hold myself accountable or just from being a leader, from that standpoint,” she told CT Insider. “You can’t be a leader and be stubborn. You need to think about people around. You need to think about your team, what your team needs. Not what you want.”
Mühl had a tough decision to make about going from college to the WNBA. “I’ve never been in a situation with so much pressure, so many eyes looking at you, especially in this program where everybody expects perfection, excellence, wins,” she told CT Insider. “And that’s what I kind of learned to expect for myself too and my team. It’s just been a roller coaster of a ride and I’m proud of myself and I’m proud of my teammates for trusting me.”
Mühl’s beauty style is a ‘clean girl’ vibe. “I learn from my teammates,” she told Women’s Wear Daily. “I have a teammate, Olivia [Nelson-Ododa], who taught me a lot about makeup and fashion. She’s very much into it. She’s older than me, so I was watching. I’m not big on trends. I just like what works for me and I like to try things out, but I’m very passionate about it.”
Mühl describes her personal style as ‘Croatian casual’. “I was very unique with my style ever since I was a kid,” she told Women’s Wear Daily. “I feel like I would go to school and people would laugh at me for the way I dress. But I didn’t care. My mom told me I look good. I definitely evolved, but I kind of always have that one little thing, that one little piece on me that’s maybe different from what other people would like. I don’t care. I mean, that’s me. I would say [my style is] very edgy, very cool, very masculine and feminine. It depends on how I’m feeling.”