Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2: My guest tonight is a w NBA champion and six
Speaker 2: time All Star who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks.
Speaker 2: As president of the players Union, she played a leading
Speaker 2: role in negotiating higher pay and expanded benefits for all
Speaker 2: of the women in the league. Please welcome netlark Omik.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: This is so fun, especially having a woman president on
Speaker 2: the show.
Speaker 4: This is nice.
Speaker 2: I hope this is a predictor of the future.
Speaker 1: Welcome.
Speaker 2: I don't even know where to start in your world
Speaker 2: because of how many achievements you just have, you know,
Speaker 2: in your resume. Let's start with your journey as a player.
Speaker 2: One of the most accomplished players that we've ever seen
Speaker 2: in the game of basketball. Magic Johnson said that he
Speaker 2: watches you playing and he goes you one of the smartest
Speaker 2: players on and off the court. He actually said you
Speaker 2: you you are like a combination of Magic Johnson and
Speaker 2: Lebron James.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: That's I praised You've dominated, You've dominated for such a
Speaker 2: long time. What's interesting is your sister plays in the
Speaker 2: team with you. She does she's also amazing. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then you have a younger sister who has been predicted
Speaker 2: to also be coming into the w What are they
Speaker 2: feeding you in your family?
Speaker 4: If you must know, we're Nigerian, so we eat a
Speaker 4: lot of goosey soup.
Speaker 5: Ah.
Speaker 2: That's what it is.
Speaker 1: That's what it is.
Speaker 2: But is there is there something in your family where like, like,
Speaker 2: how do you how do you have so many great
Speaker 2: basketball players in the family. I don't know.
Speaker 4: I really couldn't tell you. You know, we just kind
Speaker 4: of grew up knowing what excellence was in our culture.
Speaker 4: It's just the staple and the standard. And so to
Speaker 4: be honest, like if I was playing another sport, I
Speaker 4: would have found a way to be excellent in that.
Speaker 4: And it's just so happened that we all played basketball.
Speaker 4: But not only that, you know, we had the opportunity
Speaker 4: play basketball at Stanford University between me and my sister,
Speaker 4: and then my youngest two sisters play at Rice, and
Speaker 4: it's just in the blood. You know.
Speaker 2: It's interesting that you've been playing for so long and
Speaker 2: the WNBA is so young as a league, so when
Speaker 2: you started off playing, there wasn't even an idea of
Speaker 2: a possible future. I mean that the WNBA is being
Speaker 2: growing exponentially, but it's still was that every an idea.
Speaker 2: Did you think, oh, I'm going to be playing professionally
Speaker 2: or were you just doing this for fun?
Speaker 4: I'm not going to lie to trivor I didn't think
Speaker 4: I was going to play professionally till I was like halfway.
Speaker 3: Through my senior year of college.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: And I think that is attributed to just to how
Speaker 4: we were raised, but also not being kind of being
Speaker 4: ignorant to the opportunities for women in sports, right and
Speaker 4: for me to look back and understand how much I've
Speaker 4: grown and my intellect about that, and being able to
Speaker 4: educate people about that and also affect change in this
Speaker 4: current CBA, I feel like I found my legacy. It's
Speaker 4: kind of cool.
Speaker 2: That's really mean. The w the w n b A
Speaker 2: is is truly one of the most interesting stories because
Speaker 2: here you have this league that keeps on growing, you
Speaker 2: on your you know it does, it does better and better,
Speaker 2: it makes more and more money, and yet there's so
Speaker 2: many complicated stories within it. You have amazing women who
Speaker 2: are athletes who play in this league. Most of them
Speaker 2: i've heard have college degrees almost like everyone almost everyone. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's that's special on its own, that's very special. You
Speaker 2: have business owners, you have entrepreneurs. But then because of
Speaker 2: the pay structures in the league, most of the women
Speaker 2: have to go overseas to earn and and correct me
Speaker 2: if it's wrong, but more money from other countries. Playing
Speaker 2: in a basketball league.
Speaker 4: We have a twelve month season, right, and that is too.
Speaker 4: That gives us an opportunity to earn up to ten
Speaker 4: times more than sorry, what up to ten times more?
Speaker 2: What do you mean? Up to ten up to ten times.
Speaker 3: More where compared to what we make here, you.
Speaker 2: Get paid ten times more outside of.
Speaker 4: Them, there are players that do, and so we wanted
Speaker 4: to make.
Speaker 2: Sure that like which countries are these?
Speaker 4: I mean Russia's one.
Speaker 2: Wait, Russia, So Russia is paying some of the women
Speaker 2: after ten times more what they make in America.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I never thought I would be saying to ladies,
Speaker 2: go to Russia, but that's what. So players in the
Speaker 2: WNBA have had to make this choice where it's like
Speaker 2: you play the entire year just to basically sustain yourself
Speaker 2: as a basketball player.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know it kind of was reflected in
Speaker 4: our CBA. Now we wanted to kind of you know,
Speaker 4: we didn't want to make it an obligation. We wanted
Speaker 4: to create more disparity in the choices. So now with
Speaker 4: what we hopefully catalyzed in this current collective bargain agreement,
Speaker 4: there's players that now have opportunities to not only make
Speaker 4: more money, but but to be compensated in the league market,
Speaker 4: in the team market, so that they don't feel like
Speaker 4: they have to go overseas, which also affects motherhood and
Speaker 4: child planning. Right, so now you don't have to decide
Speaker 4: when am I going to have my kid? Or am
Speaker 4: I scared to tell them that I'm pregnant? And those
Speaker 4: are the types of resources and implications that we wanted
Speaker 4: to change at a foundational level that can hopefully create
Speaker 4: a much better future for women's basketball.
Speaker 3: That's leniant.
Speaker 2: How do you how do you respond to those people
Speaker 2: who some of which are trolls, but some who maybe
Speaker 2: you know genuinely from this, I feel like I don't
Speaker 2: understand they're all trolls. Yeah like that, So people like
Speaker 2: why do w NBA players want more money? They don't
Speaker 2: have as many fans as the NBA.
Speaker 4: You know, I just don't understand the ignorance because it
Speaker 4: doesn't make sense. But at the same time, I think
Speaker 4: it boils down to the business being run properly, which
Speaker 4: our current commission now is really working hard to fix. Granted,
Speaker 4: basketball is basketball, but the game is different on the
Speaker 4: women's side, and the fans that we do have, which
Speaker 4: are a lot, that is not true. We do have fans,
Speaker 4: and I expect everyone here to go to a WNBA
Speaker 4: game this summer, including you.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna vote.
Speaker 2: I love what you've possible.
Speaker 4: But we do have fans. You guys go already twenty three.
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you, Wow, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: So I told you we have fans.
Speaker 4: Wow. That's oh yeah, so like you know, it's just
Speaker 4: it's not true that we don't have fans. But the
Speaker 4: business is different, you know, we play differently, We appeal
Speaker 4: to a different market and we have to tap into
Speaker 4: that in order for the business to thrive.
Speaker 2: When you look at the journey you've been on, When
Speaker 2: you look at the journey the league has been on,
Speaker 2: the players have been on, there's no doubt that the
Speaker 2: league is growing. There's no doubt that the league makes
Speaker 2: more money. Is there an argument of chicken on the egg?
Speaker 2: You know, like people go like, oh, maybe if the
Speaker 2: league makes more money, then the players can get more money.
Speaker 2: But is there also the augments of oh, if you
Speaker 2: invest more in the league, than the league becomes more popular.
Speaker 2: If it becomes more popular, it makes more money.
Speaker 4: That is definitely what we're dealing with right now. And
Speaker 4: instead of just talking about the chicken or the egg,
Speaker 4: bring a chicken that lays an egg or let an egg. Crap, like,
Speaker 4: do something, don't just keep talking about right?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what's your what's your goal and your journey now?
Speaker 2: Because I mean your legend both in and outside of basketball.
Speaker 2: You know, you've achieved so many accolades. Where do you
Speaker 2: where do you see your journey taking you?
Speaker 4: Right now? I've I'm finally grabbing the wheel of the
Speaker 4: car that's taking me to wherever I need to go.
Speaker 4: But to be honest, I just want to educate more
Speaker 4: people about the w NBA, women in sports, empowering women
Speaker 4: in general, especially educating other women on how to empower women.
Speaker 4: We do need allies, of course, and so and so
Speaker 4: that's just kind of what I want to do. I
Speaker 4: just want to educate people because ignorance really eliminates a
Speaker 4: lot of preconceptions. And it changes actions in a very
Speaker 4: small way. And I tell everyone, Okay, if you can't
Speaker 4: go to a w NBA game, at least have the
Speaker 4: TV on and let it contribute to the ratings. Turn
Speaker 4: it on. If you absolutely have nothing to do. You
Speaker 4: can find a game. It's not impossible to find a game.
Speaker 2: Turn it on.
Speaker 4: Watch it.
Speaker 3: Follow me.
Speaker 4: Now, you know me, Now you know in whatever way
Speaker 4: you can. I know a lot of people probably know
Speaker 4: my teammate Kannas Parker. I'm sure you can follow her.
Speaker 4: Don't just watch her as an analyst, watch her play,
Speaker 4: and if you can't see her, then you can't be her.
Speaker 4: And that's what I want to change.
Speaker 2: Let's let's talk a little bit about that, because I
Speaker 2: think one of the one of the more interesting and
Speaker 2: also heartbreaking stories is undeniably that of Gigi Bryants. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we saw all these images of her, and there was
Speaker 2: there were seldom images of her that didn't involve basketball.
Speaker 2: You know, whether it was her playing in her dress
Speaker 2: and in her heels, you know that that video that
Speaker 2: went around, whether it was pictures of her practicing with
Speaker 2: her dad, Kobe, whether it was images of her to
Speaker 2: game staring at you you know, almost looking at you like, Wow,
Speaker 2: this is where I dream of being. There's no denying
Speaker 2: that Ggi Bryant in many ways represented the future of
Speaker 2: what the UNBA could be, you know, because she wasn't
Speaker 2: just playing basketball to play basketball. She was trying to
Speaker 2: get somewhere that some way was the WNBA. She looked
Speaker 2: up to you, she looked up to many other players
Speaker 2: in the WNBA. What do you think that's done for
Speaker 2: the sports? And what do you hope young girls out
Speaker 2: there who are playing right now will have that George generation?
Speaker 2: Doesn't you know?
Speaker 4: Losing Gigi, I think to the world it exposed people
Speaker 4: to a lot that they didn't know, not just about
Speaker 4: a young girl who wanted to aspire to be like
Speaker 4: her dad, but a young girl that was moving things
Speaker 4: for women without even realizing it. She was authentically herself.
Speaker 4: And by her being authentically herself, you know, we saw
Speaker 4: a living legacy in her, not just through her father,
Speaker 4: but also for women in sports and for the WNBA.
Speaker 4: When we got to experience her, we were looking at
Speaker 4: what we were working for. You know, We're not just
Speaker 4: here to make a difference for the current players, for
Speaker 4: the rookies coming in. We're here to make a difference
Speaker 4: for those girls like Gigi whose eyes lit up every
Speaker 4: time that they saw us, and that is out there
Speaker 4: and people need to know that that is out there.
Speaker 4: We were tragically alarmed by it, but it certainly was
Speaker 4: a wake up call and it really hit hard for
Speaker 4: the women's basketball community to lose her. But we're gonna
Speaker 4: live in her honor.
Speaker 2: I think you do that every single day.
Speaker 3: Congratulations and everything done.
Speaker 2: If yeah, congratulations are making history.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1: Let bare of the wn los Angelews spots the wee.
Speaker 2: My next guest tonight is WNBA superstar Candace Parker. She's
Speaker 2: here to talk about what it's been like returning home
Speaker 2: to play for the Chicago Sky and what she gets
Speaker 2: up to behind the scenes with Shaq and d Wade
Speaker 2: on TNT. Candas Parker, Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. I'm I'm a fan, Trevor,
Speaker 3: just so you know, I'm not a casual fan. I'm
Speaker 3: a fan.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, Okay, that puts a lot of pressure on
Speaker 2: me because now I'm a fan of yours. Because it's
Speaker 2: not often I get to talk to anybody who is
Speaker 2: considered the greatest at anything that they do. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: I'm gonna read just a small list of some of
Speaker 2: your achievements. You've won a WNBA title, right, two Olympic
Speaker 2: gold medals, two regular season MVPs, and a finals MVP.
Speaker 2: You're also the first player to win Rookie of the
Speaker 2: Year and MVP in the same season. Last year, you
Speaker 2: were named the Defensive Player of the Year. My question
Speaker 2: to you is, have you already started writing your whole
Speaker 2: a famed speech? What do you like you plan ahead
Speaker 2: or you're going to try and make it seem like
Speaker 2: you didn't know at the time. Is it going to
Speaker 2: be one of those like, oh modest, ah, what a surprise.
Speaker 5: Listen, I'm just realizing now, like I've been in this
Speaker 5: thing for fourteen years, and like I have a daughter
Speaker 5: and the people that I'm playing with are closer to
Speaker 5: her age. So I think it's more so just more
Speaker 5: concerned about worried about how my socks are.
Speaker 3: If I'm not looking like an old lady, all those things.
Speaker 2: You say that, but you are still competing at the
Speaker 2: highest level. You know, the seasons about a kickoff. Everybody
Speaker 2: in Chicago is excited because you have just switched to
Speaker 2: a new team. It's almost a homecoming for you because
Speaker 2: you're from Illinois. What are your expectations for the upcoming
Speaker 2: season and how do you deal with that pressure of
Speaker 2: a whole city going all right, Candice, we need you
Speaker 2: to fix what happened last year. We need you to
Speaker 2: take us to the top.
Speaker 3: First, I'm really excited.
Speaker 5: I grew up in Naperville, which is western suburbs of Chicago,
Speaker 5: and I started playing basketball here, and you know, just
Speaker 5: to be able to come back to where it all
Speaker 5: started because around the Chicagoland area, I grew up in
Speaker 5: the nineties, so it was all bulls, all who's next,
Speaker 5: all prep, high school, college, everything like they follow basketball,
Speaker 5: and so I would always run into people and they
Speaker 5: would always be like, I remember seeing you when you
Speaker 5: were in high school or whatever.
Speaker 3: So now to come back and just play.
Speaker 5: And you know, to be able to have dinner with
Speaker 5: my dad and have breakfast with my mom, my grandma
Speaker 5: can come see me play.
Speaker 3: I mean, all that stuff is so special to be
Speaker 3: a part of. And I'm excited.
Speaker 5: I'm you know, with the challenge, you know, to try
Speaker 5: to win, because if you're not trying to win at
Speaker 5: the beginning of the season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what you're doing.
Speaker 2: You you you wannt just the best on the court,
Speaker 2: you're also one of the best off the court as well.
Speaker 2: People love you. I'm one of the people who loves you.
Speaker 2: I love your commentary on TNT with Shaq and d Wade.
Speaker 2: I love the camaraderie that you guys have formed. I
Speaker 2: love the games that you play. I love how you
Speaker 2: go at it with Shack, Like that relationship seems so authentic,
Speaker 2: Like you guys are fighting, you're laughing, you're you're you're arguing,
Speaker 2: but it's like you're in the same space. How long
Speaker 2: did it take for you to form that like that?
Speaker 2: Is that a natural thing?
Speaker 5: I grew up watching these guys like I grew up
Speaker 5: as a fan on a couch debating with my two brothers,
Speaker 5: who are fans.
Speaker 3: By the way, Trevor, I have to shout out anthem,
Speaker 3: they are extinct.
Speaker 6: We want WMDIA championships, We've done all these things, gone
Speaker 6: to the Olympics.
Speaker 3: It's like, you're going to be on The Daily Show?
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? So a huge hit. But I
Speaker 3: will say that my childhood coming up debating.
Speaker 5: My brothers and being around them all the time kind
Speaker 5: of prepared me for Turner because honestly, like that's what
Speaker 5: it's like on set.
Speaker 3: You debate. You might not have any facts to debate it,
Speaker 3: but you try.
Speaker 6: There's a lot of yelling and screaming and just saying
Speaker 6: you don't understand, and that's what it is. And honestly,
Speaker 6: like when I came in, you know, I know there's
Speaker 6: a lot to do.
Speaker 5: With like me being the only woman on set and
Speaker 5: things like that. And I told them immediately like I'm
Speaker 5: not trying to be one of the guys. I'm trying
Speaker 5: to be one of the players. Oh they and they've
Speaker 5: embraced that honestly, like I'm a teammate.
Speaker 3: But we just have fun.
Speaker 6: I wish we had cameras in the back, like in
Speaker 6: the makeup room, because if you would hear some of
Speaker 6: those debates, it's like the show after the show.
Speaker 2: I feel like you could just add it to the
Speaker 2: list of things you're doing. Because you're playing, you're in
Speaker 2: front of the camera. Rumors are that you're starting a
Speaker 2: new podcast now, is that true? Can we confirm that?
Speaker 5: Yes, I'm very excited to be starting moments with Cannis Parker.
Speaker 5: I have a twelve year old daughter and she is
Speaker 5: just the center of my entire world. And just talking
Speaker 5: with other parents got to Mauri that was a guest.
Speaker 3: D Wade of course and Gabby are amazing parents.
Speaker 5: So just really excited to chat with a lot of
Speaker 5: different experiences because I think there's no blueprint when it
Speaker 5: comes to raising a child.
Speaker 2: Is it harder or does it get easier raising a
Speaker 2: child when you are an elite athlete, because so much
Speaker 2: of your time is taken up by the game, Like,
Speaker 2: how do you how do you create a stable base
Speaker 2: for a child in a world that is so unstable
Speaker 2: because of sports.
Speaker 5: Leila has been with me from day one. We didn't
Speaker 5: spend a night away from each other until she was
Speaker 5: almost two or two or three. I nursed for fifteen months,
Speaker 5: so my coach saw a lot of you know.
Speaker 6: Switching, switching in the locker room while he's going over plays.
Speaker 3: But that's just the way it was, and you know,
Speaker 3: I wanted to balance both.
Speaker 5: And I'm very lucky because I have an amazing family
Speaker 5: that helps me with my daughter, and I.
Speaker 3: Have an amazing kid. She gets it. She's one of the
Speaker 3: best travelers. She's been to Russia, China, You're like everywhere
Speaker 3: in Europe, like she's amazing. But I will say this,
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people give.
Speaker 5: Professional athletes credit for being able to balance motherhood, but
Speaker 5: there's a million other women.
Speaker 3: Out there that have it way harder as jobs. Don't
Speaker 3: let them bring their.
Speaker 5: Kids to work that you know, don't let them take
Speaker 5: off when they're sick, and just different things like that.
Speaker 5: So I am very happy to have that balance of motherhood.
Speaker 5: And I realized, you know, you have tough days, but
Speaker 5: you know it's all worth it.
Speaker 2: Oh man. Yeah. I hope everyone listens to the podcast.
Speaker 2: It must be fun hearing some of the behind the
Speaker 2: scenes of everyone's moments as a mom. Good luck with
Speaker 2: your next venture out in Chicago. Good luck with your
Speaker 2: new podcast. Thank you for joining me on the show,
Speaker 2: and I hope to see you again.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
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