WNBA veteran Sydney Colson is extremely funny.
You can follow her on social media, listen to her podcast with another WNBA veteran Therese Plaisance or maybe take a look at a future stand-up set where Colson is on the mic. She’s had a great career in basketball, but stand-up could be even more prosperous for her as she becomes more involved in the comedy scene.
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She has cited some notable comedic influences from film and television, including Eddie Murphy, Queen Latifah, Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon. Some of his favorite comedy films include Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Kicking and screaming, Superstar and funny animated films that had a meaning like Ant And The life of an insect. She loved to watch Saturday evening live, Crazy TV And Who owns this line, anyway? when she was growing up. Comedy runs through his veins.
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Colson spent her final WNBA season with the Indiana Fever, unfortunately cut short by a torn ACL in August. The spotlight on Fever has always been bright since the team added Caitlin Clark in 2024, and Colson has become one of the team’s stars on and off the court as people discovered her talent for comedy.
Seriously, how often athletes go live on Instagram after undergoing ACL surgery? Colson knows as well as anyone how to make people laugh, and we won’t be shocked when she has a Netflix comedy special in the works one day.
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Although Colson’s ACL injury will keep her off the court during this upcoming Athletes Unlimited run, she told For the Win that she still plans to be involved in the 2026 offseason women’s basketball league in Nashville.
We spoke with Colson about the recent season of Fever, more about her comedic influences, the upcoming AU season, and how having a WNBA platform has helped amplify her comedic talent.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The Fever’s season was marked by numerous injuries and new players being factored into the rotation. What was your journey from arriving in Indiana to where the team finished the season in the semifinals?
I think it was good. I mean, we didn’t have a rocky start, but it was up and down at times. We were trying to figure each other out, adjusting to minor injuries at one point and we never really had the full team for long enough to see what we could do if we all kept playing together. There were certainly challenges in this department, but the resilience of the team was great. The coachability (stands out), just people playing hard.
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All the pieces of the team you would expect to win were there, but we were never able to do everything at once. For us to have gotten to this level and brought in some new players, it was great to see the fight and everyone that we brought in, everyone that stayed healthy throughout the season and didn’t let other people’s injuries get to them too much. This can surely happen when you see other people playing hard and people keep getting hurt. You say to yourself, “Okay, now wait a minute. Let me narrow it down a bit. (Overall) it was good. I think people would look at that and say it was a really successful season.
I know the Fever had a special connection with the locker room. After being around a lot of WNBA teams, what do you think is the secret to having a team like Indiana did last season?
You come to work to do your job. No matter what strikes you; you’re going to work hard, you’re going to play hard, you’re going to be a good teammate. I think we had a lot of professionals. We had older players, but also young players who are workers. They have the work ethic, the mindset. I think that boded well for us and helped us get to the point where we got to the end of the season, just wanting to play hard for other people. Even when people fell off, you saw another level that people reached, and it was pretty inspiring to watch from the sidelines.
Even though you’re recovering from injury, how do you hope to get involved with AU this year off the field?
We’re still figuring out what that will look like, but I just wanted to contribute as much as I could. I have enjoyed my AU experience since first year. (I) definitely didn’t want to let an injury stop me from still being in that environment and giving what I can give, even if it’s just vocally right now or mentally for people. (There are) still ways I can be helpful. We’ll see what that looks like.
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I know you did stand-up during the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend, and your podcast is comedy-centric. Who are some stand-up comedians that you watch to help you hone the voice you wanted to find on stage?
I like a few different people. I like it when people address the issues we have in society…I’m a fan of politically incorrect jokes that are done correctly and make a point, not just to be mean or just mean. There must be something you are criticizing.
It was probably during the pandemic that I started watching a lot more stand-up, but I used to watch a lot of Comics viewwhich was a show on BET when I was younger. They would have brought in a lot of actors and they would have alternated the sets. Even from a young age, I really liked comedy. I don’t know if I looked at anyone in particular.
Janelle James; I looked at her standing during the pandemic. (Kevin Fredericks), who was the guest of (my podcast with Theresa Plaisance, Unsupervised). He has a funny stand-up. I love Fortune Feimster. I like Dave Chappelle because he sometimes makes jokes that people don’t like, that make people uncomfortable, but it’s probably in the same spirit that I’ll tell some jokes. I may not agree with everything, but in general, I was a big fan of THE Chapel Show when I was growing up. Who else? I mean, there’s probably a lot more.
Would you ever like to host Saturday evening live?
I think that would be cool. I grew up watching SNLso that would definitely be something cool to do. In the meantime, I’m just going to tell myself that I need to write more jokes and do more stand-up. I try to force (Therese Plaisance) to do the same with me, so that we can both walk this path together.
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How has the rise in popularity of the WNBA contributed to your visibility and ability to work in comedy?
It’s been good. I talk a lot about what the WNBA was like when I was a rookie in 2011 and the sponsors that came with it. Players with their own brands; it was rare for people to work on anything outside of basketball. It’s great that we’re now in a space where we’re so visible.
Social media exists, so you can tell your own stories or show your own personality without waiting for someone to come along and ask you to do it or choose you. I just learned probably about a year before the pandemic… I may not have many years left, but I’m going to make sure I start controlling the narrative about myself and capitalize on the visibility I have right now. This will not always be the case. People won’t always care what you do. (I) really wanted to use my time in the W to get more attention and then see where it could go from there.
This article was originally published on For The Win: Q&A: Sydney Colson talks Fever, AU about his acting career
