Despite limited playing time, Nika Mühl enjoying life as a pro

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Despite limited playing time, Nika Mühl enjoying life as a pro

It’s been a long time since Nika Mühl had last been in Connecticut before she returned to take on the Sun as a member of the Seattle Storm this past week. Or maybe it’s just felt longer than it’s actually been for the former UConn star as she’s navigated the first season of her WNBA career.

“I feel like a lot has happened in such a short period of time,” she said on Sunday. “It kind of feels like it's been a year, figuring everything out and adjusting to all different scenarios and situations.”

For Mühl, the last five months since being drafted in the second round by the Storm has been one long crash course on life as a professional basketball player. Though she has plenty of experience being on her own — she left her native Croatia to come to UConn in 2020 — life in the WNBA has been vastly different than what she experienced in Storrs.

“This is now the real adult life. I always had an idea of what it was gonna be like, but it's different,” Mühl said. “A lot of things I feel like I've learned already in college by being away from my parents. But day to day, regular life is just different. You’re not depending on anybody, nobody really depends on you, you're just by yourself. You gotta figure it out. So it's been an adjustment, but a very rewarding journey.”

It’s not as if she’s approached basketball any differently, though. Though it may technically be her job now, she doesn’t treat it as such.

“I feel like it's still just the thing that I enjoy doing but now you get paid for it,” Mühl said. “When people pay a job, you automatically think of something hard to do, or something that you don't feel like doing every day. I still love doing it every day — more than ever, I would say.”

That enthusiasm hasn’t been dampened by a lack of playing time, either. While Mühl earned a spot on the roster during training camp, that’s about all she’s gotten so far. She has only appeared in 13 of Seattle’s 33 contests for a total of 34 minutes. The most she’s played in a single game is seven minutes.

Still, the Storm clearly value Mühl — otherwise, they wouldn’t use a valuable roster spot (and cap space) on her.

“Our coach reminds us every day, ‘You're one of 144 (players in the WNBA).’ That's not a lot of spots for the amount of talent and the amount of hardworking women that are in this league and not in this league at this moment,” she said. “Even though I don't get many minutes, I’m still blessed to be a part of this program, especially being a part of the Seattle Storm.”

That’s not to say Mühl’s content to ride the bench, either. She’s still putting in work behind the scenes and believes she’s already gotten “so much better” since being drafted back in April. She’s leaned on Geno Auriemma for advice, too.

“We're always in touch,” she said about her former coach. “Talking about the differences between college and the pros, and the things that I have to do better, and the things that I have to do in general.”

Mühl also hinted that the adjustment from college to the WNBA was tougher than she anticipated, which could explain the limited minutes.

“That's why out of UConn there's always so many pros coming out, because we kind of already have an idea of what's waiting for us. They kind of prepare us over there for that,” Mühl explained. “But at the same time, being in that situation and being prepared for that are two different things… Sometimes you just gotta go through it yourself and learn from your own mistakes.”

While Mühl is still figuring out how to make an impact on the court, she hasn’t disappeared into the background. Instead, she’s become a star of the Storm’s social media pages — particularly when it comes to her pregame outfits.

“It's a good way to express myself. I've always been into it. I feel like it's just another thing that I maybe want to do after basketball or get into more,” Mühl said. “So far, it's just been experimenting. It's been fun. It's been something that can take my mind off of a lot of things.”

After the whirlwind couple of months that she’s been through, Mühl welcomed the chance to come back to a state where she lived for four years as well as an arena where she played 16 career games as a Husky. She enjoyed getting to see some familiar faces at Mohegan Sun.

“It was super cool to see all the people that are working here, too, that have greeted us so nicely for the four years,” she said. “And just to say hi to everybody, it's amazing.”

It wasn’t just the arena staff, either. The entire UConn team made the drive over from Storrs to watch the game, so she got to meet up with some former teammates afterward.

“I mostly miss the stupid stuff, going home after practice, just hanging out in the room, doing nothing, making stupid jokes, laughing,” she said. “It's really the little things that I miss sometimes, but that's why I'm happy that I have this opportunity to play here and see all of them.”

If she can make it work, it won’t be the only time Mühl sees the team in person either — though that may be easier said than done considering she’s signed to play in Turkey during the offseason.

“I'm so excited for the next season, and I can't wait, maybe, to come to one of their games next season,” she said.

Mühl’s been through a lot over the last five months or so, from the draft, to a cross-country move to the start of her professional career. Yet even with all that, some things still remain the same.

“In the locker room, usually where I [sat with UConn], that's where my seat is right now, accidentally,” she laughed.

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