FULL INTERVIEW: Coach Sydney Carter Reveals WNBA Earnings & Overseas Pursuits For Financial Growth + More

Coach Sydney Carter Reveals WNBA Earnings & Overseas Pursuits For Financial Growth + More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's way but Angela, Yeah, I'm Angela. Yee, my girl
Tella is here.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
That's right. And we got coach Carter aka Sydney Carter hello.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
In the building with us, one of I think a
person that people see you and they're like, oh my god,
I love her.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
I know her.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
I've been following her. So shout out to you.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're looking at the outfit to watch everything you got
going on. And women's basketball, college basketball is on fire.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Up right now.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah, yeah, it's our time.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
We're here.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
And as a person who you know, you played in
the w NBA and then you're coaching and you're the
head of player development.

Speaker 4 (00:39):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Also, I just want to talk about like the journey
from I used to go to New York Liberty games
back in the day. Yes, you know, a long time
ago when they were at Madison Square Garden.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
They were there. No, they weren't selling out then.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
It wasn't at the time like when they first started
because when they first started the WNBA, the games were
selling out.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh yeah, no, not another thing they were. But I
was still going to the games. I enjoyed it. And
for you, what's the difference that you're seeing now when
it comes to women's basketball in particular.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, you're seeing a lot more people put in their
platform to be a generational talent, like Caitlin Clark's and
Angel Reese's, Like those are all generational talents and generational people.
But you're seeing like more teams in the spotlight now,
Like it's not just like the Yukon's and the Stanfords
from like when I played and when I was growing up,
that's what I always see. So that's where everybody thought
they had to go. Now it's Iowa and n C

(01:30):
State Texas. You know, all these different schools that are
at the forefront of everything. So everybody's popping Now, hold.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
On, I gotta see these nails.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
This is regular for me. I usually every nail is
usually a different design.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
This is amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
And then even when we think about like the endorsements
and everything that's starting to happen now that should have
been happening for a long time, you know, I feel
like there's been a lot when it comes to that too.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I mean, listen, there's a long way to go.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
So let's talk about some of the disparities when it
comes to because I want people to see where we're
at right now, and then what we need to make things.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Hold on, I gotta get you to spit this gum out.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Though, Oh thank you, because I've been chewing those.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Oh the hold on, hold on, you know, I'm the
gun police, all right. So when it comes to where
we're at with women right and women's basketball, and we're
talking about the WNBA and the NBA, they played at
like less than half the amount of games that the
men play in a season. Do you think there's a

(02:27):
chance that they'll play eighty two games?

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I don't see that happening, just because our season is
short so that other people can go overseas as well.
So I'm not sure like why I came in, Like
when I was growing up, I saw the comments playing
and stuff like that. So the games were always the
season was always shorter. So I'm not sure if that
changes or not, but it at least gives people the
opportunity to go overseas with the shorter season.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Okay, So in other words, for that to be able
to happen, there has to be more money. Salaries have
to be greater for sure. In the WNBA, which they
recently did a CBA, they did raise the salaries, but
it's still not amazing. Like I know Caitlin Clark, they
said she's capped at like seventy, right, two thousand or
something like that.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, And I can't remember if it's like for a
four year term. When I was playing, it was a
four year term and you were stuck in that salary pool.
So I'm not sure what it is now. I can't
remember because I'm kind of removed from the WNBA, but
it's they make it more than what I was making.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
You know, when you were playing financially, how was it
for you, like as far as what you had to
do outside of the WNBA to make ends meet.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, so it was tough. I mean I think I
was making like maybe thirty five thousand, maybe forty, so
when you're when you come out of college, like that's
a lot of money for four five months. But then
I went overseas and I was making about five times more. Wow,
So yeah, it was. It was a big gap in
between what I was making the WNBA at the time
and then what I was making overseas.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
And now when we look at you though, right, because
you have a lot of followers on social media and
people love you, but at the same time, people have
been critical of the way that you dress.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Now, you know me, I love to see it.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
But why do you think people have such an issue
with you being dressed to the nines when you're on
the court.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
I mean, you know, a lot of people are not
secure with their own confidence, and so my confidence offended people.
Not sure why, But at the end of the day,
I can't worry about that. Like, I wake up and
I'm happy with myself and I'm to this day. I'm
not apologizing for who I am because I was raised
this way.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Did that surprise you, like, were you like I didn't
anticipate all of like people having negative things to say?

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yeah, it surprised me because at the end of the day,
I was just doing my job and like, I can't
help that I'm curvy. I can't help that, you know,
I like to dress a certain way and I've never
been inappropriate, And so of course to me that was
surprising because it's like, what did I do wrong?

Speaker 4 (04:46):
Right? So I was thinking too, because I had read
how they used to be hating on you with them
pink pants, and I was saying, like, I don't think
it's the pink pants I think it's how you looked
at them and they have problems with themselves, and then
they probably not used to women looking like you.

Speaker 5 (05:01):
That's coming around.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Let's just be real.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
No, not discrediting no other woman, but you a nice looking,
curby black woman, So you know.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, I think people too. They it's like, how dare
a woman be stand so powerful in such a male
dominated field? But like I was taking up good space
and I'm gonna continue to take up good space.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
So that's why I do not know how you welcome
them hills. Sometimes I will say jumping in them, Okay,
I don't know how you do that, because ever since COVID,
I can't even wear heels anymore. I look like I've
never worn heels before, so I can't. I can't even imagine.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
It's easy for me, like jumping, Hey give me, give
me the ball. But when I'm like coaching in the game,
I'm jumping, I'm like emphatic, I'm I'm all over the
place in my heels.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
And when even when we're looking at college women's basketball
and we're looking at what the commentators are having to
say about the women and what people like you see
a lot of misogyny and maybe it's not intended and
they don't even realize it at the time until somebody
has to point it out to them.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
But how does that affect the women?

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Because you work very closely with these athletes, Like what
are some things that you've heard in the locker room
where as the news is coming out, Like what are
some things that you talk to these women about?

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Because I know you're very close to the team.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, I mean I think I just continuously tell them
like it shouldn't like if you're living to please everybody else,
like you're always going to be miserable. You're never going
to be happy in this. So at the end of
the day, like you just have to be confident in
being who you are because like, you're never going to
please everybody. Everybody's always going to have something to say.
So if you're going to pay attention to that, you're
gonna be miserable. So I try to encourage them to

(06:37):
walk in their confidence every day and walk in who
they are.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Did you always know that this is what you wanted
to do, like play professional basketball but then go on
to coach?

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah, I knew I was a coach because when I
was a player. I was talking all the time like
I've always been a leader, like by example and verbally.
So at the end of the day, like I knew
I had leadership qualities.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
Now go aheck echella.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
I saw that you grew up in a household of six. Yes,
So do you think they had anything to do with
how you became a coach like you used to running
the household?

Speaker 3 (07:07):
Or yeah? I mean my mom said I always had
to be first at everything, and so I think it
definitely stems from there. But like my mom also taught
me like I was not made to fit in. She
she told me that at a very young age, and
so here I am.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Today's now we saw some other reports like let's say
Caitlyn Clark was asked to play in the Big Three.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
She was off for five million dollars. Yes, I don't
think she's doing that right. She didn't, She hasn't said,
she hasn't said anything.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Now, if you were advising her, what would you say
about that?

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, I mean that's it's like ten games, So you're
making five million dollars in ten games and the games
aren't even that long. I might have to take that
if it's me, not even yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
That's not bad at all.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
And then also people have commented, you know, they believe
she's going to be a first round draft pick, which yes,
obviously that she'll be first. Yes, do you think that
because people are like, well, the WNBA is different though,
it's going to be like way different than playing college
basketball because she's somebody that everybody's talking about.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
And we'll get to that in a second as well.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
But what do you think about her transitioning to the WNBA,
What expectations do you have?

Speaker 3 (08:15):
I mean, I think her confidence is going to carry
her a long way. So with the WNBA, it's all
about like opportunity and fit. If she's on a team
that she's going to be able to get the opportunity
to shoot, the types of shots she shoots and everything
like that, like she's going to be successful. So it
really just depends on where she goes, which everybody thinks
she's going to go first, and Indiana is a good program.
They have the first pick, so maybe she'll have a

(08:36):
learning curve, maybe she won't, but I think at the
end of the day, she's gonna be fine.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Where is your favorite place to play?

Speaker 3 (08:41):
Ooh I play? I actually played in Indiana. That was
probably my favorite place to play. Okay really yeah, just
because like it was like easy living. Like I'm from Texas,
so I'm used to easy living and Indiana was easy.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Do you love still like working in Texas because you're
from there?

Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, okay, I mean when I came here yesterday, I
was like, ooh, it's so fast.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
That's a fact.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
But yeah, I mean I get to still see my family.
Like I sacrifice being away from my family a lot
just in this profession. So now my family can come
to games still and everything like that, and they can
come visit me.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Now.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Jamal Hill had did an article where she was talking
about Caitlyn Clark because people were talking about how she's
made people want to watch basketball and that's why they
were watching women's basketball. But she also was saying that
part of it. And I don't think she was trying
to be offensive to Caitlyn Clark at all. Everybody knows
she's great, but they were also saying that, you know,
making it maybe something that might have to do with

(09:32):
the fact that she's white and playing college basketball, and
people are saying that's why people are tuning in. When
people were tuning in before that as well. And then
also when you look at sometimes the way that articles
are phrased and even hearing Inury speak angeury speak about
the racism and you know, the sexism and people saying
awful things to her that she's had to deal with.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Do you think that's a real thing?

Speaker 3 (09:56):
I mean absolutely, I think when you see it, you
see a lot of the time when they want to
cover black athletes, like they're always looking for the negative
side of the story. And then I'm not saying that
they don't, you know, with anybody else, but that's what
you see most of the time, you seeing like the
black athletes in drama, and so you know, every time
I'm looking at that, I'm like, what about when Angel

(10:16):
had a lot of people out at camp waiting to
meet her? Like those are the positive stories that you
don't see too much effort put into, And so I
feel like that's what they need to start covering more
when it comes to women's basketball with everybody, not just
certain athletes.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Right yeah, because they both, you know, were going back
and forth, and so I think the way that it
was covered and made it seem more like she was
the one that was, you know, being a lot more
and listen. It is competitive, yeah, you know, and passionate. Yeah,
she's very passionate. And like they said, she shows up
like she's there. She's working hard, she's at all the
practices and everything and you know, not trying to take

(10:52):
no shortcuts. So I think that's a difficult thing, you know,
for people to do. You think that Juju Watkins is
going to be.

Speaker 3 (10:58):
Celebrated, Oh, absolutely, Like she she's another generational talent, Like
you just are not going to see another Juju Watkins
and she's only your freshman, Like she's just scratching the
service with everything she's doing.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
No, it's been really fun to watch and to see
what the ratings have been, like.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Incredible, Like I think it was maybe five million more
people watch the Women's Game. Is that your Yeah, I
mean it's different, Like you're just not seeing it because
like I'm getting it ubers and they're like what do
you do? And I'm like, I'm a coach and they're like, oh,
the Women's Game is in right now. I'm like, you.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Say it right now.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
But you got to make sure that this is something
that translates over when it comes to endorsements, when it
comes to finance, even how teams are being treated when
they're traveling, you know, and things like that. So what
are some things that you feel like moving forward now
that you can see these are real money makers that
brings in the ratings, what do we do now to
make sure that we're capitalizing off this and it's not
just a moment.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Well, I hope that one the people that followed the game,
like now, because Caitlin Clark and Angel and all those
other people were playing, those are their favorite athletes, So
then follow them to their professional careers after that. So
now that the WNBA can get the type of recognition
that college is getting at this point, and then continue
to support the schools that they went to, because now

(12:13):
you're going to see like, Okay, since Iowa had Caitlyn Clark, like,
they're going to be more good players that want to
go be just like Caitlin in Iowa. So Iowa's not
gonna all of a sudden just drop off after she's gone,
And so you have to continue to support. If you're
a real fan of that team, then be a fan
of that team. Don't switch up and be like, oh okay,
well now Juju is in, so I'm going from Iowa
to Juju. That's fine to support her, but also remain

(12:36):
a fan of the team as well, because.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
That's basically now. Do you see yourself being a head coach? Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Okay, yeah, I mean I tell myself what I want
to be, like I speak things into existence, and so
I want to be one of the greatest of all
time when it comes to women's basketball.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
And I could see you getting all right now, fashion wise,
everybody's been talking about you.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
I seen articles you styling people doing different things.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Are you going to do something more with the fashion
because I feel like it would only make sense for
you to have your own Athletesia line or your own.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
That's in my head, like I want to do that.
We've been in talks with some people to do stuff
like that. I've also had my own line with Amazon
earlier this year, I think around like maybe October or
something like that. And so I've done some things, but
I want to kind of get into it more and
do some like athlesure, like you said, some some work
where I want to tap into everything. I want to

(13:27):
do beauty, I want to do hair, I want to
do nails. I want to do it all. I can
have it all.

Speaker 5 (13:33):
How do you balance your work with your personal life?

Speaker 3 (13:36):
What's what would you mean?

Speaker 4 (13:38):
Because I don't have nothing, you know, I mean we
all got some type of personal life.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
I mean I got I got a dog.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
He's talking about you got to ask you this question.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, I mean my dog dresses up with me.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
So we had a topic and me and Tella butt
heads about this. Okay, So we just said you and
your ex had a pet together and y'all break up?

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Okay? Is it okay to have share custody.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
Of no who bought the dog?

Speaker 1 (14:06):
It's yours if.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
I ain't never seen that, y'all splitting the money to
no co parent?

Speaker 1 (14:16):
It's a dog, It's okay. So you agree with Tella?
Basically agree with me.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
By the way, what did you do?

Speaker 5 (14:25):
All the people that called and the people that's been
hit me like, I'm right.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah, No, it's not a human. It's a dog.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
You don't look at your little dog.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
It's like, okay, no, no, that's my baby, that's my child.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
I am hard. But what if your dog heres this?

Speaker 3 (14:39):
She might she you know, she likes to see herself
on TV too. On TV.

Speaker 5 (14:45):
What kind of dog is it?

Speaker 3 (14:46):
She's a mini Golden Doodle. Yeah, she's so sweet.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Mad Well, that's cute.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
But yeah, so you're back to the personal life because
you said, yeah, so, I mean I really don't have one.
If I think about it, Like my personal life I'm
doing like my brand stuff and traveling. I'll go see
my family every now and then. But like really, I
just I don't really have It's not.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
She's like work is work, yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Because I have my own business as well, Like I
am my business, so my personal life revolves around pouring
into my business so I can do what I want
to do.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
That's how my personal life is, because you know, I
got some businesses as well. Now when it came to
I'm playing overseas, how was that experience for you?

Speaker 3 (15:29):
It was hard. To start off. I went to Israel
and like the gods and stuff was happening. My first years,
I was running from bomb shelter to bomb shelter. In
the back of my house was a bomb shelter, and
so I heard some sirens going off one day, tanks
are driving on the street. Like it was scary for
a twenty one year old, but it was hard. Like
I learned a couple of languages. Don't ask me to

(15:50):
say nothing because I'm a little rusty in my Hebrew.
But it was it was hard, but it was rewarding,
Like I learned so much and I traveled the world.
I saw so many different places.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
That's why though, because like you said, you know, making
the money that you make for you know a few months,
but then you have to kind of go.

Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yeah, I mean you gotta you gotta just grind it out.
And it really is like loving basketball. If you've seen
that movie, she was like, what did he say? That's
really how it is, Like you gotta have the coach
don't really speak English, and so you got a teammate
over here translating, and all they say is he said
to get you the ball. That's really what they're saying. Like,
you get the ball, you gotta go score. So loving

(16:27):
basketball is like a perfect depiction of of what it's like.

Speaker 5 (16:30):
Wow, now, my bad, how was it your short time
in Chicago?

Speaker 3 (16:35):
It was fun, It was it was different. The pizza
was good. What's that place? Yeah, that was good.

Speaker 5 (16:42):
But we got the best piece in the world.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
That was good. So it was fun.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
That was the weather.

Speaker 3 (16:47):
It was raney, which I didn't like. I like son
Im from Texas.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
So I like it, like the city.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
The city was fun.

Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yeah it is, especially in the summertime.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
Yeah it was good.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Now let's talk about nil deals because that's a newer
thing too for for athletes, and I think it's been
really impactful for young athletes. But when some athletes are
like getting a lot of money from these nil deals,
how does that affect the swag that they have when
they're playing, Well, you just.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
Hope that, like it doesn't get to a point where
it's just like, Okay, I'm just here for my nil deals. Like,
I think a lot of people got to realize, like
your brand comes from like whether you're doing well in
sports or not. So like if you're just somebody that
you know is not pouring into their craft, then you
can't necessarily say, Okay, well I need this nil deal,

(17:37):
I need that, I want that, Like you still have
to build a brand on top of that. And so
we in a who we in a new age with
this nil So.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
Can you imagine if you would have had that when
you was I would have come out you listen, I was.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
Must see TV. There was a I had a teammate
that was also named Sidney. Sidney Colson who's still in
the w NBA doing her thing now with comedy and
all that. We were must see TV back in the day.
You were interviewing each other everything, So I was like,
I came up at the wrong dum.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
What advice do you have for some of these young
women who are wanting to become brands and making sure
that you know, outside of being on the court, they're
still doing things that they can to monetize and also
prepare for what's going to happen in the future to
make sure they're set.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
I think the main thing is not aligning yourself with
stuff that you don't agree with. Like I feel like
a lot of these kids just are like, Okay, I'm
gonna just do this brand deal for social media content,
but I don't really like how it tasts or I
don't like how it looks on me. So, like, if
you're not really aligning yourself with some stuff that you
really believe in, like you really can't make a deal

(18:44):
out of it, You really can't make it part of
your brand because you don't really believe in it. So
attach yourself to stuff that you really believe in, like
the actual product you believe in.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Right, what are some of the deals that you've done.
I know you did Marriott, right, I did.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
I just finished that up. I've done some stuff with Ubert.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
By the way, it makes sense.

Speaker 3 (19:01):
Yeah, I mean it was perfect time for NC double A.
So I was in the commercial for the NC double
a getting Yeah, it was great, it was I had
a time, all right.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
So Ober, who else.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
Have I done? I did Amazon? I done so many.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
Things, I know, and I'm probably I'm sure there's a
lot of people also trying to get at you right
now to get some more deals done and some.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
More Yeah, I mean I've done. There's a lot of
like clothing. There's a lot of like makeup that's coming
as well. I'm waiting on the nail people to come.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
I know, so these are amazing. It looks like thank you.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
I didn't even think of it like that. But yeah,
so I'm waiting on a nail company to come. But
I'm like I said, I'm all over the place. I
want to touch everything. I don't want to just be
like I want to touch into the dog fashion because
my my dog likes wearing clothes. Like I just feel
like that's a big market.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Though it may sound funny, but that is like.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yes, people really care about dog clothes.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
My guy, now he'd be having his dog and these
little dresses and things like that and little shoes and everything. Yeah,
when they go outside and it's raining or something like that.
And especially in New York, when you're walking dogs outside,
it's discussing it's dirty. You don't want to bring the
dog back inside, you know, to jump on the couch
after it's been walking all over the nasty New York sidewalks.

Speaker 3 (20:18):
Right, Yeah, it was different. I saw a dog using
the bathroom on the sidewalk. I was like, what is
different for me? Mind going to grass?

Speaker 2 (20:24):
You know there's not a lot of grass out here
for the dogs going. Now, do you know what's the
plans for you next year? Are you back at University
of Texas?

Speaker 3 (20:31):
I am okay back and I'm still putting it on.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Putting it on. Well, we love to see it.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
And thank you so much Coach Sydney Carter for joining
us today.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
Thank you my way up with Angela.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
I'm so excited, Like I love the way that everything's been,
you know, just transpiring. I love watching women athletes. I
love watching women's basketball because I think when it comes
to tennis. You know, that has been huge for women
and all the sports that we go in and then
we're able to like dominate. It's been amazing to see.
You know, people have doubted women. Men don't want to

(21:02):
watch women's sports because the women don't look feminine. Remember
some critics that have said that in the past.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
Well they don't have that argument no more.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
Like women can't dunk.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
That was another argument, not an argument anymore. Right, So
I think that it's been proven wrong. Yeah, you know,
so I'd love to see that.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
All right. Well, Coach Sydney Carter, thank you so much.
And how can people follow you?

Speaker 3 (21:21):
So you can follow me on Instagram at coach Cid Carter.
You can find me on twitters Sydney Underscore Renee and
then on tiktoks at coach did Carter.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
All right, she's let child's way up.

Speaker 3 (21:35):
Well