Seattle Storm rookie Nika Muhl expresses frustration over delayed WNBA debut due to visa issues

Seattle Storm rookie Nika Muhl finally made her WNBA debut on Wednesday against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever after facing visa issues. Despite playing only limited minutes, Muhl contributed to the Storm's 85-83 victory in a game that set a record attendance of 18,343.

Speaking in front of reporters on Friday, Nika Muhl expressed her frustration over the delay in her debut, mentioning that there were times when she wanted to enter the game to boost the Storm's energy.

In her WNBA debut, Nika Muhl played less than three minutes, going scoreless but grabbing two rebounds.

“Has there been instances where I felt like I wanted to go out there and help? Absolutely. But I'm still a rookie, and I'm still putting myself in a position of learning,” Nika Muhl said. “I don't want to necessarily…put myself in a position of, ‘Hey, I can do something better than somebody else.’”

“I never thought about it that way. But I definitely wanted to step in and bring energy at times…But I also wasn't gassed, and I wasn't playing. And I was ready to run as much as I can because I wasn't tired.”

Muhl, who had a good career at UConn, was the No. 14 pick in the second round of the 2024 WNBA Draft.

A native of Croatia, she missed the Storm's first four games of the regular season while awaiting the approval of a P1A work visa to replace the student visa she had held at UConn.

“I was just trying to — it was more of that eagerness of wanting to go out there and help my team in any way, shape, or form, even if I'm a rookie and I didn't necessarily know how to help in that moment, if that makes sense,” she said.

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Nika Muhl can’t believe her visa shirt went viral

Before her WNBA debut, Nika Muhl wore a pregame outfit that garnered a lot of attention: a shirt featuring a photo of her visa with an approval stamp. On Friday, she explained that the idea came from her dad.

“My dad is a graphic designer, and he made it. I had this idea of doing something cool for my first game, my debut, and he made it and sent it to me while I was in Vancouver,” she said.

Muhl said that the shirt helped her get her mind off the visa issues and finally put the matter behind her.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, I gotta put this on a shirt. I gotta put this on the shirt.’ And to print the shirt was faster than to get my visa,” she quipped.

Through five games, the Seattle Storm have amassed two wins and three losses.