Indiana Fever’s Syd Colson Talks Getting To Know Caitlin Clark, ACL Injuries, Brand Identity & More!

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Hey, what's up, y'all?

Welcome to Good Follow Show presented by DraftKings.

I'm Ros Goldon Boy and I am coming to you from our studio in Los Angeles.

And we have a very special episode for you this week.

We have an exclusive interview with a two-time WNBA champion, also a two-time Commissioner's Cup champion.

She's won a championship at the collegiate level, an NCAA champion with Texas A ⁇ M.

She's a comedian.

She's the face of the league or one of them.

She's my girl, Sid Coulson.

What's up, Sid?

What's going on?

What's up, Chris?

Always good to talk to you.

Thank you for having me.

You know, I think there's so many things to talk about.

I mean, including the ACL, but let's start first with just the special season you guys have had with the Indiana fever this year.

I think it can be summed up by your end of season Instagram post.

Let's take a look at this post from you, Sid.

And

in the caption, you said, genuinely enjoyed this team and what we did on the court.

and in the showers.

You're so silly.

I knew in the offseason that God was placing me where I needed to be to grow and learn some necessary lessons.

And that's exactly what happened.

And that's a beautiful post.

And actually, the comments have me rolling.

Let's just look at the comments, remind her, because I'm screaming because your teammates,

your teammates are a best.

Not Caitlin Clark chiming in twice.

She says, Sid, I'm thankful for you.

Aunt Sid, Auntie, Tasha Howard with four hearts.

But look at Lexi Hull.

Love you, Sid.

Showering just won't be the same this offseason.

I don't think.

Yo, y'all are really comedy.

But I mean, so just to throw it back to you,

there's clearly so much love for your team.

There's a huge free agency on the way.

This roster may not ever look the same again.

So for you, like what made this team so special and one to remember in your career?

You know,

in the offseason, it was obviously like a tough decision for me.

I've been with the Aces for so long and we did some amazing things together as a team.

And like I said in a post, I could just feel, you know, God,

you know, when you could just feel like something's, you need to get uncomfortable, like you're being pushed in a direction and because it makes you uncomfortable, you know, don't want to do it.

I think the older I've gotten, the stronger my faith has gotten.

I kind of, I run to the uncomfortable, honestly, because I know.

On the other side, there's going to be something, some lesson that I needed.

And that was what happened this season.

Like, nobody was expecting me to be on this team.

Honestly, we know

what the views are of this organization from the outside.

But I knew enough people in it to know that we could do something special and that we could potentially change some minds and some views.

It was good, like just being with another team, being in another locker room.

I think when you leave from a situation you've been in for so long, you're like, am I going to be cool with, as cool with, you know, a new group of teammates?

But that's just what life is.

You figure it out.

You get in new environments and you adjust and you get acclimated.

And we did something really special for us to have been together for just a matter of months and not fully healthy everybody at the same time.

So it was fun.

It was really fun.

And I think the Commissioner's Cup championship gave us like, even more confidence that we could go on and win a championship.

And I think we would have

had we stayed healthy.

Yeah.

You know, people pointed to your voice as one in the locker room that everyone listened to, that you were one of the main leaders for the team.

You know, people trusted you.

Taking on that role, what was it like trying to overcome some of the hurdles?

And was there a hurdle this season that was that you guys like that rocked y'all like almost was so tough to really stay together from

yeah i mean like i mean from the outside i think everybody can see the different types of adversity that hit our team and

I don't know we just found a way we got a lot of personalities on our team and there's a lot of joking around so when hard times were hitting we were just like making jokes laughing because honestly some stuff was just what can you do what can you say about some stuff you just gotta get closer together and I think we did that.

I think it showed in our play

and the environment was positive.

It's It's just we got plagued with injuries, but even though the injured players, like we still

tried to make it a point to be around for practices, to still be lending our voices,

to give whatever advice and wisdom we could, even though we weren't able-bodied, you know.

Yeah, it seemed like humor was therapy for you guys.

What was it like, honestly, when you tore your ACL, wrapping your head around that one?

That was just nuts.

I think once I was falling down, I was like looking at my knee.

Like I felt something, but I was also seeing it.

And immediately I reverted back to college when I tore it.

And I was like, this is it.

This isn't good.

But, you know, just trying to stay positive.

in your mind, like, you know what it is when something, when a bad injury happens, especially if you've had it before.

But shoot, like everybody was joking, Phoenix cursed our team, just the

place, the city of Phoenix.

We lost four bodies, I think, to Phoenix.

And

it was just something that we could laugh about.

I mean, we even lost the staff members.

Like, what?

When did that happen?

You know what I'm saying?

But it was just one of those things.

You just, once again, use humor.

to keep it pushing and still try to be there for the team as best you can.

Yeah, I mean, you are so silly silly because you actually went live on your ACL surgery or coming out of it.

What inspired you to do that, girl?

Lokia really wanted me and TP to do an episode of our pod coming out of it, but they were like, yeah, the drugs will have worn off by the time you get home.

So you probably can't do that.

I was like, all right, well, I'll just, I'll go live.

And I loved seeing you and Caitlin Clark's relationship.

You know, you guys are always cracking jokes on social media, on your live.

And obviously she's a game change she's a game-changing player for the league so like what what what was it what has it been like you know getting to know her her humor and seeing firsthand all that's coming her way um

it was it was cool being on being on a team with her getting to see her in another light um

was really cool i think Over the course of her career, I think,

you know, we haven't had many instances where we've seen like

Caitlin,

Angel, Paige, like players come in with the sort of notoriety that they had,

the sort of money that they're making, the attention, everything.

It's a lot for a young person to be dealing with on top of pressure to do well as a basketball player.

to lead your teams, all of that.

So

it was

good to to be able to see like

a lighter side of her.

You know, I think especially unfortunately when she was injured, you're having to adjust your mindset.

You're having to get mentally tougher because I think she had like a bad injury before.

So now you're having to watch your team from the outside and still, you know, I would be talking to her a lot about, you know, make sure you're still.

being vocal.

You know, you don't want to

lose this time with your teammates and because you're you're injured or sidelined you're not still using the opportunity to to lead or to to grow relationships don't let it be a wasted season just because you can't physically contribute um and i think her her desire to become a better leader and um you know to come back because there were times where maybe you know she thought she was coming back and then it wasn't happening um or another and like little thing would happen that turn into a big thing.

But to see her,

her fun side, I think that was the most important part to see her

being jovial and lighthearted and

having fun with her teammates, I don't think was like a side that people saw a lot last season.

And so I would just be telling her like, you know, more of that.

I'm glad she had, you know, a veteran like you to be in her ear.

And as I said, like every player on that team kept pointing to you as a voice that people listened to.

But my question is,

how did Stephanie White prepare you guys to keep, new players were coming into the system and you kept having success?

Like, I don't even know where that happens.

The importance was that Steph and

our assistants were able to get new players on the same page with us quickly.

and have them buy in quickly to, we're going to play defense hard.

We're going to share the ball

and we're going to play as a team.

And I think most teams that have a coach that demands that out of them, like you, you find success at some level.

Yeah.

I got one last for you about the fever here.

And I think it's just, you have to finish with Kelsey Mitchell.

What's most important to you about the season Kelsey Mitchell had literally playing until her wheels fell off?

I've been so impressed with Kelsey from like afar.

And then when I got to play with her at Athletes, like in Athletes Unlimited when we were teammates there I would I would just like

shoot with her before and after

like practices if we were on the same team that week

once I got here doing the same thing like shoot we'll have shoot around she'll stay after to to get shots up with with Karima

And I would always make sure to just tag along with her because I was just, I've always been impressed by her work ethic.

And this girl just, she plays hard on both ends.

There have been so many seasons where she hasn't gotten the respect or the

recognition that I think was owed to her.

What she did this year was extremely

impressive to me because

this girl

deals with double

double teams.

She was already impressive last year, but found a way to do even more

this year.

And

I just, I look at her like, what is it that you're going to do next season?

Like, what, how are you going to, I don't know, how do you elevate from here?

But I know she found a way this year to become even more focused defensively.

And

I don't think that got enough credit.

Like, people don't, they don't attack Kelsey on the defensive end.

Like, she's going to hold her own

even when it's bigger matchups.

And I don't know.

I'm just, I'm constantly impressed by her, the player she is and the person she is.

She's, she's just a solid individual.

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I don't think

it's as well known that

your path here is hard.

You've had to overcome quite a bit

to get where you're at.

And there's been a lot of starts and stops or reinventions of yourself, if you will.

I'm just going to point it out for those watching at home.

You tour your ACL, your sophomore year in college.

You make it to the WNBA.

You know, you're waived by the Connecticut sun

your rookie season.

Then you spend three years overseas.

You're out the league for three years.

And then you return to the WNBA, a little bouncing around, but you stuck a bit with the San Antonio Stars for three years.

Then after that stint, you were out of the WNBA again in 2021.

You played Athletes Unlimited, which you said was helpful.

And then after that,

You joined the Aces and win championships with them in 2022, 2023.

And now you're with the fever, which was a big decision, an uncomfortable decision to go try a new chapter there.

It's a very interesting season with highs and lows and it ends for you with a torrent ACL.

So my question is, how have you had so much endurance through your career?

You know, as competitors in basketball, like we just want to play.

Like if we see people playing that we played against and we battle, we're just like, oh, well, I mean, if they still playing, like for sure, I can play.

I just need the right opportunity and it really it kept me in the pretty much my whole career was just need the right opportunity right opportunity and um

you know sometimes it will work playing time wise sometimes it wouldn't but i know every place that i was in i was supposed to be there i think my faith helped me understand that i was in every situation that i was in for a reason whether i played or not there was something to gain from

that team experience.

There was something to gain from someone I met,

something I lost, whatever it was, there was a lesson in a lot of this stuff.

And it helped me to

keep my drive very high, even when I was out of the league.

There were definitely times where it was tough, like being out of it, but

I still had that passion even when it wasn't logical anymore.

It's like, all right, you could probably call it quits around this time.

And that's how I felt in 2019 when I was overseas in Poland.

I was like, yeah, I'm about ready to wrap this up.

I'm tired of dealing with these crazy coaches overseas.

Like, I'm not making enough money for this.

That 2019 season, I get to the Aces and me and Chris Umagi, the social media person with the Aces, who does, he's always done a phenomenal job, but he started capturing me doing the Lady Aces chant.

So, this is when I started getting more of a following on social media because people were, they were seeing that, thought that that was fun, yada, yada then i go to chicago and i get cut after the bubble season so 2021 i'm not playing but athletes unlimited starts and that's in vegas oddly enough i have a good year a good first year in au the aces staff like becky would be there nikki was there They offered me a training camp contract.

This was

the first year that Becky was going to be there.

And they were saying that they were looking for, you know, a veteran and somebody for the locker room to impact culture.

And I go there.

We win two years.

We don't win in 24.

I leave succumb to the fever.

And, you know, obviously we know how this season went, but everything was in its timing.

Like I,

in hindsight, I understand everything clearly.

Yeah.

I mean, so much of that story is like, look how maybe one closed door pivoted you to the next blessing and opportunity.

You know what I'm saying?

You look back on that and you think about where it placed you now.

Girl, you literally are one of the faces of the league, but you can't, but you at one point literally was out of it, and there was not really a path to that.

So, what a testimony.

You've defied the norm, like things that used to be reserved only for literally the superstars of the league.

You are captivating.

You are funny.

The way people are consuming the WNBA is changing and evolving.

So, now, my girl, you got commercials with TJ Maxx, Ally, Deloitte, Kia, DirecTV.

You're doing commercials with Diana Taurasi, Brianna Stewart, Paige, Beckers.

Like, how have you found your lane to crack open and break through the zeitgeist?

And literally, like, it's not something funny.

You are one of the faces of the league.

Man, I just, I'm just, I'm me

everywhere I go.

I think authenticity is going to always get you where you need to be, even if it's not what you picture.

And

a lot of mine just happens to be forward-facing, but

a lot of that

can be attributed to like our showrunner, our director for the Sit-in TP show.

Carly, they came up with the idea for TP and I to be the faces of the league.

And I remember when they pitched it to us, we were like, absolutely, like,

we love self-deprecating humor.

We're totally okay with what our past have looked like in the WNBA because while I love basketball, it's not my everything.

Like,

I'm a multifaceted person.

So if basketball hasn't gone the way that I thought it would go, like, that's, that's okay.

Like, I'm still, I've still been in a very blessed position and one that I'm very fortunate for.

A lot of minutes are not.

Like, it's been a real treat to be in the W for this long.

I can't say that I expected this.

So to see that really really turn into us being the faces of the league,

I hope that it's inspiring to people to just bet on yourself and like make yourself a brand, like be authentic, stay true to it, and like the people that are supposed to find you will find you.

Yeah.

And I mean, so your show that you have with TP, Teresa Plaissance, unsupervised.

Let's play a little clip from that show real quick.

Somebody under this video will inevitably say, damn, they voices is deep.

Damn them men.

And the babysitters come after them.

Like, I've seen comments where, like, somebody's like, what's wrong with those women's voices?

So at least they're acknowledging the fact that we're women.

But then somebody's like, no, they ain't women.

I mean, when you put yourself out there, you also put yourself out there to haters.

So how do you handle that aspect of it?

Oh, man.

I used to just troll them back.

Because like, there's nothing that you can say about me that'll hurt my feelings.

Like, I literally do not know you.

and some of some of the responses are bots you know for me to get my feelings hurt about people i gotta respect you i gotta value your opinion a lot of things go into it so like you being a stranger i i could care less about you talking about how many points i've scored minutes i don't care no to see you and ask for a picture you know um

but you haven't been you haven't shied away from it at wnba all-star in indianapolis

i know a goal of yours is to be a comedian and you did it.

You put yourself out there.

You did a stand-up routine.

So now that it's done, because you were super mysterious about it before.

So now that it's done, like what was it like to do stand-up and prepare for it and execute it?

Man, it was good.

I will say, like, I wish I had given more time and preparation to it.

Like, I had an idea and I didn't start like nearly as soon as I should have to really just like have it all memorized, but it was just good practice.

It was, it was, it had been over two years since I done stand-up.

So when this opportunity presented itself,

my girlfriend was like, you got to do it so that you hold yourself accountable to like get back to practicing.

And now that the offseason is here, like a couple of people have asked me, like, yeah, I definitely have to go somewhere here and perform and get back into a rhythm so that I can, you know, become like

a,

I don't want want to say respected, but just somebody who's doing the work.

Like you're constantly, constantly, you know, going to open mic nights or practicing your jokes.

So I want to, I want to get to that point.

And so that's my, that's my goal, you know, before the end of the year to do it at least twice.

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Okay, Chad.

Today you're gonna drive the all-electric Toyota BZ.

But my electric vehicle phobia.

I'm not ready, Dr.

Ross.

I believe in you.

Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh.

We're inside it.

Try to take deep breaths, okay?

Move the ventilated seats.

They're touching me.

You can do this, Chad.

Drive the car.

How do you feel, Chad?

I feel cured.

Woohoo!

I'm doing it.

I'm doing it.

The all-electric BZ.

One drive can change your mind.

Toyota, let's go places.

You've also been a coach.

You were an assistant coach at Rice University.

Like, did you enjoy that role?

Could we ever see Coach Sid?

So I enjoyed it so much.

I've been

same for when I've played.

I enjoy the relationship aspect of everything I do more than the actual thing typically.

So coaching was cool.

It was fun.

Like playing basketball is cool and it's fun.

But it's it's the people that I get to meet and interact with and the way that that human interaction, like y'all can change one another's lives just by something you say, something you do.

So it was more about that, me being able to impact young women.

And so if I ever got back into it, it would be, you know, because I miss being able to do that, honestly.

As we come to an end here, you mentioned Amadi, Amadi Brooks, your girlfriend.

Is she also your official stylist?

Because she's a well-known fashion stylist.

Okay.

So

how is she helping you put your style together and be ready to meet all of these different moments that we just described for you?

She had a vision.

She's like, look, if you're at the end of your career and you want to go into acting, like people need to start seeing you in a different light visually, like they need to see you as a brand and see you, you know, we got to elevate your style.

And if you look at my outfits from last year with the Aces

in this year,

it was such a big jump.

And I think the recognition that she got, that I got,

the people that were reaching out to send stuff, like she, she did that in a matter of months.

And

it was super impressive.

I just,

what she shows me, I trust the vision.

I let her get very creative with the things that we do.

She knows that she can try stuff out.

Like if it's masculine, feminine, like, I'll wear it all.

Like, it's cool.

Like, let's do it.

And so, I think she did a really good job of letting people see, like,

me just wearing different stuff.

And, you know, hopefully, they can see me doing that, like, on screen, you know?

So, I'm very fortunate that I have her by my side.

Okay, and just words, how would you, what would you describe your style as?

What would I describe my style as?

I would say, like, versatile.

I would say, um,

what like

what's what?

What words?

Hair body.

She said hey girl.

Hey.

Like

versatile and like

elevated streetwear.

Elevated streetwear streetwear and

like we get we like make stuff colorful.

Sometimes like I like a lot of colors.

So we'll be like outgoing.

I think usually how she dresses me, it reflects my personality a lot.

I think.

Okay.

Yeah, I'm going to need you to also know your style.

That's you needing all this help.

Yeah, no.

I don't know.

None of these words.

She said, I'm going to need you to know your style.

You're crushing it, my girl.

It's really inspiring the

journey that you've been on.

And we only see like the bright lights, but all that it took to get here.

And I appreciate just everything you gave us today.

Thank you.

I love you, my girl.

Thank you for having me too.

It was great to catch up with Sid Colson of the Indiana Fever.

That'll do it for this episode of Good Follow.

We'll catch you next time.