WORDS: DAVID GANHÃO
PHOTOS: MICHEAL NEAL
I know relatively nothing about sports. In school, I tried playing but it turns out I’m uncoordinated. I can’t comprehend spending all day Sunday watching football, although I will show up to your Super Bowl party and shush you during the commercials—don’t invite me if you’re airing the Canadian feed. I can watch soccer if one of my teams are playing in the EURO or World Cup and every once in a while I will turn on a Leafs game if I’m in the mood for disappointment. I’ve slept through baseball games and don’t even get me started on televised golf. Basketball however is something I do enjoy watching… I may not watch many games on TV but invite me to go to a game and I’ll be there. This is why when my buddy (and Raptors super fan) Cristina suggested we interview Raptors Assistant Coach Mery Andrade, I immediately said yes.
With rising interest in the WNBA, including a yet unnamed team that’s coming to Toronto for the 2026 season, I jumped at the opportunity to chat with a former WNBA star. My lack of sports knowledge forced me to do more research than usual, which filled my head with a slew of interesting facts… Mery is one of only five female coaches in the NBA (go Raptors)… She’s a European basketball champion who played in both Italy and Portugal… She’s a bit of a fitness fanatic with intense workout routines… She’s a foodie with a passion for Portuguese and Italian cuisines… Andrea Bocelli taught her how to speak Italian.
We interrupted Mery’s workday at the OVO Athletic Centre to talk about everything from her career to music to numerology, yet I forgot to ask why each goal in basketball isn’t just worth one point like in hockey or soccer… next time.
David Ganhão: So let’s start at the beginning before basketball. You’re born in Cabo Verde, at the age of four you moved to Lisboa, what happens next?
Mery Andrade: I grew up with my grandma until high school. I went to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, for four years, and in 1999, I joined the WNBA. I played with the Cleveland Rockets during the summer, during the winter [WNBA off-season] I played in Italy, and I played on the Portuguese national team.
David: Intense.
Mery: Very. I ended up playing 16 years professionally, before I realized that I hadn’t gotten any trophies in Portugal. So in 2013/14, I went back to Portugal, and with Quinta dos Lombos, won everything that there was to win that year. I played one more year after that, finishing my playing career in Italy.
David: Nice. I’ve heard you say that your basketball career was an accident…
Mery: It was! So, growing up I played all the sports. I grew up in Chelas, Lisbon–what the Americans would call the ghetto. At Christmas and birthdays, we would get balls—soccer, basket—that’s when I first got in touch with the sport. When I was in middle school, at 15, my professor told me that I had to pick a sport and they scheduled a different one for each day of the week. Monday was basketball… I went, they liked me and asked if I wanted to stay. I said, okay.
David: You showed up on Monday and didn’t leave!
Mery: Yes! Everything happens for a reason. I’m glad basketball was on Monday.
David: That’s great. Then you went to university which is a challenge under normal circumstances—you’re no longer the best player on the team, or the top student in the class… but you tack on traveling almost 6000km, a language barrier and leaving everything you knew to that point, I can only assume that was very tough…
Mery: Exactly. If I had to pick one moment in my entire life where I had to overcome adversity, I would definitely choose the moment I decided to go to the US. I was following my dream but I also had to study since I was a student athlete… and I also had to take English classes. Now that I think about it, that was crazy.
David: Did you have Portuguese speaking friends there?
Mery: Oh, yes. I had Ticha Penicheiro. Ticha and I were the only two Portuguese players to play in the WNBA. And I had Clarisse Machanguana. Clarisse is from Mozambique and played with Ticha in Portugal who also went to the same university. They’re older than me, so they basically recruited me. They really helped me adjust… it was the language, it was the culture, it was the style of play. They were the rocks holding down my house during my transition.
David: Jordan, Lebron, Andrade… all 23. I heard you have your own special reason for choosing that number.
Mery: So the number 23 is iconic, right—Jordan is 23. But the reason I chose it is this… when I left Portugal, my brother, Carlos Andrade, was also playing and his number was 11. Eleven in the morning represents being young, which was him. So in my head to stay connected, I’m older, so I am the night. In Portugal we don’t say 11 p.m., we say 23:00. So he was a number 11 and I was 23. But let’s keep it a secret because saying that I got it from Michael Jordan is a lot cooler. [laughs]
David: Done. So after playing, you become a coach. What’s the transition there? How does one become a coach? Is there a “coach school” or do you just take the knowledge that you have and apply it?
Mery: So I think every coach has different paths. Mine was kind of an organic thing that happened. Like I said, I played for a long time and I was an athlete before I was a basketball player. Some are basketball players because when you first gave them a ball, they shot a three, made it and everything came natural to them. I started with track and soccer, so when I switched to basketball, I had to learn the details of the game. During summers, I practiced to get better—I was very locked in on the little things. For me, there was no such thing as a little thing, everything was a big thing because it made a difference… and my coaches started noticing that. One year after the assistant coach was let go, the coach asked me if I wanted to do it. I was like, why me? And he said, “because that’s what you’re going to do when you’re done.” Of course, I told him that he was crazy because like every player, you fight the urge of thinking about what you are going to do next. Years passed and I said, okay, let me try. I was a player and a coach on the same team, Lucca in Italy. Then the year that I went to Portugal to play with Quinta dos Lombos, I was the head coach of the under 14 team. We did really well—the girls were amazing. I think that’s when I really started embracing the coaching career. Then in 2015, I stopped playing and got invited to coach college in the US. My first full time coaching opportunity was with the University of San Diego. In 2019 I did the NBA Assistant Coach Program, and that’s when I heard about G League, I got picked up by the Pelicans and I was with them until I came to Toronto in 2023.
David: Nice. When I grew up, my mom gave any authority figure permission to discipline me in any way they saw fit… I find today’s parents are protective of their kids—you can’t speak to them aggressively, can’t tell them what to do, etc… have you had to deal with any of that when you coached younger teams?
Mery: I think every generation says the same thing. Every generation says, “in my day, this happened.” So yes, it was different from when I played. For example, it wasn’t until late in my career that my mom came to watch a game—I think the first game my mom came to watch, I was in college… Probably because that was my space. So I didn’t have to worry about my parents watching the games and criticizing me. Having a coach was enough, you know? So, yes, the new generation is different. I think things that worked 20 years ago don’t work now because kids are different. They have more distractions and they have different motivations. That’s what makes coaching so exciting. It’s your ability to communicate and sell your product… sell the style of play and your culture to a player and have that player buy into what you’re saying. When that clicks, you’ve done your job. That player is going to run through walls for you.
David: Twenty years ago, when a player was scouted, the only thing coaches had to go on was their skills—what you saw on the court and maybe a highlight reel… Today we have social media. Have you used that as a tool when choosing players?
Mery: Yes. When I did some recruiting in college, we started talking with the kids and the first thing we checked was their social media. A coach once told me this, and it stuck with me so I stole it and I tell it to every kid—if you’re posting something and you think that your grandma would not approve, don’t do it.
David: That’s solid advice.
Mery: It shows your character, your values, who you’re hanging with… Right now, with all the NILs (name, image and likeness) and sponsors, you become a role model a lot earlier, so you have to keep that in mind. You need to make sure that your product, which is you and how you conduct yourself, is a clean product that attracts others and motivates them to do the right thing.
David: You were “discovered” and asked to play for the Portuguese National Team only a few months after joining your high school basketball team… have you had a similar “wow” moment after watching a kid play?
Mery: When I was with the San Diego, I was responsible for international recruiting, and I had the chance to watch a lot of under 16 and 18 ball, and there’s a lot of talent out there.
David: There is, but it can be expensive to play amateur sports—rep fees, summer leagues, producing highlight reels, etc—I assume there are a lot of players who aren’t fortunate enough to have parents with deep pockets that can dribble circles around some of the players getting scholarships.
Mery: Yes, that is true. Unfortunately, money runs the world, that’s the expression. I was fortunate because growing up it was not to that extent. I would play on the streets, and my trash talking the other players was on point [laughs]. So I would get them mad at me, they would invite me to play and then I would show off. There were always scouts around and that’s the thing… yes, you can say everything is expensive and I don’t have money, so I don’t have the opportunity but you never know who’s watching. If you want to play and you play for the love of the game, there are courts in every neighbourhood. The only investment that you need is a ball and your time.
David: And the don’t back down attitude, right?
Mery: And that’s it. You own the court. You win to stay in and whoever wants to play in your court has to beat you. That’s what I did.
David: I just started watching Ted Lasso… I know it’s fiction but I imagine the different personalities in the change room are fairly accurate. How do you handle dealing with the different egos?
Mery: You have egos in any line of work… sports, corporate, anywhere, you know. I think with egos this the secret, if there is a secret, is to work together and like I said before, sell your product. When you get people working together towards a common goal, egos don’t matter. You’re always going to have someone that is better at some things than you are and you are always going to be better at some things than someone else. Right? So there are times that you have to deal with egos and other times that people have to deal with your ego. Finding a common place where we can all be on the same page, making common sacrifices to obtain that goal, I think that’s how you deal with egos, because at the end of the day, if you are an athlete, you are a competitor. What do you want to do? You want to win. So if you want to win, you have to work together. Yes, you can be a superstar but if no one wants to work with you, especially in team sports, it’s not going to happen. It might happen in tennis and golf because those are individual sports, but in team sports, no.
David: Right. So are you friend or foe then? Are you a “yeller” on the bench?
Mery: Oh yeah. I can yell at you because you’re not doing something right and I can yell at you because I’m your biggest fan.
David: Oh, nice.
Mery: I try to find three things that you do really well, and I’m going to yell at you the same way if I’m picking you up or if I’m telling you what to do.
David: Nice. I saw some pics of the Mery Andrade Basketball court in Cascais, which is pretty cool.
Mery: That was awesome and unexpected.
David: They did a much better job than the Ronaldo statue in Madeira…
Mery: Well, if he reads this, and let’s hope so, “Okay, Ronaldo, let’s get a court together.” [Laughs] Mine was awesome. It’s in the city where I played, near Quinta dos Lombos and the court is beautiful. They have this new gadget that you scan with your phone, and the balls already there. Like I said, if kids want to play, you just have to find a place.
David: Absolutely. I want to talk music for a minute. I grew up listening to Italian music—Luca Carboni and Gianna Nannini are my faves. I heard you are a big Andrea Bocceli fan. I know the Raptors were away when he played Toronto earlier this year… were you able to pull some strings at Scotiabank Arena to sneak a private performance?
Mery: I was so sad when I heard that we would be away. Andrea Bocelli was my Italian teacher. When I went to Italy, after college, I needed to learn the language. I bought three CDs, Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli. One day, after listening to these three for the whole summer, my WNBA coach comes to me and says, “if you want, I have more CDs at home you can borrow.” I was like, why? “Because you always listen to the same three.” [laughs] I was using them to learn Italian. I’d listen to the songs and read the lyrics. When I was in the car, I would put on Andrea Bocelli and we’d put on a concert together. I knew every single song. I would try to imitate his voice. A couple of times, I couldn’t speak the next day but it was worth it. I got comfortable with those lyrics, arrived in Italy and within three months, I was speaking Italian.
David: We should probably end with basketball. Toronto was awarded a WNBA team… Caitlin Clark signed a record-breaking deal, WNBA ticket sales are up 93% or something… it’s an exciting time for the league you helped pioneer. Do you feel a little responsible for any of this?
Mery: I don’t know if “responsible” is the correct word, [laughs] but I am blessed and proud to be part of the movement. I think the WNBA is finally getting the respect that it deserves. You currently have players that are playing full seasons then going overseas [to play] in order to make some kind of honest living, which is ridiculous. I’m hopeful that Caitlin Clark coming to the league is going to open doors and with that, more people will invest. The idea of having multiple cities that want a WNBA team is a thrill. The cherry on top is Toronto getting a team of its own. One of the best things in transitioning to the NBA—specifically Toronto—is that every night when I step out of our arena, our fans’ energy is amazing. So now imagine that same energy continuing through the summer, during our off season. We are now giving fans the opportunity to come together and bring that same energy to the arena for a WNBA game. I don’t think there is any team in the league that can match that.