Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Basketball

Billy Garrett

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Zimbabwe

Billy Garrett is a sickle cell warrior, advocate, author, and professional basketball player. Billy has played professionally all over the world for the last 6 years. Billy has had stops in both Europe and the NBA, becoming the first person to play in the NBA with sickle cell disease.

Billy has recently released a book entitled Ode To The Warrior in which he shares the ups and downs along his journey of becoming a professional athlete with sickle cell. His goal is to inspire others through the game of basketball.

Essence Carson

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Zimbabwe

A Paterson, NJ native, Rosa Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts/Eastside High graduate and member of the Rutgers University Athletic Hall of Fame, Essence Carson is a 13-year WNBA veteran, All-Star, World Champion, musician, philanthropist, TEDx speaker, and music industry professional. Essence has held several positions within the music business ranging from Director of Label Operations & Distribution at a budding boutique record label, to the Senior Manager of Label Relations and A&R Operations at the world-renowned Motown Records & Black Forum Records. Prior to her arrival at Motown, she started her career in the music industry at Priority Records and Caroline Records (now Virgin Music) of the Capitol Music Group. No stranger to initiating change as an active WNBA player, Essence has stood on the front lines championing equality and equity. Also deeply rooted in the community, she has been the ambassador of Health Equity Initiative (501c3) for over a decade. Continuously looking to change lives through Entertainment and Literary Arts, Essence has also contributed to the Watts Community Core “Unity Gain Crew” of Los Angeles, California.

Lisa Leslie

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Cote d'Ivoire

When the “face” of your sport is a Wilhelmina model, you know you’re off to a good start. Lisa Leslie is undoubtedly the most-recognized player of both the WNBA and Team USA, who brought considerably more than a stunning visage and statuesque body to the court. Throughout her storied career Leslie was the absolute most dominant player in the women’s game.


Leslie carried the gold-winning Team USA in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. With the 2008 gold medal, she became the first team sport athlete to win four consecutive Olympic Gold Medals. In 2001, Leslie was the first WNBA
player to win the regular season MVP, the All-Star Game MVP and the playoff MVP in the same season. That same year she also led the Los Angeles Sparks to their first WNBA Championship. In 2002, she became the WNBA all-time
leading scorer, was named MVP of the regular season for the second year in a row in leading the Sparks to their first their first back-to-back championship, and shocked the world with the first slam-dunk in WNBA history.
Leslie would go on to win her third MVP trophy of the WNBA in 2006. Leslie is the first woman to slam-dunk in a professional game. Leslie was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2015.

Leslie became a commentator for ESPN in 2004, and has since been an in-studio sports analyst for ABC, Turner, Fox Sports Net, Fox Florida, and NBC. She is currently a co-host of CBS Sports’ “We Need To Talk”, and the
reigning Coach of the Year of the BIG3. Lisa also starred in the Lionsgate film “Uncle Drew” alongside NBA superstar Kyrie Irving and NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Miller, released in June 2018.

Leslie authored her own book “Don’t Let the Lipstick Fool You” in 2008, and in 2010 became the first WNBA player turned Co-Owner of the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2012, she both received her Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and launched the Lisa Leslie Basketball & Leadership Academy.

Leslie resides with her husband, Michael Lockwood, and two kids Lauren Jolie and Michael Joseph, in Boca Raton, Florida.

Sylvia Fowles

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Ethiopia

Sylvia Fowles, or “Mama Syl,” as she is endeared by many, is a WNBA MVP, 2x WNBA Champion and Finals MVP, 4x Defensive Player of the Year, 8x WNBA All Star, 4x Olympic Gold Medalist, and icon; she owns the record for the first goaltending call in the WNBA and First Dunk by a woman in international competition, as well as a lengthy list of athletic accolades. But post-2022 retirement, she continues to pour into extracurricular passions and philanthropy.

Sylvia Fowles is one of the game’s All-Time Great centers, well known for her warmth and heart. Loved and respected by all, she is a study in opposites – a balance of intensity on the court with an easygoing and fun-loving personality off of it. She is an avid outdoorswoman and plant lover, as well as a mortuary scientist who can sew, cook, draw, and play the saxophone. A true renaissance woman, she works hard to support the youth and families in the communities she loves—a mark of her giving heart and lasting legacy.

Crystal Langhorne

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Indonesia

Crystal Langhorne is the Director of Force4Change, the Seattle Storm’s social justice platform. Crystal’s passion for social justice is the driving force that helps her create impact in the community. Prior to working at the Storm’s front office, Crystal was a player in the WNBA for 13 years and won two championships with Seattle. She also won a NCAA championship with the University of Maryland women’s basketball team. She holds a degree in Communication from UMD and her DEI certification from Cornell University.

Isaiah Austin

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Serbia

Former McDonald’s All American and Professional basketball player who now works with the NBA in Player Development.

Kia Vaughn

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Czech Republic

Kia Vaughn, newly retired WNBA player. Played 14 seasons in the WNBA. Also played 13 seasons in Europe, where I won a Euroleague title in Prague. Played for Usk Praha for 5 seasons and was also the MVP of that Euroleague title.

Danielle Robinson

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2023  –  Czech Republic

Born in San Jose, CA Danielle has enjoyed a lengthy career in both the WNBA and Europe. Heading into her 12th season in the W, she is really looking forward to being a part of the Atlanta Dream and helping the organization continue to grow. She has traveled and played all around the world with Prague being her favorite stop of her time overseas. I’m her 3 years in Prague she won the Euroleague title in 2015, a memory her mom was able to experience with her. She’s so thankful for all that the game has given her and is even more excited to be able to share it with the next generation!

Alysha Clark

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2022  –  Tanzania

Alysha Angelica Clark is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women’s National Basketball Association. She was drafted in the second round of the 2010 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars.

Azurá Stevens

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2022  –  Mexico

Azurá Breeona Stevens is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Stevens played collegiately for the Duke Blue Devils
and the Connecticut Huskies. She was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings.