Team GB Basketball Player Melita Emanuel-Carr

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Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by Team GB Basketball Player Melita Emanuel-Carr. They chat with Melita about growing up playing basketball in the UK, playing D1 hoops in Chicago, winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, why she decided to play in the WBBL, and what she wants to do after basketball.

Full Transcript:

Brian Bosche:
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to High Tea Hoops!

Skylar Smith:
High T Hoops!

Brian Bosche:
This is Brian Bosche at the Duke of Hoops, and I am joined by Skylar Smith. What's up, Duchess?

Skylar Smith:
Hello. I'm so excited for today's interview.

Brian Bosche:
Me too. So, today we have a very special guest. Team GB player, Melita Emanuel-Carr. Melita, welcome to the High T Hoops podcast!

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Hey, thank you for having me.

Brian Bosche:
We are so excited. We had your friend on, Christina Gaskin, we saw that you were announcing a game together. I think it was your first time commenting, is that right?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, it was my first time ever commentating in a game. We wasn't actually together. She just picked it up and was like, "Oh, this voice sounds familiar. Mel, [inaudible 00:00:43]." And she's like, "Here, you should definitely do it. I do it and I enjoy it." So we had a little conversation on Twitter about that.

Brian Bosche:
Oh, nice. And so what game did you announce? Tell our audience. What were you commenting on?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I was actually the second host, let's say, of the game. I was doing it with someone else, James Beer, a coach at the [inaudible 00:01:02] Abbey Academy, and we was commentating the London Lions against... Why have I forgotten the team and I just talked about it?

Brian Bosche:
I know.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
[inaudible 00:01:13].

Skylar Smith:
I feel like I watch games, and then I completely forget who I just watched, so...

Brian Bosche:
Also it's 2020/2021. My mind is on other things. It was the Lions.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Okay, I've got it now. It's the Essex Rebels.

Brian Bosche:
Okay, nice.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It was pretty hard at first because I didn't really know that team too well. I didn't know any of the players besides one. And then obviously I'm biased because I played for the London Lions before, so it was hard to try and stay balanced, but it was a good experience. I'd definitely do it again.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. That's amazing. So we'll get into that more, but we're going to take it all the way back. You grew up hooping in the UK, you were on every prestigious team. You went to the Commonwealth games, you've done some incredible things. So what was it like growing up in the UK playing basketball?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It was pretty tough. I started playing at the age of 10 and I was playing for a boys team, because there was no female team in my area. I fell in love with the game, literally. I didn't mind playing with the boys. Created some brothers, basically, so it was great. I think when it was tough is when I was turning teenager, I didn't have any role models because all of the guys were guys. I had nothing to really look up to. There was no MBA, WMBA on the TV, so I didn't even know how far in basketball I could get until I turned about 15.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
An American coach came over, a high school coach, and he's like, "You should come. This is kind of everything that we do." And straight away, I was like, "Yeah, okay. Basketball is something that I want to do professionally." And I didn't mind taking the steps to get there. And at that time, taking the steps were getting to America, so that was the goal. It's still the goal for a lot of people here in the UK as well, to get out to America, to make a name for yourself out there.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Well, 10 is pretty young from a lot of interviews we've had where we've talked to people where they started at 17, they started at 18, because they had the skills and abilities for the sport. What actually prompted you to play basketball and start at that early age in the UK?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
My mum works for the Westminster council in the sporting department and she had me doing everything. I did football, basketball, cricket, literally everything. Yeah, she motivated me, and my dad as well, to just stay active. And I think out of all the sports that I played, basketball called my name out. It was like it picked me, kind of thing. Yeah, that's what prompted me to play.

Brian Bosche:
That's amazing to hear. And what was it like transitioning from British basketball to playing in the States and playing college basketball?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It's a huge difference.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I think here in the UK coaches are very simple. I had a coach who said to me, "Why are you putting the ball through your legs? Just go straight there. This is not [inaudible 00:04:15] mix tape."

Brian Bosche:
I got that a lot growing up, too, though. So don't worry about that. A lot of fundamentals. "Stick to the fundamentals!"

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, exactly. Keep it simple. Going over to the States and I'm seeing everyone doing these moves, everyone having the confidence as well to do the moves. That's the biggest difference I think in the UK too in America. But I have to give England some props as well. I do think, because we keep the game so simple, I think our IQ is a little bit better. I felt like, even now, watching the games as well and watching some of the UK players go over to America, I do think that IQ is just a little bit better than their age group in America. I think it balances it out a little bit.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Well, I think you see that a lot with Europe too, where a lot of the more skilled NBA players coming in are from Europe, because they focus on the fundamentals, where I played AAU basketball and you're right, there's not that fundamentals of coaching. It is about a lot of flash and athleticism as opposed to getting the fundamentals down, even at any size. Yeah, that's really interesting to hear that.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. Yeah. I played in an AAU tournament... How old was I? I think I was about 14 in Washington DC. And so that was my first glimpse of American style basketball and [inaudible 00:05:35] shot clock.

Brian Bosche:
Let's not get into that.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
And we did not get used to that at all. We're like, "How long are we playing defense for? This is not fair."

Brian Bosche:
Skylar, I'll let you ask in a second. Sorry, tangents. But yeah, we were in an AAU final on the West coast. They got up 14 to eight and then just held the ball the rest of the half. I'm like, "This is ridiculous! This is not basketball. Play defense. Let's actually have possessions." I think we ended up with 40 possessions total. It was awful. I hate the shot clock. That's my AAU complaint of the day, Skylar. Sorry.

Skylar Smith:
Thanks, Brian. Got to get it in there. Just like my ranch [inaudible 00:06:10], you got to get an AAU complaint in there every pod.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah, exactly. Speaking of ranch.

Skylar Smith:
Great segue.

Brian Bosche:
Thank you.

Skylar Smith:
So I lived in Chicago for a year. I actually went to DePaul my first year of college, so I was actually pretty close to UIC. What was it like transitioning to living in Chicago, and did you like living in Chicago after being in the UK?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I definitely think the hardest thing was the weather.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah.

Skylar Smith:
That Chicago weather's so tough.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, it is. Before I decided I wanted to go to America, well, decided my school, the first thing I said is, "I want to go somewhere hot." And yeah, I just literally picked the opposite. Yeah, I think the weather was tough for me. Culture-wise, I think I was okay because I'd been to America a few times, so I wasn't shocked about anything. I love food as well, so that was the best thing ever.

Skylar Smith:
Chicago's an incredible food city.

Brian Bosche:
Did you get into the deep dish scene for pizza?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Of course, of course.

Skylar Smith:
Did you go to Portillo's?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah.

Skylar Smith:
Oh, man.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Everything was literally five minutes away from my dorm as well, so I had all of the choices to pick from.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
No, go ahead. Sorry.

Skylar Smith:
What did you miss about the UK when you were in Chicago, and now looking back, do you miss anything about Chicago when you're back in the UK?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Good question. Definitely miss my family and friends.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
100%. Missed birthdays, Christmas, all the festivals I missed because I was in Chicago.

Brian Bosche:
Basketball's tough, too.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
[inaudible 00:07:55] FaceTime.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Basketball's tough too, because you play through Christmas. You play through winter breaks.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, exactly. And some of my English teammates in America, they got to go home. And my coach, she was pretty tough, so the one year we actually had a couple of days in Christmas off, I said, "Okay, can I go home?" And her response was, "Do you want to live at home forever?" "No. So you're going to have to get used to being away from home."

Brian Bosche:
Geez.

Skylar Smith:
That is a savage response.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. Exactly, exactly.

Skylar Smith:
You're like, "I'm 19. I just want to see my parents. What are you talking about?"

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Exactly.

Skylar Smith:
Like, "Who are you? Why do you hate your parents?"

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Well, I think probably, maybe she did. Who knows?

Skylar Smith:
Yeah, maybe. Okay. I have one more, just very... This is such a random Chicago Midwest question, but... And this might take some explaining. Which is more aggressive? Midwestern passive aggression, or British passive aggression? Because in the US, Midwestern passive aggression, I think, is the most confusing to other people in the US. I don't know if people in the UK fully know what I'm talking about, but Midwesterners are very passive aggressive. And I've heard that it's kind of the same way that Brits are. And I mean, I've lived in the UK, so I've kind of experienced it and it is pretty similar. I was able to kind of adapt pretty quickly to it because I grew up in the Midwest. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about right now or am I just on some insane [inaudible 00:09:32]?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
No, I completely understand. I think maybe that's why I adjusted so well, because we are actually similar in terms of even our humor as well. I think we're very hard to please [crosstalk 00:09:46].

Skylar Smith:
Yes. Yes.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. What else? We're very straight-to-the-point compared to Midwest in terms of everywhere else in America, very straight to the point and I love that as well. I even had a coach, rather than laughing, she would just say it, "Hysterical." No laughter or whatsoever. So it's like, "Okay, your joke was okay, but it's not that funny that I'm going to laugh." [inaudible 00:10:17].

Skylar Smith:
I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of a laugh. That's so funny.

Brian Bosche:
I don't feel emotion. I will just express it to you in language.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. And Brits would just be like, "Eh, didn't really find that funny. Sorry."

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. It's the cultural differences. If you play on East coast, like in New York, in Boston, really just aggressive. There is no passive aggression. West coast, it's very laid back. So it's funny to see the different... Midwest might be the best British culture fit of any of the different regions to go to. And then do you miss anything about in the US? Do you miss the ranch dressing?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
We actually wasn't allowed to put any sauce on our meals pre-game, so that was annoying, because [crosstalk 00:11:04] sauce just right there. Actually, even saying the word... In the English accent, you're saying ranch.

Brian Bosche:
Ranch.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
In America I'm like, "Ranch." I really have to...

Skylar Smith:
Ranch.

Brian Bosche:
Ranch. God, it is an American word. Ranch.

Skylar Smith:
I say it so Midwestern too. Ranch. That's really funny.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
So yeah, the food. Oh God, I miss the food so much. I miss a lot of my friends as well that I've made being out there. And even just playing college basketball is so different to playing professionally, having your conference after January. Yeah, I miss that side of it too.

Brian Bosche:
And this is a very random question, but the wall graphic you have of yourself behind you, is that a fat head? Do you know if it's from a brand called fat head?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I actually got a fat head, but I left it in America because there was no way I could carry it.

Brian Bosche:
Oh, no!

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
But that one was a stick one, so it was rolled up in a cylinder so I was able to carry it back home. And I've got that. That was in my third year, actually, in the conference tournament.

Brian Bosche:
That's amazing. Because my wife, the queen of hoops, worked at fat head in Detroit. That's a Detroit company.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, it is actually. Yeah. [inaudible 00:12:22].

Brian Bosche:
Skylar, she might've sent that over to her.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah, she might have literally printed that and sent it to you.

Brian Bosche:
She did a bunch of the sports. Yeah, that's amazing. She worked on a lot of the college deals.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Actually it makes sense, because we was in Detroit for the conference tournament.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, [crosstalk 00:12:34].

Skylar Smith:
That makes a lot of sense.

Brian Bosche:
What year was that? Was I living there? What year was the conference tournament?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
2016.

Brian Bosche:
Oh, I had just left. That would have been crazy if I would have gone to it, because I went to all the basketball tournaments there. That's insane. Okay. Switching gears a little bit. You won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth games. Incredible achievement. You're a silver medalist forever. What was it like competing in those games in Australia?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It was amazing. Best experience hands down. I think UK basketball is tough because you don't really get much recognition from your country. So no one really expected us to do very well, especially having Canada, Australia in [crosstalk 00:13:18].

Brian Bosche:
Big basketball cultures.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Exactly, so it was like, "Ah, they're just going to maybe not even make out of the pools." So coming second was just amazing. Being around so many different athletes as well from different sports as well, it's brilliant. And yeah, taking home the silver medal, it's amazing to see my family and friends so proud as well. Yeah, it's just...

Brian Bosche:
Your women's teams in the UK for basketball are kind of like our women's teams for football soccer, where they're so much better than the men, but they need to get more attention. I don't know if the men made it out of the pool round, right? In the Commonwealth games?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
No, they didn't. No.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. And you got silver! So Skylar, let's run through some of our teammate questions here for that Commonwealth team.

Skylar Smith:
Let's do it.

Brian Bosche:
You want to do that? Let's do it. Who was the funniest player on that team?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Funniest.

Brian Bosche:
This was three years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I know! Who was on the team, again?

Brian Bosche:
I know. I know, I know. We sprung this on you.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Right. I'd probably think I was probably the funniest.

Brian Bosche:
That's great.

Skylar Smith:
Who was likely to [inaudible 00:14:34] late for the bus?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Late. I'm trying to think. I think there was one time someone was late. Who was it, though? It might've been Chantelle Presley. I think she was late one time.

Skylar Smith:
I also trust that you're just like, "We're women. We're professionals. We're not..." All of the men we've asked that question, they automatically had a name.

Brian Bosche:
Immediate. Immediate response.

Skylar Smith:
She's like, "I think someone might have been late one time, but no, we're women. We're [crosstalk 00:15:06]."

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
And it was probably one minute, maybe. Everyone was already on the bus and you was just the last one.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
Most bounce on the team.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Bounce. Probably Rachel Vandal.

Brian Bosche:
Nice.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
All right.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. [crosstalk 00:15:27] high.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Skylar, you got one?

Skylar Smith:
Sorry, my mic just [inaudible 00:15:34]. Hi, all.

Brian Bosche:
Say again, Skylar?

Skylar Smith:
Who has the best style?

Brian Bosche:
Yes, Melita. You're all of these! Let's go!

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Just say yourself for all the good ones. I'm here for it. Hype yourself up.

Brian Bosche:
I love it.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I think of Zania as well, but Zania has a nice little swag to her as well.

Brian Bosche:
Love it. All right, we can end there. I love those. I love that you won multiple categories.

Skylar Smith:
When there was only four.

Brian Bosche:
I know.

Skylar Smith:
So what excited you about the opportunity to play in the WBBL? Was it something that you had been thinking about since you were younger and started playing in the UK?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It's actually funny, because I always told myself never to play in the WBBL, never come back home to play. It's just not worth it. There's no money.

Skylar Smith:
That coach told you. She was like, "Do you want to live at home?" You were like, "Fuck, I can't play at the WBBL."

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Exactly. You're right. I think at a certain point in my career, I was just thinking, "What is actually best for me?" And at that time I had sat out from basketball for a little while because when I was in Spain, the coach halfway through the season, literally just benched me. We didn't have a connection. So I wanted to play in the WBBL just to get my feet wet again, get my confidence back up, and then go back overseas. And it was nice as well, because I got to... Well, actually, no, I didn't play a home game, so no one got to see me play.

Brian Bosche:
That's rough.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
My parents traveled to one away game. Other than that, yeah, it was [crosstalk 00:17:21].

Brian Bosche:
I saw Hoops Fix throwback posts where I think you dropped 18 points or something in your first game, and it was starting to roll a little bit, and then injury strikes. So Skylar, I think, has a question for you queued up here.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah. Injuries, they're always so devastating. Do you have any advice for others going through the recovery process?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I think just take everything step by step. Win small goals, rather than just try to jump to that big goal. Every week, you'll definitely see an improvement, so I think that's what's kept me positive about being injured. And I think maybe trying to find something outside of your sport to keep your mind occupied as well is a great way to get over being injured.

Brian Bosche:
I mean, an ACL injury, especially. What, three games into the season?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yep, three games.

Brian Bosche:
Was it during a game? Practice?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
No, it was... Yeah, practice. Practice.

Brian Bosche:
Devastating. But Christina Gaskin has a question, which friend of the pod, podcast guest on High T Hoops. Has it been any easier dealing with an ACL injury during a period of such inconsistency?" And not that you wish that any of this happens or helped you, but is there a benefit to the season's up, and everything's up in the air, there's a lot of pros going unsigned. Is it kind of a better year to kind of go through that rehab process?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I think there's good and bad. So I'll start with the bad. I tore my ACL in October 2019, and because I was in England and in the league, you don't really have an insurance policy, I guess, with the team. Also, I wasn't planning on staying too long, so I didn't really sign an official contract. So I had to go through the NHS and it was forever. The wait was just ridiculously long. I think my first surgery date, it was in February.

Brian Bosche:
Wow. That's a long time to sit with a torn ACL.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Exactly. But then my SNC coach said, "Actually, it's a positive because you can work on your knee, get it back strong again, and then have the surgery and the comeback is actually quicker than to get it straight after you torn it." And then yeah, COVID hit. And it was a week, two weeks before my surgery date I got a call from the hospital saying that it's going to be postponed. And they couldn't give me a date, obviously, because they didn't know where COVID was going to end. So it was literally just a waiting game. And I didn't end up getting my surgery until August.

Brian Bosche:
August? Almost a year later?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yes. Exactly. Almost a year later. So I guess that's the bad side of it, the fact that I've had to wait so long to start my rehab process. I'm only five months in, so I could have been playing by now, but then because the season is so up in the air, I'm kind of happy because I don't have to watch many games. I'm not missing any games either. And yeah, like you said, so many players are unsigned as well. I kind of feel like everyone's feeling my pain right now.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah.

Skylar Smith:
It's also, I'm sure, nice. All those players, they are risking COVID every time they're playing, so I'm sure it's nice that you're able to just be safe and not be risking COVID.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, exactly. You're right. The gym that I go to, it's only for elite athletes and there's only a few people in there, so I'm grateful I still have that and I'm not just doing my rehab at home as well. But yeah, I do feel a lot safer than a lot of the other players who have to try to stick with the bubble and then obviously play.

Skylar Smith:
So do you have a plan for getting back on the court and do you want to play again, or what's your kind of plan going forward?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
So I definitely want to play again. Definitely want to go overseas. I actually don't mind staying in London, playing for the London Lions game, because they have a new owner and they're looking at helping the women's game or the women's side a lot more. If they're planning to go to the Euro cup, I may as well stay at home. Great opportunity.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
My process in my rehab right now. I'm not in a rush to get back. I don't think there's a point in rushing to get back, because there may not even be any games to get back to. So I'm just taking it slow. I am ahead of schedule just naturally by working hard, so I think maybe give it a month and I think I'll be ready to play. But whether I decide to start playing straight away or just try to get my game back is another question. We'll see.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. I mean, speaking of the London Lions, we've had DeAndre Liggins on the podcast, Byron Mullins. We've talked to 777 Partners, the new owners of the Lions, and it's been pretty incredible to see what they've been able to grow in London and how bullish they are of basketball in the UK. Unfortunately, the news just broke this morning that due to COVID outbreak on the team, they're not able to play in FIBA Europe cup, or at least in that initial group stage. It's kind of up in the air of what's going to happen next.

Brian Bosche:
But I think, Skylar and I, there's so much opportunity for basketball to grow, especially in London where even talking to DeAndre Liggins was like, "Why did you come to London instead of Spain or Greece or other countries you could have played in?" And there's not the language barrier, there's a lot of financial opportunities, brand deals that you can sign. London's a really fun city to live in. There's so many advantages. So what do you think the WBBL can do to kind of help grow that interest of basketball in the UK?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I think sign in more international players. Well, first, you need the money to do that.

Brian Bosche:
Yes, that's true.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I do think if more money was put into the WBBL, then yeah, being able to have different international players come over to improve the game, which then kind of sprinkles down to grassroots level because they're able to see better competition. They've got more to look up to. That will just naturally improve the game in the country. So yeah, once we get more international players, then I think there's more talk around the world about British basketball and once the gossip kind of starts, then it's great. More people want to come. More people want to watch the game as well, because it's better, more brand deals, endorsement deals, so it definitely just starts with the money.

Brian Bosche:
Yep. Skylar, can we convince Sue Bird to spend a year in London? Play for the London Lions in our 41st year or whatever?

Skylar Smith:
Maybe her last year. Maybe, who knows.

Brian Bosche:
This is a sailstorm podcast.

Skylar Smith:
We'd have to get Megan here, too.

Brian Bosche:
Yes! Megan, Sue, spend a year in London.

Skylar Smith:
Let's sign Megan to the Tottenham team.

Brian Bosche:
Oh. That would be great.

Skylar Smith:
So shifting gears a little bit, can you tell us about Stop the Violence and the mission of Stop the Violence?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, so living in Chicago, everyone knows gang violence is just off the roof, and I think I was very much exposed to that, especially after losing my friend in my sophomore year. So I decided to start a campaign, we had a Stop the Violence game in Chicago, and then I carried it over to London after the massive growth in knife crime in London. I decided to do an event, tried to get all of the best people from London playing against each other. I did a celebrity game as well, just to create awareness about basketball and how it can change someone's life, because I know a lot of people who were previously in gangs or just going in the wrong direction and after finding basketball, they've kind of turned their life around. Yeah, that was my purpose, and hopefully... I was supposed to do another event in 2020, but yeah, Corona stopped that, so hopefully, fingers crossed this summer, if not, then next summer, definitely do some camps, maybe, and another event as well.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Well, you got Justin Robinson and some other Lions players at the last event, right?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
That looked really fun.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I was actually shocked they all said yes. Literally everyone. I had about 30 players and I'm like, "They're probably going to say no, so let me add more people on," and everyone said yes. So I had a full roster on both teams.

Brian Bosche:
That's amazing.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It's amazing.

Brian Bosche:
And you mentioned that during the rehab or physical therapy process, it's good to find things outside of the sport that you're interested in. We've talked about this with, we had Zoe Scaman on the podcast who talks about athlete branding, and how finding your pillars, where, "Okay, are you interested in basketball, and fashion, and gaming, and create?" What are your different things that you like to try to help build your brand a little bit more? So what are the things that you enjoy outside of basketball? You have Stop the Violence, which has an incredible mission. Are there other things that you like to do outside the game?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. I like to do a lot of fun stuff. I'm very spontaneous, so you can say, "Let's do this," and I'll be down to do it. Yeah, building my pillars, it was kind of hard because I was so broad. Every week I wanted to do something new. I wanted to be a rapper at one point. Being injured for so long has given me the opportunity to kind of try out a lot of stuff. I actually wanted to start my own podcast, but...

Brian Bosche:
Amazing!

Skylar Smith:
Yes, do it!

Brian Bosche:
Do it!

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. I'm too indecisive. I find it a little bit hard to just start. I think that's the hardest part is just starting it.

Brian Bosche:
Well, here's your call. Start a podcast. We need more voices in British basketball.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. I'll try, I'll try. I'll start.

Brian Bosche:
Your audio quality is amazing. You're already half the way there.

Skylar Smith:
You've already got a great background. You can record in front of yourself.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Besides the coats, though.

Brian Bosche:
No, it's great.

Skylar Smith:
It's okay.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. They have no other space.

Brian Bosche:
What would your podcast be about? What would you focus on?

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
I think I would do something along the lines of interviewing different athletes from different sports. Once COVID is over, maybe joining in with their session just to find out what it's like to be, let's say, a track runner, and doing an issue with them. Talking to them about how they get endorsement bills and how they survive as well. Because being, especially in the UK, being a basketball player, your income's not that great. I don't think I know anyone in the UK that's with a brand either.

Brian Bosche:
There's not that many brand deals. I think Teyo has one with Puma, maybe, from the Surrey Scorchers.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
There's only a few, but they're not huge on social media, either, which hurts. There's not a lot of them with a huge following, even though they're incredible players on the court.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah. So I definitely would like to see how they kind of do it and bring it over to basketball to try and make that happen.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
I would love a YouTube channel where you go and train with the different athletes and see what their schedules are like and see if you can hang or not with the different workouts.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
That would be fun. That would actually be really fun. Yeah, I'll see. I'll try and set that up.

Skylar Smith:
Brian will push you to start it. He's constantly pushing me to start new things.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah, I will.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
That's what I need!

Brian Bosche:
I'm like, "Duchess, we-"

Skylar Smith:
Brian's your guy, then. You can take him.

Brian Bosche:
Let me tell you. When we started this podcast, we had a horrible idea to do a fan guide leading up to the NBA bubble. So we did one team every day. I think I almost killed Skylar. One podcast a day.

Skylar Smith:
We did 21 pods in 21 days and it was the worst.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Oh, wow.

Brian Bosche:
Skylar was about to crumble.

Skylar Smith:
I was crying in the middle of pods. It was bad. We figured it out at this point. But yeah, we can... If you ever want to start a pod, you need some resources, we've got you.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah, accountability.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Thank you. Thank you.

Brian Bosche:
Also, what sport would be most interesting for you to train? While you think about that, I would love to go through a hurdler workout because their training looks impossible for normal human beings.

Skylar Smith:
You don't have the flexibility for that, Brian.

Brian Bosche:
My hip flexors would pop the first time I would try to get over one of those hurdles. It's insane!

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
It's true, actually. Interesting sport. Do you know what? I think boxing.

Brian Bosche:
Oh, that would be a fun one.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Yeah, that would be fun. And right now the gym that I go to, a lot of professional boxers come to the gym too. Seeing their workouts are so much different to mine. And then they say, "Okay, yeah, I've got a sparring session," or just a regular session. And I'm like, "That's tiring." Playing basketball, to me, is not really tiring, but if I were to spar for three minutes, I'll be shattered. I think that would be a good one.

Brian Bosche:
And then just how fast they move. You don't quite understand how fast a good boxer is.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Exactly. They're [crosstalk 00:31:00].

Brian Bosche:
It's terrifying.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
They play around and kind of just [inaudible 00:31:04].

Brian Bosche:
Skylar, any more questions before we close this out?

Skylar Smith:
No, I think I got my Midwest questions in, so I think I've fulfilled my duty on this podcast for the day.

Brian Bosche:
Okay. So we've decided you're starting a podcast and a YouTube channel. It's going to focus on other athletes. Maybe you can introduce some of your fashion advice to some other athletes as well? There's that element. That's how you start getting those brand deals. Get those free clothes.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Exactly. Not really repping anything. I guess I saw it first if you want to sponsor the YouTube channel.

Brian Bosche:
Exactly. Get some sponsors on there. All right. And Melita, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it.

Skylar Smith:
Thank you, Melita.

Melita Emanuel-Carr:
Thank you.