"That's Auntie for real": Aces' Sydney Colson spills the beans on how a viral video made her befriend soul icon Anita Baker

WNBA veteran and 2-time champion Sydney Colson recently sat for an interview on The Lou Young Show. The 34-year-old spoke about a range of topics with respect to her career.

Colson also shared how she had inadvertently developed a longstanding friendship with the legendary singer/songwriter and soul music icon Anita Baker.

During the interview, she revealed that the friendship was a result of a viral tweet. Colson had posted a video in which she parodied Baker’s music video of the hit song, Caught Up in the Rapture. The tweet ended up going viral on the platform, which led to Baker herself responding to it (Starts at 31:25):

“I was ready to go into coaching, or like acting, that is what I wanted to do next. So I made this video when I was over there. I did this parody of Anita Baker’s "Caught Up in the Rapture" video. And she saw it, she reteweted it, and me and her started this like friendship from this.”

Colson, who was contemplating quitting basketball while she was playing in Poland, revealed that it was Baker who advised her to get an agent and not quit basketball anytime soon.

Lou Young was surprised that Baker brought Colson on stage during a concert in Houston, as he claimed that the singer tends to throw people off the stage, generally.

Colson agreed, noting that's just who Baker is (Starts at 32:58 of the video):

“That’s Auntie for real," Colson said.

Not only did the tweet lead to Colson and Baker becoming friends, the singer also gave her a crucial piece of career advice.

Sydney Colson joined the Las Vegas Aces after her stint in Poland

As it turns out, Anita Baker herself told Sydney Colson to get an agent after the two met. This was after she had announced her on-stage during a Houston concert. Colson revealed that she ended up receiving a call from her agent when she reached back home (Starts at 33:05 of video):

“She was like, ‘Get an agent girl!’ like, do your thing. And I was just like, okay, like I feel like this is a sign that I can move on. But when I got back home, I was told like, my agent told me that the Aces wanted to bring me in for training camp so I went in 2019, I made the team.”

Things obviously worked out, as Sydney Colson made an emphatic return to the WNBA. Her first stint with the Aces lasted just a season, as she joined the Athletes Unlimited in 2021. It was after returning to the Aces back in 2022 that she won the first of her two rings.

Now a 2-time WNBA champion, Sydney Colson recently started another season in which the Aces are expected to go all the way. They defeated the New York Liberty in the 2023 NBA Finals, and have multiple superstars such as A’Ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum to count on, again.