Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club Morning.
Speaker 1: Everybody is the j Envy just hilarious, Charlamagne the gud
Speaker 1: We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest.
Speaker 2: In the building.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed the legend, Candas Parker.
Speaker 2: Welcome, thanks for having me all you feeling nice being
Speaker 2: in the room. Goodness man, nice having you.
Speaker 3: You know you're one of those people like you know,
Speaker 3: people always say like, who would you ever want an interview?
Speaker 3: And you really be like, I don't know because you
Speaker 3: can't really think of nobody. But then when you see
Speaker 3: you on the schedule, You're like, oh shit, Candas Parker.
Speaker 3: I'd love to have a conversation with Candas Parker.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you.
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed your book, That Can Do Mindset, How
Speaker 3: to cultivate resilience, follow your heart and fight for your passions.
Speaker 3: Can you break down why you called it the Can
Speaker 3: Do Mindset?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Growing up nicknamed can short for Candace. You know that,
Speaker 2: but my mom. I grew up with two older brothers
Speaker 2: eight and eleven years older than me. And fast forward.
Speaker 2: My oldest brother played ten years professionally, played alongside Lebron
Speaker 2: for years. My middle brother became a doctor, and so
Speaker 2: I just saw the enormous role models that were doing
Speaker 2: so many great things, and I think sometimes I doubted myself.
Speaker 2: And so my mom from the time I was little
Speaker 2: two three years old, she'd always see the doubt in
Speaker 2: my eye and she'd always be that can do And
Speaker 2: it just became my mantra, and it became my voice
Speaker 2: in my head. And I mean it took me through
Speaker 2: high school knocking down game winning free throws to shoot
Speaker 2: even now, and so then it became an acronym for
Speaker 2: community authenticity, navigating negativity, loving the dash, which is the
Speaker 2: journey in between, and seizing and creating opportunity.
Speaker 1: Well congratulations. On August twenty fifty at Jersey will be retired,
Speaker 1: well deserved. How does that.
Speaker 2: Feel to go back home to Chicago. I grew up
Speaker 2: in Naperville, and I grew up a Chicago Bulls fan.
Speaker 2: I mean, they won six championships in the nineties when
Speaker 2: I was living there, and so it became synonymous with winning.
Speaker 2: So to go back and play basketball in front of
Speaker 2: the people that first saw me pick up a ball,
Speaker 2: and then to win a championship in front of the
Speaker 2: people first saw me play basketball, I don't think. I mean,
Speaker 2: that was super special. I couldn't have written it any better.
Speaker 2: And you know, I think first you dream of a
Speaker 2: championship being up in the rafters, and second you dream
Speaker 2: of your jersey as well.
Speaker 3: You know, I think it was in the authenticity section
Speaker 3: of the book you were talking about, you know, being competitive, right,
Speaker 3: and how people don't let women be competitive the way
Speaker 3: that the men are. So when you see and I
Speaker 3: know you get this all the time, but when you
Speaker 3: see the Caitlin Angel rivaly or whatever you want to
Speaker 3: call it, isn't that just women being competitive?
Speaker 2: I think it's women being competitive. But honestly, I think
Speaker 2: that the more visibility you get, the more scrutiny you're
Speaker 2: gonna get. I mean, that's just nature as women. I
Speaker 2: think society always tries to put you in a box.
Speaker 2: So as athletes, we fit outside that box. You know,
Speaker 2: you're either too muscular, you're not competitive enough. But then
Speaker 2: when you show competitive nature, it's not ladylike. So whatever
Speaker 2: you do as a woman, I feel like until we
Speaker 2: break that mole in society where it's like okay for
Speaker 2: us to be fierce competitors, I think you're always going
Speaker 2: to have a different narrative, and so yeah, I look
Speaker 2: at it like it's competitive and it's two people going
Speaker 2: at it, and sometimes I think it's overblown. Sometimes I
Speaker 2: think that like you're making a basketball play and then
Speaker 2: there's fifteen angles from different cameras that try to, you know,
Speaker 2: make it something it's not. So I don't know. I'm
Speaker 2: just excited where women's sports is in general right now,
Speaker 2: right because people are talking about it, people know the names,
Speaker 2: people are following the brands, and a lot of it
Speaker 2: has to do with the visibility of it. Women's sports
Speaker 2: has always been there. It's just a matter of people
Speaker 2: tuning in and paying attention. And I think organizations, broadcasters
Speaker 2: all that giving it a chance to succeed, not putting
Speaker 2: it head to head up against NFL, not putting it
Speaker 2: head to head up against finals or MLB or whatever.
Speaker 2: And so I think now we're seeing more women's basketball,
Speaker 2: and because of that, I think that's why it's grown.
Speaker 3: The reason I have think we I watch a lot
Speaker 3: of women's basketball, and I've been watching Angel since college.
Speaker 3: So since even that Caitlyn incident, I've seen her and
Speaker 3: Leah Thomas have a little kerfuffle like she's always getting
Speaker 3: into it with somebody, but it's not the same reaction
Speaker 3: from people.
Speaker 2: It's just to me, it's.
Speaker 3: Just like women out there playing ball.
Speaker 2: They're being competitive and I think ballplayers know that. But
Speaker 2: now you're getting the casual fans that don't understand that
Speaker 2: type of basketball. So I think it's a competitive nature. Now,
Speaker 2: are there things that cross the line? Yes, are there
Speaker 2: comments and you know, discussions behind things as cross the
Speaker 2: line one hundred percent, and I think, you know, we
Speaker 2: have to get that under control. But to me, I
Speaker 2: think half the time is more competitive than anything.
Speaker 1: But does rivalry as well. I remember, you know Reggie
Speaker 1: Miller with the choke signed. We you know, we still
Speaker 1: want action with him. Regardless, it's still things that's gonna
Speaker 1: make the press push it a little more.
Speaker 2: By the way, I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry about what happened. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's okay, though maybe next year. Listen. I'm a Bulls fan,
Speaker 2: so you know we're at saying if you're not first,
Speaker 2: your last, So technically it's like we weren't even in
Speaker 2: the playoffs, So it's okay.
Speaker 1: And I want to ask, you know, you dominated the
Speaker 1: w NBA broadcast a mom author which was the most
Speaker 1: difficult journey, and.
Speaker 2: Why motherhood is a journey that is the greatest gift,
Speaker 2: gives you the most rewarding feeling, but it's also the
Speaker 2: hardest job that you can have. You think you have
Speaker 2: it figured out, and then you have another kid, or
Speaker 2: you think you have it figured out, and there's another
Speaker 2: stage of life. I have a sixteen year old daughter,
Speaker 2: a three year old son, and a one year old son,
Speaker 2: and they are all different, and they have all taught
Speaker 2: me so many different lessons, and I'm just super grateful
Speaker 2: for not only what I'm able to bring to the
Speaker 2: table and what I teach them, but the lessons they've
Speaker 2: taught me. Like, they have humbled me so many times,
Speaker 2: they have checked me so many times. They have made
Speaker 2: me look myself in the mirror and ask myself, am
Speaker 2: I doing what I'm asking them to do? And so
Speaker 2: I think motherhood is one of those things where I'm
Speaker 2: just so grateful for it. I'm so grateful for my
Speaker 2: daughter and what, you know, us being able to kind
Speaker 2: of go through my career and grow up together and
Speaker 2: fumble and bump and live across the water and all
Speaker 2: of those things. And then I'm super grateful to be
Speaker 2: able to now take a moment with my sons and
Speaker 2: be able to have a different type of perspective in
Speaker 2: motherhood and parenthood.
Speaker 3: What's a moment in motherhood that made you feel more
Speaker 3: powerful than any championship ever did? Was it you finally
Speaker 3: got her hair right?
Speaker 2: You know, it's so interesting. She's sixteen now, she's just
Speaker 2: got her permit. You know, she's getting ready for her
Speaker 2: super sweet sixteen that's coming next week. And honestly, I
Speaker 2: think it's just those moments where she comes and climbs
Speaker 2: in my bed and we watch a TV show and
Speaker 2: we're able to have those like just conversations about what's
Speaker 2: on her mind and things like that. So that to
Speaker 2: me is like, it's not the big things, it's not
Speaker 2: the celebrations, it's not you know, all those things, just
Speaker 2: like those little moments for me that make me super
Speaker 2: grateful for you know, our relationship.
Speaker 3: I love the way you broke that down in the
Speaker 3: Fumble chapter though, because it's just like, I got four daughters,
Speaker 3: so I've seen that struggle, but I've never seen nobody
Speaker 3: like really talk about how stressful it is to want
Speaker 3: to get your daughter's hair correct.
Speaker 2: When I tell you so growing up, it was like
Speaker 2: my mom my hair was always laid like. It was
Speaker 2: like she would tell me, no, we're not having everybody
Speaker 2: talk about how you look crazy. You know. I had
Speaker 2: the Bretts, I had the braids. I was the little
Speaker 2: girl and her only girls. I was dressed, you know,
Speaker 2: all those things. And you know, I think all of
Speaker 2: the black girls out there can understand. Fried died late
Speaker 2: to the side. I mean I had relaxer at six
Speaker 2: years old. So when it came to like my daughter's hair,
Speaker 2: I kind of took those same kind of foundation from
Speaker 2: the mom mentality of trying to control. And my daughter
Speaker 2: has taught me, like she loves her hair, she wants
Speaker 2: to wear it in her natural style, she wants to
Speaker 2: try different things, and I've had to kind of like
Speaker 2: take a back seat and learn to not try to control.
Speaker 2: There are some days where I, you know, I let
Speaker 2: her do what she wants to do with it, and
Speaker 2: it has become a process and it has become something
Speaker 2: that you know, I have learned to kind of take
Speaker 2: a back seat for. And I'm grateful for her for
Speaker 2: teaching me.
Speaker 3: That what part of your personality do you think was
Speaker 3: misunderstood the most during your planning career in this book
Speaker 3: helped you to, like I guess, reclaim the narrative.
Speaker 2: What's so crazy to me is I think when you're
Speaker 2: going through just trying to figure stuff out, you're just
Speaker 2: trying to figure shit out, like that's what you're trying
Speaker 2: to do, but you're going through life trying to like
Speaker 2: mask it. And for so many parts of my life,
Speaker 2: during some of my greatest triumphs, winning championships, winning MVP,
Speaker 2: I was going through struggles behind the scenes, within motherhood
Speaker 2: and balancing that within relationships, within you know, trying to
Speaker 2: figure out how to be authentic and who I am.
Speaker 2: And I think the person that I became in that
Speaker 2: process and who I was for my teammates wasn't always great.
Speaker 2: It wasn't always who I was, And so I think
Speaker 2: through writing this book it has helped me better understand
Speaker 2: who I want to be, who I commit to be,
Speaker 2: but also like giving myself grace through those moments, because
Speaker 2: I think sometimes we show up and we feel like
Speaker 2: we have to be this at work, but we're still
Speaker 2: not ourselves and the people around us know that, and
Speaker 2: then they start treating us like those people that we
Speaker 2: aren't and then it just snowballs out of control. So
Speaker 2: I think who I am. People may have had a
Speaker 2: different idea, you know what I mean. And I wasn't
Speaker 2: always proud of the way that I treated my teammates
Speaker 2: or how I showed up to work every day. But
Speaker 2: sometimes when you're just trying to show up and you're
Speaker 2: trying to make it, you know, that's the best that
Speaker 2: you can do. I think I kind of like went
Speaker 2: through that and processed that in writing this book.
Speaker 1: What was the most difficult thing you had to write
Speaker 1: in a book? The one difficult thing it was like
Speaker 1: thought about maybe I should take out or you cried
Speaker 1: or it was that hard.
Speaker 2: It's really difficult to tell stories that are that need
Speaker 2: to be told, that aren't going to paint certain people
Speaker 2: in a positive light. And I think I struggle with
Speaker 2: that because I like to take the blame. I like
Speaker 2: to take the onus on myself in games and losses
Speaker 2: and mishots and whatever. I like to say that I've
Speaker 2: always had a part in whatever happens. And so writing
Speaker 2: this is trying to figure out how do you tell
Speaker 2: these stories and how do you tell it where it's
Speaker 2: it's your story to tell, whereas you're not telling somebody
Speaker 2: else's story, because I was very conscious of that. So
Speaker 2: just kind of talking about like my parents' divorce and
Speaker 2: talking about you know, leaving the Sparks, the La Sparks
Speaker 2: and deciding to go to Chicago, talking about my wife,
Speaker 2: and then also like near and dear to my heart,
Speaker 2: like Coach Summit, my coach in college passed away in
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, and kind of navigating that and what to share,
Speaker 2: what's intimate that I need to keep with myself to myself,
Speaker 2: and what can I share and what I have her
Speaker 2: blessing and sharing.
Speaker 3: Has your greatness ever made you feel isolated? Like people
Speaker 3: only saw Kansas pocket a player, but not can just
Speaker 3: pok at a person?
Speaker 2: You know, it's so crazy. You know in basketball, there's
Speaker 2: like a finite time, right the ball is gonna eventually
Speaker 2: stop bouncing, you know, Father Tim, I mean, Lebron has
Speaker 2: kind of proven that's not the case, but for most
Speaker 2: of us, But it's like your identity becomes the game,
Speaker 2: Like you keep the main thing, the main thing that's
Speaker 2: been my gift my whole life. Basketball has been the
Speaker 2: main thing. I gave up prom like left prom to
Speaker 2: go to basketball, lived abroad to play basketball. But it's
Speaker 2: like when you retire, your identity of the who and
Speaker 2: the what is separated, and you realize, like the people
Speaker 2: that really saw you for who you are versus what
Speaker 2: you did. And so I think that was the biggest
Speaker 2: struggle for me, is like everybody has that mourning that
Speaker 2: death after you retire. I mean, I love basketball. It
Speaker 2: was my first love. And so I think, yeah, like
Speaker 2: separating my identity from that, and I was very conscious
Speaker 2: of trying to show people like I am a history buff,
Speaker 2: I love to travel, I'm a foodie, I love wine, tequila,
Speaker 2: connoisseur like all of those things. I'm so much more
Speaker 2: than just basketball. And so having that separation, I know,
Speaker 2: is like huge for athletes. It is a struggle like
Speaker 2: talking to people that have retired and have gone and
Speaker 2: walked that path because it is it is the death
Speaker 2: a little bit who well to grieve with my family, honestly,
Speaker 2: my wife, I'll say my brother as well. My oldest
Speaker 2: brother went through this and he seamlessly transitioned. I planned
Speaker 2: the transition ahead of time, you know. I started commentating
Speaker 2: gosh way back in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. I started transitioning.
Speaker 2: I started doing more business and paying attention and wanting
Speaker 2: to be at the table and in meetings and things
Speaker 2: like that. So the transition occurred before it officially the
Speaker 2: ball officially stopped bouncing. But boy, there were days where
Speaker 2: I'd wake up and it's just like you miss that
Speaker 2: feeling of walking in and eighteen thousand people are screaming
Speaker 2: your name, and like the feeling of like your family's
Speaker 2: identity is that, like they plan their summers around when
Speaker 2: my games were, or trips or as a kid you've
Speaker 2: been doing. It's an a in It's crazy because you realize,
Speaker 2: although I don't like attention, that's not what I played
Speaker 2: basketball for. It's an event. You go play, everybody watches
Speaker 2: you play, the attention your parents give it is and
Speaker 2: then afterwards everybody's like where are we going to eat?
Speaker 2: You go eat. Then it's like you know, and it's
Speaker 2: like you don't realize how much of that is a
Speaker 2: part of your life. And so for me, I think
Speaker 2: that was the hardest thing. But like I said, I
Speaker 2: have my family. We had my son last year and
Speaker 2: he just he just was like he had the ability
Speaker 2: to make me stop and realize, like that's where I
Speaker 2: was supposed to be. I've always been fifteen million different places,
Speaker 2: and so I think, honestly, my son Heart made me
Speaker 2: really appreciate retirement because I got to enjoy all the
Speaker 2: little things.
Speaker 1: But jealous is not the right word. But do you
Speaker 1: ever get jealous or feel a way when you look
Speaker 1: at the way MWNBA players are treated now than when
Speaker 1: you guys played. I just remember, like two three years ago,
Speaker 1: I was on a plane flying from Atlanta and there
Speaker 1: was some players from the Atlanta team. They were in
Speaker 1: the back of the plane and they couldn't get first
Speaker 1: class seats and they were riding and they were struggling, and
Speaker 1: they even said, and Beau talk this, talk about this
Speaker 1: on the radio. But now when you see and they're
Speaker 1: starting to fly private and they start to make a
Speaker 1: little more money, they start making endorsements, do you ever
Speaker 1: feel a way like damn.
Speaker 2: You got to feel it.
Speaker 3: You got to feel it a little bit of that.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: What's so crazy though, I'm like the biggest Steph Curry fan.
Speaker 2: You remember when he signed deal. It was like a
Speaker 2: forty million dollars deal years ago, and everybody, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: it's for the NBA. It was right after his ankle injury,
Speaker 2: and everybody kept asking him about it because it was
Speaker 2: right during their run in twenty fifteen. He was like,
Speaker 2: I never counted another man's pocket, Like that's just not
Speaker 2: what I do. I feel like that's the purpose, Like
Speaker 2: if we didn't leave it better, what are we doing?
Speaker 2: Like I don't want them to have to go through
Speaker 2: what we went through. But I also know that Cheryl Miller,
Speaker 2: who never got to step foot in the WNBA, didn't
Speaker 2: want me to not have have a league to play in.
Speaker 2: Do you know what I mean? And so I think like, yes,
Speaker 2: sometimes would it have made Would I scored more points
Speaker 2: if we had a private flight waiting for what I
Speaker 2: would have made more? Would I have made more like
Speaker 2: school performances? If I could get back the night of
Speaker 2: the game and been able to sleep and rest and
Speaker 2: recover what I probably had a lot fewer injuries one
Speaker 2: hundred percent. But I feel like I'm proud because I
Speaker 2: know my name will be mentioned in the conversation of
Speaker 2: these that made it possible today, like made the things
Speaker 2: possible today. I remember flying commercial and Premium Plus in
Speaker 2: a middle seat next to Sylvia Fowls, going to play
Speaker 2: them in the game five of the WNBA Finals. We
Speaker 2: we like wrestled over the arm rest. I won, but
Speaker 2: like they won the game, but I won the arm
Speaker 2: ress battle, and I remember thinking like, this isn't how
Speaker 2: it's supposed to be. But now on the other side,
Speaker 2: I want to I want ownership, like I want to
Speaker 2: own a team, like I want to be a part
Speaker 2: of that in making it better as well. So I
Speaker 2: can't count another woman's pocket. I don't want to. I've
Speaker 2: done well myself and the ability to take care of
Speaker 2: my family and have all the opportunities I have today
Speaker 2: because of the Cheryl Millers and the Nancy Lieberman's and
Speaker 2: Shimiko host Claus and all those that came before.
Speaker 3: Me and your six in year career. Did you feel
Speaker 3: the difference? So I always ask my aunts this question,
Speaker 3: right because my aunt like they're older like something. Those
Speaker 3: they lived they were in school during segregation, so now
Speaker 3: they know an integrated world.
Speaker 2: Did you feel the difference? Oh, I felt the difference
Speaker 2: one hundred percent. But I also felt the difference in
Speaker 2: the ebbs and flows like there were some There was
Speaker 2: one year where the WBA signed a deal with the
Speaker 2: Holiday and Express and every time Jesus I would walk
Speaker 2: into the holiday and express the fans would be like,
Speaker 2: what are you doing here?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: So I've been a part of the WBA at the
Speaker 2: highest of highs and the lowest lows, and I talk
Speaker 2: about it a lot in the book about the WNBA
Speaker 2: and the business plan that needs to happen to continue
Speaker 2: this growth and to foster this growth, because I just
Speaker 2: that was what I had an issue with for so long,
Speaker 2: like scare money doesn't make money. In order to have something,
Speaker 2: you have to invest in it, and you have to
Speaker 2: invest properly. And I think now we're getting billionaires that
Speaker 2: see and have the mindset and the business savvy and
Speaker 2: it's about competition, you see, like Vegas had a practicility,
Speaker 2: Now New York wants a practicility, then Phoenix has a
Speaker 2: Like competition is what started the NBA. You look at
Speaker 2: that like Johnny Buss wanted a championship team because of
Speaker 2: red our back, Like that's what That's what facilitates growth.
Speaker 2: And so I think the WBA is finally catching up
Speaker 2: to that.
Speaker 3: Do you think the world has truly reckoned with how
Speaker 3: different your career would be if you were a man
Speaker 3: with the exact same time.
Speaker 2: I talk about it a lot. Yeah, McDonald's all American.
Speaker 2: In two thousand and four, Dwight Howard and myself, we
Speaker 2: were the number one players. I was woman's, he was
Speaker 2: men's and I Actually there's a blurb in the book
Speaker 2: where him and I went to prom when I was
Speaker 2: in high school, and our trajectories were so different after
Speaker 2: that day, and I was angry. I remember being angry
Speaker 2: because like, inside my house, my mom and dad, you
Speaker 2: can do and be anything, and you know, at that
Speaker 2: point you couldn't have nil money. So I'm watching, you know,
Speaker 2: my quotes be on shirts sold, I'm watching everybody in
Speaker 2: Knoxville wearing my Journey jersey and I'm wearing I'm eating
Speaker 2: Papa John's before games because the school can't even pay
Speaker 2: for my meal because it was illegal at the time.
Speaker 2: And so in the in the book, I talk about
Speaker 2: kind of like I was really upset because yes, he's six', ten, big,
Speaker 2: strong but he had this league laid out that was already,
Speaker 2: growing that had already been through the growing pains of
Speaker 2: WHAT i was about to go. Through and THEN i
Speaker 2: just was, like my left hand is better than.
Speaker 4: His and SO i was mad BECAUSE i was, like you,
Speaker 4: know he has this league to go develop and use
Speaker 4: his name and image and, likeness AND i have to
Speaker 4: wait four years go abroad and compete in a league
Speaker 4: that you know was geez twenty years.
Speaker 2: Young. Wow.
Speaker 3: Wow another part of the, BOOK I love You. Know
Speaker 3: it was interesting to read about how you came to
Speaker 3: grow to love your wife, Right and it had me
Speaker 3: thinking what because you, did, like, guys so have you
Speaker 3: thinking like what else about? Yourself did you realize it's
Speaker 3: just isn't?
Speaker 2: Me what's so interesting IS i Think i've spent my
Speaker 2: entire life standing, out and somehow in that process SOMETIMES
Speaker 2: i did things just to stand out and not really
Speaker 2: listen to myself and WHO i wanted to. Be and
Speaker 2: that's kind of opposite of What i've always tried to live.
Speaker 2: By and for a long, time it took my daughter
Speaker 2: really being like are you? Happy you, know for me
Speaker 2: to really look myself in the mirror and, say AM
Speaker 2: i just going through the? Motions and at twenty years,
Speaker 2: OLD i don't think you realize how long twenty years
Speaker 2: or thirty years or forty years, is, right and just
Speaker 2: kind of gritting your teeth and you, know getting through
Speaker 2: things is WHAT i had grown accustomed, to AND i
Speaker 2: think it was allowing myself to be. OPEN i always
Speaker 2: grew up envisioning myself with The Prince charming, always and
Speaker 2: you never in a million, years WHEN I i do
Speaker 2: those little trashy magazine, THINGS i would always talk About Prince.
Speaker 2: Charming and it's crazy because sometimes life hands you things
Speaker 2: and packages that you least anticipated coming. In and that's
Speaker 2: what happened with my. WIFE i, mean she's my best
Speaker 2: friend and she's been there through the ups and, downs
Speaker 2: AND i think it was about like her AND i
Speaker 2: both being, like wait a, Minute like are we allowing
Speaker 2: other people's judgments to dictate the next thirty or forty?
Speaker 2: Years Like i'm going to allow My instagram followers to
Speaker 2: really determine WHO i say good morning to and WHO
Speaker 2: i say good night to every single. Night AND i
Speaker 2: had to take a step back BECAUSE i really don't
Speaker 2: care what people. Think but THEN i really, did and
Speaker 2: so it was kind of just like that evaluation and
Speaker 2: look at myself in the, mirror.
Speaker 1: When did you? Realize what was that?
Speaker 2: Moment WHEN i didn't fight, IT i would say we
Speaker 2: were at a. Museum i'm a big. NERD i love
Speaker 2: like all types of, museums and it was her, mind
Speaker 2: like it was her, knowledge and like just her ability
Speaker 2: to carry a. Conversation and my brother says something when
Speaker 2: when her AND i got, married my brother said something
Speaker 2: that really stuck out to, me and he, said you,
Speaker 2: Know cannice needs somebody that's strong enough to put her
Speaker 2: in her, place but soft enough where she feels vulnerable
Speaker 2: and an ability to like kind of like lay lay
Speaker 2: your head on your shoulder and be that vulnerable. Person
Speaker 2: and WHEN i REALIZED i was doing that WHERE i you,
Speaker 2: know she would say something AND i wouldn't have any.
Speaker 2: Response and at first some of my friends were, like hold,
Speaker 2: on who is? She like you know WHAT i, mean
Speaker 2: because that's not normally what. Happens and then the same
Speaker 2: thing WHERE i would confess things that were bothering me
Speaker 2: or you, know have issues and be comfortable enough to.
Speaker 2: SHARE i think that's that's WHAT i. Noticed did the.
Speaker 3: People in your life know how difficult it was for
Speaker 3: you to KEEP i guess her a? Secret BECAUSE i,
Speaker 3: mean like in the book YOU i MEAN i got
Speaker 3: FRONT i got frustrated when you was talking about how
Speaker 3: you wanted to tell your, brother but you didn't tell
Speaker 3: Your i'm, like just tell them he loves, you you.
Speaker 3: Know but did they know are they going to read
Speaker 3: this book and realize for the first, Time, like, DAMN
Speaker 3: i didn't know it was that.
Speaker 2: Serious i've been on the other side of it Where
Speaker 2: i've been the person that has been like everybody, knows
Speaker 2: just say, it just tell. Him BUT i think everybody
Speaker 2: comes to grips with it at a different. TIME i
Speaker 2: know we live in a world that has pride month
Speaker 2: and has all these, things but it is scary because
Speaker 2: you are put in another. Category you, Know i'm already in,
Speaker 2: two so Now i'm going to be put in a
Speaker 2: third and with you, know someone that isn't, black She's
Speaker 2: russian and, white and SO i, MEAN i think it's
Speaker 2: one of those things where it's like what AM i
Speaker 2: getting myself? Into AND i know my family is going
Speaker 2: to love, Me BUT i have always done things to
Speaker 2: separate myself and excel and be a role model and
Speaker 2: be an. Example AND i think at that first, Moment i'm,
Speaker 2: like are my nieces and nephew's going to be allowed
Speaker 2: to come out and visit?
Speaker 4: Me?
Speaker 2: Like are is my family gonna accept? Her when we have,
Speaker 2: children are they going to look at them as their
Speaker 2: grandkids or so there's all these questions and things you
Speaker 2: go back and forth with in your. Head AND i
Speaker 2: know it seems, easy especially when you're not and you're
Speaker 2: looking at the world and you're, like, oh, well it's
Speaker 2: so open and, accepting but it's like you've never sat
Speaker 2: there and seen the glances of like you, know people,
Speaker 2: judging or you, know you never walked in the rooms
Speaker 2: and you know heard voices give you, validation but you
Speaker 2: hear whispers behind you, like, oh you, know she's just like,
Speaker 2: them or she's you know. Whatever and SO i think
Speaker 2: that's the biggest thing is my brother was amazing throughout
Speaker 2: the entire. Process my family was, great but my wife
Speaker 2: parents hadn't talked to her for almost a. Year, wow you,
Speaker 2: know like we had family members that we have separated
Speaker 2: ourselves from because in front with my family and with my,
Speaker 2: kids this is the, standard like this is how we're
Speaker 2: going to be true read, It and so there had
Speaker 2: to be we couldn't go through this process ourselves and
Speaker 2: help others go through. It so we had to do it,
Speaker 2: ourselves be okay with, it be strong, enough and then you,
Speaker 2: know go forward with, it can you can't rush.
Speaker 3: It the, Sexuality paul was one aspect of, it but
Speaker 3: you also talked about the race aspect of, it like
Speaker 3: you really can with Doctor umar thought that.
Speaker 2: Much, no but it is it's a different dynamic when
Speaker 2: you walk, it you know WHAT i? Mean like first of,
Speaker 2: all like you, know even with our, kids it's, like you,
Speaker 2: know they have a black mom and a white, mom
Speaker 2: and you, know it's like navigating the the race element
Speaker 2: and the. Conversations we've grown up in two completely different,
Speaker 2: countries so having those conversations like she's not coming from
Speaker 2: a place of understanding through experience and so like even
Speaker 2: so you, know we're confident and we're cool within our,
Speaker 2: household but it's like you don't understand the other noise
Speaker 2: that's going could mess that, up if that makes. Sense
Speaker 2: have there ever.
Speaker 3: Been a time where you dimmed your light to make
Speaker 3: others feel, comfortable especially in rooms full of.
Speaker 2: Men you, know it's so. FUNNY i was SITTING i
Speaker 2: was sitting on the shop and it was With Draymond
Speaker 2: green bron was, There mav was, there and they were,
Speaker 2: like you, know people don't understand what it's like to
Speaker 2: be a black man and be the only one in the.
Speaker 2: Meeting AND i was looking, around like what y'all really
Speaker 2: just said? That like read through you know WHAT i.
Speaker 2: Mean SO i think sometimes you have to pick your
Speaker 2: battles a little. Bit as a, teammate my job is
Speaker 2: to make those around me. Better so same thing when
Speaker 2: you're sitting at these, Tables like the point isn't to
Speaker 2: make people feel stupid or feel. Small the point is
Speaker 2: to make them understand the need for different voy at the.
Speaker 2: Table AND i would say diversity of, thought you. Know
Speaker 2: and you Know i've sat at so many tables and
Speaker 2: been the Only i'm, comfortable But i'm tired of being
Speaker 2: the only, Right like WHEN i went INTO t AND
Speaker 2: t as the only female on that. Set you know
Speaker 2: a lot of people, think, HEY i want. You you,
Speaker 2: know you're trying to be one of the. Guys like,
Speaker 2: No i'm trying to be one of the. Players that's,
Speaker 2: It so treat me as. Such the WAY i see
Speaker 2: the game is way different than shack, shack throw the
Speaker 2: ball down, low barbecue chicken. Shack other people have to
Speaker 2: do moves we can't just we just. Can't, Yes but
Speaker 2: like the way he played was just so dominant that
Speaker 2: he doesn't understand that people have to do stuff to.
Speaker 2: Score he's, like just throw it down there and, score
Speaker 2: and it's Like cat can't do. That he's not do
Speaker 2: you know WHAT i. Mean i'm not, saying But cat
Speaker 2: can't do, that D wade AND i. Can we can't do.
Speaker 2: That we have to do moves and use the mental
Speaker 2: aspect and element of. It BUT i feel like the
Speaker 2: value that is brought to the table if you had
Speaker 2: fifteen shacks what at you know as, analysts but he
Speaker 2: brings value to the equation because he was so, dominant
Speaker 2: and it gives you a bird's eye view of like.
Speaker 2: Dominance and SO i just think anytime you have different
Speaker 2: people at the, table you're gonna bring different perspectives like why?
Speaker 2: Not and so it just drives me. CRAZY i watched First.
Speaker 2: TAKE i Like STEVEN. A. Smith he's super knowledgeable about the.
Speaker 2: Game but like the people that comment under my my
Speaker 2: posts about How i'm a, WOMAN i never played in
Speaker 2: THE nba AND i should shut the f up and blahah,
Speaker 2: blah but they are Like STEPHEN. A smith has The
Speaker 2: bible for THE, nba and it's like he hasn't, Either
Speaker 2: but it's just because you know he's a, man and
Speaker 2: SO i just am continuing to fight that. Stigma i'm
Speaker 2: open for the. Challenge i'm up for. It grew up
Speaker 2: with two older. Brothers all we did was make fun
Speaker 2: of each, Other So I'm i'm. GAME i can speak that.
Speaker 2: Language but it's just having the opportunity to like separate, myself,
Speaker 2: like don't like me as an, analyst but don't not
Speaker 2: like me Because i'm a. Woman that's my.
Speaker 1: Thing was that a moment when YOU i, know she
Speaker 1: got to? Go was there ever a moment that you
Speaker 1: wanted to give the game up at?
Speaker 2: All there was a moment in the middle of my
Speaker 2: career WHERE i asked, myself are you having? Fun BECAUSE
Speaker 2: i always had fun playing. Basketball it wasn't about the,
Speaker 2: money it wasn't about the, stage it wasn't about who
Speaker 2: was in the. CHAIR i would have fun shooting after
Speaker 2: practice by myself in the. Gym but in the middle
Speaker 2: of my, career WHEN i was going through all those
Speaker 2: injuries and hadn't won a championship yet AND i was super. Stressed,
Speaker 2: YEAH i thought about, it AND i think it's one
Speaker 2: of those things where it's like your first. Love it
Speaker 2: never leaves your heart like you always find your way
Speaker 2: back to. It and even Though i'm not hooping, Now
Speaker 2: i'm brainwashing my sons to who my daughter's. Volleyball But
Speaker 2: parker boys are. Coming i'm telling. You six,' ten six eleven. Point, forward,
Speaker 2: yeah seven we Got a bronz body type and, a
Speaker 2: whimby so we. Come in. Let it let it be known.
Speaker 2: Right here you.
Speaker 3: Said something that. The perspective thing is ill about what
Speaker 3: you Said about shaq because it's, just, like yes he
Speaker 3: was probably the most dominant player we've. Ever seen so
Speaker 3: he only. Knows that he thinks it's so easy.
Speaker 2: Barbecue Chicken and, I'm, like shack it's not. Barbecue chicken
Speaker 2: if it was, the case we would have people would
Speaker 2: just do what. You, do like it just doesn't work.
Speaker 2: That way AND so I just i. Don't know he
Speaker 2: is brilliant in his, own right it's just people can't
Speaker 2: play the game. That.
Speaker 3: Way yeah two more. Cool questions is THERE a wnba
Speaker 3: teammate you didn't appreciate in, the moment but now you
Speaker 3: realize that person.
Speaker 2: Was, vital yeah that's, a, really really really. GREAT question
Speaker 2: i WOULD say i appreciated her in, the MOMENT but
Speaker 2: i DON'T think i appreciated her enough in. THE moment
Speaker 2: i would Say Definitely Delicia. MILTON jones i think she's
Speaker 2: someone that was in the league for such a. Long
Speaker 2: time she had such an, amazing, career longevity, won championships
Speaker 2: with the, sparks played, different roles played, key roles came
Speaker 2: off the bed like she did it all AND so
Speaker 2: i think she genuinely wanted me. To succeed and, YOU
Speaker 2: know i was a rookie when she, was there and,
Speaker 2: you know we got in some. Brawls alongside she beat
Speaker 2: me up in practice coming, off screens and it was
Speaker 2: like all that was tough love because she.
Speaker 3: Loved me oh my, Last question and, you know you
Speaker 3: talk about a lot of things in, the book but
Speaker 3: what's something you haven't forgiven yourself, for yet even if
Speaker 3: nobody else knows. ABOUT it.
Speaker 2: I WOULD say i struggled for a long time in
Speaker 2: the closing seconds of, Games, MENTALLY wow i did because
Speaker 2: the results didn't work out. FOR me i talk about
Speaker 2: that a lot in, this book about HOW naive i
Speaker 2: was my rookie year we lost by a last. Second
Speaker 2: shot nine, YEARS later i was still losing by last,
Speaker 2: second SHOTS and i felt myself in those moments tense
Speaker 2: up WHEN prior i would relish in those MOMENTS like
Speaker 2: i Would be i'd want, the BALL and i would
Speaker 2: find myself shying away from those MOMENTS because i had
Speaker 2: conceded to the fact that it was just not gonna.
Speaker 2: Work out and it took, My brother it took me
Speaker 2: finally realizing how to relinquish results and just live in,
Speaker 2: the process the, dash right enjoying. The journey it Took
Speaker 2: A kobe bryant text message to me, that, was like
Speaker 2: it's better the. Hard way you don't die with bullets
Speaker 2: in the chamber right like you go. Down shooting and
Speaker 2: it was that text message and just the support from
Speaker 2: my family and friends that allowed me to win. The
Speaker 2: championship and it came down to the, closing moments and in,
Speaker 2: THOSE moments i just played and it could have not.
Speaker 2: Worked out it could have, worked OUT but i just
Speaker 2: since that TIME when, I lose i'm not in bed
Speaker 2: for four or, five Days like i'm gonna commit to.
Speaker 2: The process i'm gonna commit to. The grind i'm gonna
Speaker 2: honestly try to stay at that like even. Keeled mentality
Speaker 2: and that's in life, as WELL and i wholeheartedly believe
Speaker 2: things will work out the way that they.
Speaker 3: Need to, all right can just talk ladies and gentlemen
Speaker 3: and do mindset out, right now go.
Speaker 2: Get it thank you.
Speaker 1: So much we. APPRECIATE you i.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, all right thank yous.
Speaker 1: And starts back up checking. On us come on, up here.
Speaker 2: We'd love to talk, to you say us.
Speaker 1: And w ab this season up, right now so come talk.
Speaker 2: To Us It's.
Speaker 1: Candas parker It's The. Breakfast club. Good morning wake that
Speaker 1: ass up in.
Speaker 3: The Morning Come.
Speaker 2: Breakfast club