| Nastja Claessens | |
| Team: | Washington Mystics |
| Position: | Power forward |
| League: | WNBA |
| Birth Date: | 2 December 2004 |
| Birth Place: | Belgium |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 1 |
| Height Cm: | 1.85 |
| Draft League: | WNBA |
| Draft Year: | 2024 |
| Draft Round: | 3 |
| Draft Pick: | 30 |
| Draft Team: | Washington Mystics |
| Career Start: | 2010 |
| Years1: | 2010–2023 |
| Team1: | Ion Basket Waregem |
| Years2: | 2023–2024 |
| Team2: | Castors Braine |
| Years3: | 2024–present |
| Team3: | Washington Mystics |
| Wnba Profile: | nastja-claessens |
Nastja Claessens (born 2 December 2004) is a Belgian basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has also played for the Belgium women's national basketball team.
Nastja Claessens is the daughter of Belgian basketball coach Frederic Claessens and former Belgian Cat Irina Medvedeva, who comes from Turkmenistan. Nastja has both Belgian and Russian nationality. In her youth, she did ballet and played basketball. At the age of 11, she firmly chose the latter.[1]
Claessens plays on the power forward position. At the age of 14, she made her debut in the first team with the ladies of the Belgian club Ion Basket Waregem, where she played her first season in the Belgian Women's Basketball League in the 2020/21 season at the age of 15. In May 2023, she became the first player in Belgian women's basketball to be voted Player of the Year and Promising Player of the Year in the same season.[2] That year Claessens switched to Castors Braine, but the 2023/24 season turned out to be a disappointment due to a persistent injury to the left wrist, which she sustained in November 2023 during the preparation with the Belgian Cats for the European Championship preliminary round. She underwent surgery in the spring of 2024. She played just eight games for Braine that season.
On April 15, 2024, Claessens was selected during the 2024 WNBA draft in the United States – being chosen 30th overall by the Washington Mystics. She opted to stay overseas for the 2024 season.[3]
Claessens went through various youth series for Belgium. In 2022, she was called up to the Belgian women's national basketball team for a European Championship preliminary round match. On November 22, the power forward conceded North Macedonia her debut with the first team of the Belgian Cats. In less than eight minutes of playing time, she scored three three-pointers and two free throws; and made two rebounds, two assists and a steal.[4] [5]
On 25 July 2024, following an injury to Julie Allemand, Claessens was promoted to the Belgian squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[6]