Former LSU women's basketball star and NCAA champion Alexis Morris may be out of the WNBA for now; but make no mistake, she's determined as ever to return and make her mark not only on the league but also in women's basketball as a whole. Morris declared as much in an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints ahead of AND1's Open Run event at Coney Island in New York on Sunday.
Morris was drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the 22nd pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft but was waived during the preseason in the same year. She eventually found herself joining the iconic Harlem Globetrotters, which has been an accomplishing experience for her so far. Most recently, she partnered with AND1 to be the brand's first woman ambassador, an opportunity that's now paving the way for her to return to her streetball roots and become an even greater role model for all those who look up to her.
Now, as Morris navigates her professional career and tries to return to the WNBA, she's also pushing through her mission of inspiring young girls and promoting and growing the sport she loves.
In Alexis Morris' conversation with ClutchPoints prior to her AND1 Open Run, she spoke out about her partnership with the brand and what the future entails for them. The 2023 First Team All-SEC member also discussed the growth of women's sports, her championship run with LSU and her WNBA dreams
Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How does it feel to be part of such an iconic brand like AND1?
I would say the partnership is a reflection of like my background and my values, which is honoring the culture. I grew up playing streetball, so signing with AND1 was everything for me. It was a dream come true. … So when I got the call from D, from one of my agents, I couldn't do nothing, but you know, just thank God for the opportunity that he was blessing me with and to give me the wisdom to honor it. And I'm just super honored and grateful to be the First Lady of AND1.
How important is it to you to become the first woman ambassador of the brand– or as you said, the First Lady of AND1?
It's kind of like the saying: “To whom much is given, much is required.” So I'm super grateful for the opportunity to be able to lead and be a role model for the youth. Also on the other end of that, I value the responsibility that now comes with the role of representation of the brand and for black women and women in general to be in a role that I'm in. So I'm super grateful, honored, and I'm thankful. I give all the glory to God. Without him I wouldn't be where I'm at. Thanks to the AND1 family for believing in me and the Alexis Morris movement. So I'm also super grateful for it. It means everything to me. It's an honor and it's not an opportunity that I'm not taking for granted.
What are you most excited about being part of AND1? Can you give us any hints of any plans you have in store for your fans?
I'll probably drop a signature shoe or maybe a personal collection. You could just throw that out there just to add some suspense. We're working on things. Our main goal here at AND1 is to bring that new age swagger to the women's side of AND1.
I know you're witnessing the hype and all of the attention women's basketball is receiving right now, but we want a piece of the pie. We want to get in on the hype that's around the women's game. And who better than–not to pat myself on the back or anything–but who better than me to represent the brand? I grew up playing streetball, especially now. I resonate with AND1 and I want to bring that streetball to the professional professional world, mend them together, so we can all be on one page while also embracing the culture and all of those other things.
Can you walk us through the upcoming AND1 annual Open Run?
This would be my first Open Run with AND1. So I just remember when I was younger, I used to watch Hot Sauce [former streetballer Philip Champion] a lot. He was my favorite streetballer. So I look forward to experiencing that raw, unfiltered streetball, thrash talk, raw, uncut basketball being that I grew up playing in that environment, but I haven't been in it in a minute. So it's going to be exciting to kind of like go back to my roots and feel that heat. Cause a lot of players don't know what it's like to grow up playing streetball. So I can't wait. I can't wait to mend my childhood dreams with the realities to come in a few days. I know it's going to be amazing. I know it's going to be another dream come true.
You are just the seventh woman to be part of the Harlem Globetrotters. How does that feel and what does it mean for you and your career?
I just think lately post-graduation, I've been a part of and associated with male-dominant professional teams. And it's really empowering as a woman to be in these environments and see how things operate from the business side and from the planning side of things. So for me, I appreciate the opportunity to be in a role to represent women, but also to learn from the other side, from another perspective of the world and how people see things. I just think it's been great, man. I can't complain. I'm just super grateful for everything.
Being able to travel the world with the world famous Harlem Globetrotters, man, I can't say that was a dream of mine, but I've always had a dream to play professional. So it was a dream of mine and being at the Harlem Globetrotters[who] pretty much started the NBA, I can't say how grateful I am to be a part of that piece of history. Like my name is forever in the Harlem Globetrotters. Like I'm forever a Harlem Globetrotter.
You know how amazing that is? The amount of lives that we change every day, the amount of smiles we put on people's faces every day, despite how we're feeling, despite what's going on in our lives. We go out there every day to put a smile and try to change someone else's life. So for me, that's who I am, man. And I'm super grateful to, again, be where I'm at today.
You are part of LSU's NCAA championship in 2023 that helped amplify the growth of women's basketball, so how does it feel to see women's basketball–and women's sport in general–just go off over the last couple of months?
I mean, it's monumental, man. It's actually breathtaking because I've always had hope and belief that we would reach this point, but I didn't know it would be in an era [that I'm still in]. I didn't know that I would play a role in the hype, the push, igniting that fire for women's basketball. I didn't know I would have played a role in it. And that's the piece that I am grateful for. But I can't explain how good it feels to see women basketball receive the credit and recognition that they've been fighting for. We've been fighting for over 10 years, fighting for basic equal pay, little things, simple things that you think that women will receive or just more TV time or just some type of recognition or credit.
I'm super excited to see the next step in the next phase of women's basketball. Cause what's the next phase? Women are gonna be making millions now? The women can make millions of dollars in the WNBA or like what's next for the WNBA. … I don't want this to just be a hype, just the last word, an error. I want this to be a marathon. I want to continue to go on and on and on and continue to grow and build and build. So I'm excited where we are today [with] women's basketball.
It's exciting. Think about the younger girls now. Like when I was a kid, I didn't have any outlets or like any social media platforms to track any of my favorite women's basketball players. Now kids have the tools. They have social media, have the phone. They have all this techie stuff where they can follow women's basketball.
Also the impact that it is making on the younger generation, the younger girls and seeing other women in those roles. Just imagine how they feel. I didn't have that when I was a kid. So I'm just super grateful from that aspect of the game, too. Seeing someone that looks like me, talks like me, walks like me, breathes like me in those positions. Now I'm in that position to inspire someone.
What's next for Alexis Morris? Do you have plans to try to go back to the WNBA?
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