February 1, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Sydney Colson talks Aces, WNBA free agency, Athletes Unlimited
By The Next
'You can go [to AU] just to be growing as a person and player, and that too should be enough'
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s basketball, Sydney Colson joined host Howard Megdal to break down a flurry of free agency news. They also discussed her work with The Syd + TP Show and Athletes Unlimited, and how her approach to free agency has changed throughout her career.
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In segment one, Colson and Megdal discussed her return to the Aces as she signed a training camp contract with reigning champion Las Vegas earlier in the day.
“There haven’t been many options for years, like this has been the option,” Colson said. “But for me, I don’t stress about that. Even if they hadn’t brought me back, I would have just been grateful for the time that I spent being a professional athlete in the [WNBA] because it was rewarding. I learned a lot, I grew a lot as a player and person. So for me, I just find [Las Vegas] super fitting … obviously we won, but it’s worked out well for me individually because I really do think it’s just the best fit for me where I am in my life … The people that surround me, teammates, staff, front office, … the fans, like it just it makes the most sense.”
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They also discussed how Colson’s experience finding her way into the league and dealing with early rejection has helped her as a person and player. Megdal noted that Colson has played over 225 games in her WNBA career, after being drafted 16th overall in 2011 and working her way through training camps, overseas teams and everything in between.
“I got the experience at a young age, [of] rejection as a young pro,” Sydney Colson said. “I think I’ve always been a resilient person and a motivated person, but it’s tough to get back into the league. I’ve had to do it two or three times now. But I’m fortunate that it happened to me when I was young, because it’s been easier every other time that a no was said to me.”
Then, Colson spoke about her experience with Athletes Unlimited, and how it impacted her as a person as well as her career. “You want to root for one another,” Colson said. “For me, it was just the ability to be seen for another year, because I was out of the [WNBA], and still wanted to play basketball competitively. And that’s when AU Basketball came around, or AU pro hoops came around. So yeah, it’s given a lot of people a chance to change the trajectory of their career or of their mindset.”
“And hopefully, people keep seeing the value … because there’s value in playing in AU outside of getting a WNBA training camp contract or something with the WNBA. Like, you can also go there just to be growing as a person and player, and that too should be enough,” she said.
The two also discussed recent free agency news, including the Aces’ addition of Megan Gustafson and Kiah Stokes, as well as Candace Parker‘s highly anticipated free agency decisions. They also talked about Colson’s involvement with Athletes Unlimited, which is set to begin at the end of the month. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
