Consistency, values drove Beard to Mystics Hall of Fame
By Tyler Byrum
Becoming the fifth member of the Mystics Hall of Fame, Alana Beard wants to be remembered as a great person.
Soon-to-be Washington Mystics Hall of Famer Alana Beard never played the game of basketball to be rewarded and recognized for her success.
She played the game with passion, love and one goal: to be the best to ever play it.
So when Mystics general manager Mike Thibault called her earlier this year to notify Beard that she was going to be the fifth member of the franchise's Hall of Fame, it meant a ton to her, but she didn't know how to fully express her emotions befitting the significance of the honor.
What did come to mind was the legacy of other players her name now goes with.
"When you think back on kind of the foundation that was set prior to me, not just with the Mystics, but just with the WNBA in general. I can recall as a kid watching the [first seasons] of the WNBA, and quickly deeming at the time, Cynthia Cooper, Cheryl Miller, and those individuals as my role models," Beard told Monumental Sports Network. "And then as I progressed and became more involved in the game, you had Chamique Holdsclaw who was considered the Michael Jordan of women's basketball during her time and tenure. And so the fact that I'm following in her footsteps, or the footsteps of a Vicky Bullett, or a Murriel Page, who I consider a super vet, who literally taught me what it meant to be a leader and to be a vet in my later years. And then, following behind, obviously, one of the greatest ever to play a game in Nikki McCray and knowing her path and her journey, and how much she had to fight just for her life and her family, I don't take this lightly, knowing that there are some badass women who literally came before me."
Beard will be recognized by the Mystics organization with a Hall of Fame ceremony, on Friday, Aug. 23 during halftime of their game against the Los Angeles Sparks. Fittingly, those are the two teams where she spent her 16-year career before retiring from the game before the 2020 season.
Her name will go up in the Entertainment and Sports Arena's rafters alongside those idols, Bullett, Holdsclaw, Page and McCray-Penson.
A group of players who the organization deems as pillars to the franchise's history.
"In Mystics history, prior to this last time of us being here, she was the one player that consistently was part of winning and impacted winning for several years," Mike Thibault said of Beard. "Coaching in Connecticut against her, we played Washington in the playoffs two times and she was kind of the catalyst of that team. I think she's probably one of the best defensive players that's ever played in a Mystics uniform, certainly in the top group of those, and she was somebody who impacted their style of play because she could play both guard positions. They had a real identity about their team when she was here and so it just seemed to me, when the (selection) committee met that she was a natural person to- she's kind of one of the iconic figures that set, during her time, a winning culture."
The accolades speak for themselves, too. Beard was a WNBA champion in 2016 with the Sparks, a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, a four-time All-Star and received MVP votes in four seasons.
She's one of the top players of the sport from the 2000s and it all started when she was drafted by the organization second overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft. Straight out of Duke, after leading the Blue Devils to an Elite Eight appearance and taking home National Player of the Year honors, she helped turn around a 9-25 Mystics team into a playoff squad.
D.C. instantly became home and despite going to Los Angeles for the last half of her career, the District remained home.
"When I first came to D.C. from Duke, D.C. immediately became my home," Beard said. "I felt welcome, I felt comfortable. I felt as if the city embraced me and the Mystics for who we were at the time. And so I'll forever be grateful to the city, but more importantly to the fans, who have really stuck with the Mystics through all of the ups and all the downs that have occurred."
Looking up and down the Mystics record book, Beard's name stands at the top. She's the franchise's record holder in points (3,128) and steals (364), is second in assists (563), fourth in 3-pointers made (220), sixth in blocks (129) and 11th in rebounds (802).
Had she not suffered two devasting ankle and foot injuries in 2010 and 2011, many of those records may be even more solidified.
Additionally, Beard is fourth in WNBA history in steals and 29th in points.
One area that she prided herself in throughout her career was being an all-around player. That's reflected by her standing in the record books. Late in her career, though, many in the WNBA knew her as a defensive stud who could blow up an offense.
"Whoever she was guarding, mysteriously (did) not want the ball," Mystics head coach Eric Thibault said of Beard, reflecting on his scouting days. "... when I've had to prep against her, you were so worried about her just disrupting your entire offense. She'd be guarding your point guard, so you throw it into your shooting guard to bring up the court, she'd just run over there and take them and so no matter what you did, it was just terrifying. Guards getting picked at half court, like it was high school or AAU or something. You just don't see that in pro basketball. And she was guarding big wings and guarding quick guards and she just disrupted everything."
The night before the Hall of Fame ceremony, the Mystics will host a private dinner to honor Beard's career. Former players who Beard played with and other members of the Mystics Hall of Fame will be among the invitees. Mike Thibault says the best part is typically the former players sharing old war stories and reminiscing on their playing days.
It's also a chance for current Mystics players to build a stronger connection to the league's history. Eric Thibault believes there's a lot the 2024 Mystics can learn from Beard's demeanor and approach to her craft.
"I remember walking in (the gym), even after she was no longer playing in DC, but spent a lot of time here in the off-season," Eric Thibault said. "We would come in for workouts at like 7 a.m. before Wizards practice in the winter and she would be finishing her workout on the court, in the practice gym, playing like full court, one-on-one. I mean, that's the type of dedication, and intensity it took to get to where she was and that led directly to championships, Finals appearances and she knew she had to guard Maya Moore. Like when you know who you have to play against in the later stages of the playoffs, that can be something that fuels you. So I hope some of ours that maybe didn't get to see her play as much... understand that's what it takes. That's what it takes to be great. That's what it takes to have to play against great players and you're going to go through bumps in your career, and you can figure out a way to get to the other side of it."
Beard remains local in the DMV region working in venture capital. She is the founder and president of her nonprofit called '318 Foundation Inc.' Established in her hometown of Shreveport, La. Beard's foundation is committed to closing the opportunity gap for girls in historically underserved communities through mentorship, immersive life and career-enriching experiences, and sports.
When her name is etched into the Hall of Fame banner, surrounded by all her teammates and family, she wants everyone to remember one thing. There's no need to try to memorize the laurels of her career. Just remember what you thought of Beard as a person and the relationships she built with her teammates and the fans.
"There are a few things that are really important to me and it's consistency and it's my values and who I am as an individual," Beard said. "If the Mystic fans don't remember me as anything more than being a great person, that's what I strive for every single day, and that means more to me than anything. I say often that, yes, all of these accolades and all of these awards is cool, but the thing that means more to me than anything are the relationships that I was capable of building over the course of my 20-year career. Not just in the WNBA, but within college and when I literally started to play the game. I value those relationships. I value those interactions, those conversations, and the people who supported not just me, but the game of the women's basketball game in general, wholeheartedly."