How Brittney Elena earned the trust of NBA, WNBA stars

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Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx spotlight the diverse journeys of Black women in sports—from veteran athletes to future stars, coaches, executives, and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.

Brittney Elena doesn’t just use social media to garner clicks and likes for attention, but rather uses it to change the way we see athletes and influence sports culture.

“I started using my platform without even knowing. I didn’t do it for followers. It just happened,” says Elena. “That’s when I realized my mission was to be a motivator, to be an expert, to be an inspiration, to use my love of the game to help others.”

Elena has been able to combine her basketball skills, modeling, witty sense of humor and endearingly likable personality to build @brittneyelena, her popular Instagram account that has a following of 823,000 to be exact and growing. Elena wants her followers to see athletes and sports like her, through a more human lens.

And the basketball fan and player can speak from her own personal experience. Having played most of her life, Elena retired from a promising modeling career to pursue her hoops dreams, so she understands who the players are off the court. Although athletes may appear to be superhuman, they are not, as they have challenges and deal with the same emotional struggles as most of us. Being an athlete, Elena understands what goes on behind the scenes. Other athletes gravitate towards her, an unintentional quality she herself cannot understand. Doing interviews is normal for athletes, but getting them to trust you and share their stories transparently is another.

“I really care about their well-being and their lives,” she says. “It’s not easy to be in the position they are in; I could feel that. I let them know I’m there to make sure they’re having fun and to create a safe space for them. I really gained the respect of many athletes, male and female, when they realized Well, she’s not just here to try and gain influence. She genuinely cares about our well-being.“

That reliability was confirmed when the typically reserved Kobe Bryant gave her a rare interview. “I cried like a baby,” Elena recalls. “I was grateful because it was so early in my career. For him to even accept me interviewing him and being vulnerable with me was pretty stupid.

While social media brought attention to the influencer, Elena’s career as a presenter began in 2016 when she caught the attention of Nike. The global brand believes the young influencer can deliver what its online presence needs. She lived up to expectations, with her first interview being with fellow heavy lifter Kyrie Irving. Her interview resume now reads like a dream team—Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Kobe Bryant, Lisa Leslie, and Cheryl Swoopes, the last of whom Elena still finds hard to believe she even knew who she was. She’s waiting to check Sue Bird and Michelle Obama off her dream interview list.

Elena says she believes in manifestation and has erased the word “no” from her vocabulary, especially when it comes to apologies. While she’s grateful for the opportunities she’s been given, she knows that faith has to start with her first, something she’s had to learn through her own experiences and struggles. While Elena likes to motivate others, she also has to find her own motivation, which is still on the court.

When Elena first moved to Los Angeles from her hometown in the Bay Area, she had a hard time emotionally. She remembers leaving her nightclub job in full makeup and walking to court to calm down and think. This is where Elena first started posting on social media and realized she could connect with others dealing with similar issues. She shares her story and struggles often, not only on her social media platform, but also with the young girls she meets and mentors while traveling as an ambassador for Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods’ “It’s Her Shot,” a campaign that travels around the world. country with the goal of empowering young female athletes through the purpose and power of sport. As kids meet their sports heroes, they learn game skills as well as life skills.

“I try to influence young girls that anything is possible; you have to start somewhere,” Elena says. “I say to them, ‘Why aren’t you the first person to start and encourage other girls who might want to do the same?’

While Elena is focused professionally and mentally, like a true athlete, there is always something new to conquer and a new goal to achieve. In the meantime, she gives basketball all the credit to the sisterhood of athletes she’s connected with, as well as her followers she’s connected with, who have gotten her to where she is now. She wants to continue empowering everyone, but especially women.

“Women’s empowerment for me is sisterhood and being there for each other so we don’t judge,” Elena says. “You never know what someone has been through. Just help them grow and be better. I have made so many new friends and relationships through my love and the game of basketball. The game just connects you with so many people and you learn a lot. I’m really doing something I love. I never take it for granted. I am so grateful for that.”

Senita Brooks is a contributor to Onyx Authorizationa diverse multi-channel platform that celebrates the stories and transformative power of sports for black women and girls.

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How Brittney Elena earned the trust of NBA, WNBA stars

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