July 23, 2025 • 48 mins
Today’s episode features Sarah’s conversation with WNBA legend Candace Parker from the WISE/R Symposium, a professional development event that was held during WNBA All-Star festivities last weekend in Indy. Parker discusses the impact coach Pat Summitt had on her life, what she learned about herself raising her daughter Lailaa on the road, and how she and her wife managed to keep their relationship private until it was time to welcome the world in. Plus, a “Yes, And” about the woman who was Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark ever existed.
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The AUSL schedule is here
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Check out the Denver Summit FC logo and branding here
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Listen to Post Moves, Candace Parker’s new podcast with Aliyah Boston, here
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Listen to Unsupervised, Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance’s new podcast, here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where We've got
only one more sleep till Sydney Colson and Teresa Playzance's
new podcast, Unsupervised drops. That's a must lessen for sure.
It's Wednesday, July twenty third, and on today show will
be giving you my conversation with WNBA legend Candice Parker
from the Wiser Symposium at WNBA All Star Weekend. We
talked about her book, The Can Do Mindset, the impact
(00:23):
Pat's Summit had on her life, what she learned about
herself raising her daughter Layla on the road, and how
she and her wife managed to keep their relationship private
until it was time to welcome the world. In plus Athletes,
Unlimited Softball brings fans out in Drove Sidney McLaughlin. Lavroni
has her sight set on more American history and the
woman who was Kaitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark ever existed.
(00:44):
It's all coming out right after this Welcome back slices.
Here's what you need to know today. In soccer news,
Denver NWSL has got a name and branding. It was
(01:05):
announced on Tuesday that the NWSL's sixteenth team will go
by Denver Summit FC. The name emerged as the favorite
amongst owners and also amongst fans, who voted on six
different options in recent months. Though the fan vote offered
up Colorado summt FC, ownership elected to go with Denver
summt FC. They said they wanted to honor the city's
commitment to building just this second purpose driven stadium built
(01:28):
specifically for an NWSL team. The team's crest is sharp y'all.
It features green mountains that are sloped at a twenty
six degree angle to denote the year the team will
begin play twenty twenty six, and white snowcaps under a
red sky and an orange sun. The team says the
green and white is a nod to the classic Colorado
license plate, and they described the sandstone red sky as
(01:51):
quote a nod to the iconic red rock formations found
throughout the state. Welcome to the party, Denver sum At
FC can't wait to get out to a game. In
Softball News, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League set the record
for the largest crowd in league history. This weekend Saturdays
sold out contest between the Bandits and Volts at Dell
Diamond and Round Rock, Texas drew over sixty five hundred fans,
(02:13):
and get this, it was the largest softball audience in
Texas history. As well, the game itself was a good one.
The Bandits took a four to three come from behind
victory over the Volts. The Bandits have already secured a
spot in this weekend's best of three AUSL Championship Series
and are set to take on the top seeded Talents.
It's not postseason time just yet, though. The last games
(02:33):
of this inaugural AUSL regular season take place tonight, starting
at seven pm Eastern. First, it's the Volts and the
Talons on ESPN two, followed by The Blaze and the
Bandits at eight thirty Eastern on MLB dot Com. We'll
link to the schedule in our show notes. Speaking of
the AUSL Championship, in a statement on Monday, the league
announced that Sephora will be its exclusive beauty partner and
(02:54):
the presenting sponsor of this weekend's AUSL Championship Series. The
brand will be very visible at the series in Tescaloosa, Alabama,
this weekend, helping enhance the fan experience with photo ops, giveaways,
and activations. Sophora is also going to play a similar
role throughout the AUSL All Star Cup in August, including
creating a glam suite for all AUSL athletes as part
(03:16):
of the All Star Cup Media Day. Love to see
Sephora stepping up to support these superstar athletes. In track
and field news, American star Sidney McLaughlin Livroni will not
compete in the four hundred meter hurdles at the upcoming
US Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, opting to focus
on the four hundred meter flat instead. Quick refresher here
so McGlaughlin Lvroni is the best four hundred meter hurdler
(03:37):
of all time, having won every major title that exists
in the event, including two Olympic gold medals. She first
broke the world record in twenty twenty one and has
since lowered her own mark five more times, including at
last summer's Paris Olympics. But in recent years, McLaughlin Livroni
has been increasing her versatility by integrating the four hundred
meter flat into her program with great success. By the
(03:59):
way back in twenty twenty three at the US Championship,
she became the second fastest American woman to ever run
the event, her time of forty eight point seventy four
was just four hundredths off of Sonia Richards Ross's US record,
but she ultimately had to withdraw from that year's World
Championships due to a knee injury. So, needless to say,
McLaughlin larroney feels like she has a little unfinished business
(04:20):
and we should all be on American Record watch during
next week's US Championships. More Track and Field ATHLOS, the
professional women's track and field meet, is adding the long
jump for the second edition of the competition, happening in
New York City in October. The qualifying jumps will be
held on October ninth in Times Square and feature Olympic
stars like Tara Davis, Woodhall, Jasmine Moore, Quinisia Burks and
(04:42):
Moore leaping for the chance to compete for the crown
at the main event the next day. Little Refresher on ATHLOS,
the women's professional track and field competition, was founded by
Serena Williams's husband Alexis Ohanian, debuted in September of twenty
twenty four with just track events and was capped off
by a Megan the Stallion performance. Yet on this year's
musical performance Tickets for the meet on October tenth are
(05:04):
on sale right now. Will link to where you can
snag them in our show notes. We got to take
a quick break when we come back. My conversation with
the legendary Candace Parker during WNBA All Star weekend. We
chopped it up as part of the Wiser Symposium, a
professional development event for women working in sports. You'll hear
our chat right after this. Hi, Candace, Well, Hello, Hello,
(05:36):
so fun. What a great room of folks.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
No, I heard what an energetic So we're going to
bring the energy this morning, and we absolutely are hold
up your book?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
How fired up are we to get this? I was
just talking to your mom backstage, and the can Do
mindset is not just the name of the book. It
is an ethos for the family, and it is a
message that she gave you as a youngster with older brothers,
trying to figure out who am I, what am I
going to be? How can I keep up with them?
(06:08):
Coming to her in tears, thinking like I'm not going
to be able to keep up. And I want you
to tell us how important it was as a young
person to have that support and to have that nudge
to say you can do anything.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, what's so crazy is I grew up down the
hall from two brothers that are eight and eleven years
older than me, and I think being the baby girl
of the family, you know, there were big shoes to
fill in terms of my two older brothers.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
One played ten years in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
He played alongside you know, talk about Chris Bosh, talk
about Lebron James, played for the caz for a while.
And then my middle brother, he went to Johns Hopkins
and he's just a doctor. So it was kind of
just like looking up to these giants of people, but
still having that sibling rivalry of like I want to
(06:57):
do what they do. I want to be better than
what they were doing. And I think at times I
felt like I was measuring my four year old or
five year old self against these people that have been
doing these things for that long.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And so my mom saw my struggle.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
A little bit, and my nickname is can short for Candae,
and she started kind of the mantra of can do.
And it got me through tying my shoes, It got
me through, you know, walking into rooms where I was
a little nervous, It got me through game winning free throws,
it got me through game winning misses. And so I
think it's just that mantra that soon turned into an acronym,
(07:34):
and it stands for community authenticity, navigating negativity, which is
a part of life, dealing and loving the dash, which
is the journey in the middle of a star end
of things and seizing and creating opportunities. And so that's
kind of the lens that I tell the stories to
this book of that can do mindset that you know,
first started when I was a little girl.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Shouts to your mom, Sarah, who's here? Because a doctor?
You pro players coming out of naper thrill, Naperville lapor thrill.
I call it had a right thrill because I grew
up here had a right. You had a right. I mean,
that's an incredible legacy to look up to. And you
had that mentorship at a young age to tell you
you can and to show you that you could. And
(08:17):
then you get to Tennessee and talk about mentorship. The
one and only Pat Summit. I want you to tell
everyone about the time that Pat humbled you. Which time, well, yeah, fair,
fair like which specific time when you were dogging it
at practice or didn't quite give her what she wanted,
and she pulled you out of practice, and you wanted
(08:38):
to prove her that you were better than her, that
you could show her up, that you could show her
that you cared more. And what happened actly, and she
humbled me.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
If you i'll have a chance to check out chapter four.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I think it's chapter four.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I talk a great deal about coach summit. And you know,
being eighteen years old going to college. I have a
sixteen year old daughter that's here. I understand we know everything.
At that age, you know you're stubborn. You feel like
you your way or the highway. Your parents don't know anything. Well,
it's no different when you go to college. You still
feel that about your coach. And in practice one time,
(09:12):
coach some it was huge on offensive rebounding. I can
still hear her scream my name to go to the boards,
and in practice I wasn't and I was kind of
like dogging it a little bit whatever, so she kicked
me out of practice. I go on the back and
you know, like you're mad. You're there by yourself, like
looking at yourself in the mirror, like, oh, like I'm
gonna show her. I'm gonna figure it out, and so
a showered, got dressed. We had six am practice the
(09:35):
next day, and I was like, I'm gonna get there
at four four THIRTYMNA be in a full lather when
she shows up to practice. So I roll up to
the arena and her lights on and she's in her
office and she just finished doing her workout and she
was starting to plan for practice that day. And so
I think what I took from that is, doesn't matter
(09:55):
what you accomplish in life, like, you still have to
love the little thing and doing those little things that
got you there. At that point in time, she had
six national championships, was one of the greatest coaches in
the twenty first century alongside John Wooden. But she still
showed up early, she still did the little things. She
(10:15):
still beat people who were trying to be what she
was at doing those things. And so I think that's
what inspired me the most about Coach Summit, is like
she had all these words, yes, but it was her
actions that backed it up.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, in fact, her words inspired you so much they
are tattooed on you thought that, Yes, of course, you know,
we won a lot of games at the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
But I think The thing that I saw was Coach
Summit was always the same person, no matter whether she
was winning or losing. Now, mind you, practice has changed
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
We ran a few more we.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Ran a few more line drills if we lost, But
Coach Summit was the same whether she was cutting nats
down or dealing with losses, whatever it is. And so
I always admired that about her, that she never really changed.
She always gave credit to people around her, And so
when she got sick and diagnosed, I will never forget
(11:10):
the conversation. She was like, if you're gonna have a
pity party, you're going to be the only one at it,
because I'm going to attack this the way that I've
attacked my entire life.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And it didn't change.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
And so, you know, sitting in her living room, there
was this quote that said left foot, right foot.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Breathe repeat.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
So I asked her, I'm like, Coach, you know, there
are some days where you don't feel like getting up,
Like your intention in that moment was great, but the
work you have to do to achieve that goal, you
don't feel like doing it in those moments. And I said,
how do you get yourself to do it? And she said,
I put one foot in front of the other, I
left foot, right foot, breathe, repeat, And so I felt like,
(11:46):
even though she wasn't big on tattoos, I feel like
this one she would really appreciate.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, there's the youngster, and you're still giving a little
dig to your coach.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I would definitely have to cover these up with arm bands. Actually,
the adoptive MoMA of.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
The focus of my book has as saying, pity parties,
I don't throw them and I don't attend them. I
like that, so we can always use that. How has
your relationship to some of Pat's knowledge and advice changed
over the years. She was giving you those words as
a young person, and she passed before a lot of
the things that you've been able to accomplish and a
lot of the roles you've been able to take on.
(12:23):
You're now a mother, you're now a business woman, you're
a leader at companies. Are there things that she told
you when you were younger that as you've aged the
words start to change for you.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
It's so crazy, because I think all of us can
relate to this, her definite doesn't. And there are some
youngsters in here that we're probably in diapers when I
was playing at the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So I'm going to give you a little bit of.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Homework of just going and looking up her definite dozen
because basketball is life. Sports is a microcosm of life,
and so everything that you learn with in the game,
it's a life lesson. And every year I got to Tennessee,
she would always assign players certain definite dozens, and mine
(13:07):
inevitably was handle success as you handle failure. And it's
not the way that you all look at it, like
I'm not gloating or whatever. It was more so I
beat myself up when I lost, or when I missed
a shot, or when I didn't play well, and it
really is in life, it's about that next possession. We
had to say at Tennessee, and we always did it,
(13:28):
you know, whenever we were communicating a coach summit emphasize communication.
And now you're communicating with people that come from all
with different walks of life, different upbringings, all of those things.
And so we had a system that when you would
tell me something good, I would say two points, move
on to the next play. If you told me a criticism,
then I had to say rebound, and a rebound is
a chance to get it back, to do it better
(13:49):
the next time to but you're still moving on. And
so I think that's something that I take with me,
is like, you can't dwell on what you did because
it's going to impact going forward what you're gonna do.
You got to learn from it, You got to live
in the moment, and you got to move on and
control what you can control. And I think there was
nobody better of just continuing those lessons, And even to
(14:13):
this day, I still am learning those lessons as a
thirty something year old woman.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Next time my husband's critical, I'll be like, rebound two points. Yeah,
you got pregnant with your daughter, Laila, who I just
saw backstage is now taller than me already. Yeah. Great,
great team. And you got pregnant after this historic rookie
season where you were the first and still only player
(14:38):
to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the
same season. You are riding this high and then you
find out you're pregnant. What were the emotions.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
It's so wild because I think this book kind of
served as like a little therapy session. I pushed sin
on my Instagram posts of retiring and then kind of
had to unpack my entire career during that period of time.
So I'm grateful for it, and I think a lot
of the unpacking was, you know, at twenty two, twenty
three years old, I had always wanted to be a mom,
(15:09):
Like from the time I was younger, I knew I
wanted a little girl. I had named them, like, I
knew I wanted to be a mom, And you know,
I always wanted to have both a career as well
as have a family. And I think when I first
found out I was pregnant, immediately my mind shifted to, like, well,
what is everybody going to think? What are my sponsors
(15:30):
going to think? And unpacking that in the book, I
kind of peeled it back and was like, how unfair
is that as a woman to want to have a
family and your first thought is your career and what
everybody's going to think. Because a lot of the endorsements,
they want to tell the story once the kids here,
but they don't want to go through the process of
(15:51):
when you're pregnant and when you can't play. And there's
a part in the book that I talk about I'm
at a huge you know, a pregame shoot around and
somebody is like, where's Layla, And I am fuming because
I'm like, this isn't a question that you're asking before
the playoffs to Lebron James.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, you're just asking it.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
To me, And so I think it just going through,
Like we have grown so much in the WNBA, But
at the time, there was no maternity leave. You got
paid when you came back from playing. I mean to playing.
I had to buy out half of my hotel room
because we shared rooms at the time, and I was nursing.
I nursed for fifteen months and my mom would come
(16:31):
along and take care Leila to buy a plane ticket
from my mom. There was no childcare feet like, there
was none of that. And so I'm proud because I
think that we have done a great job of moving
that along in terms of maternity health as well as
family planning because you're playing during your prime years of
your life. But I will say, I think we still
(16:54):
have more room to go, and I think that I
want to challenge the WNBA to be the bar of
what motherhood and parenthood looks like, what family planning looks like.
Because of a league of all women run by women,
you know, that's what we have to have. And so
I think the women now are taking the lead. You're
seeing a lot more moms that are able to have
babies and come back and play and things like that.
(17:16):
But I also want to say, you know, maternity leave.
I realized throughout as I was watching the Tennessee coach
come back a week after giving birth to her son
and beat Yukon.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Sorry I just slipped that in. Yeah, I just slipped
that in.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And everybody was commending her on the broadcast, like, look
at that, she's back. And in my head, I came
back fifty four days after having my daughter. And in
my head, I'm like, if coming back is strength, then
taking your full maternity is weak. And that's not the case.
I think we have that in place for a reason.
(17:54):
And so we should really empower mothers and parents because
once you become one, you, like all of us need support.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
We need we need so much support.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
And now I have three and I really commend parents
that aad boys, because I'm like going crazy right now.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
But yeah, the strength is the choice. Yes, if you
want to come back in fifty four days, it's strong
to make the choice that you'll figure out how to
do that, and if you want to take your full time,
it's take that choice exactly. I mean, honestly, it's it's
we already know that women can never win. But if
you're a career woman, then the question is always are
you going to have babies? And if you have a baby,
then it's always one of you getting back to your
(18:29):
career exactly, So you can't you can't win either way.
You gave birth in May of two thousand and nine,
so Layla was with you every step of the way
for your career. She grew up on the road and
on planes, hotels, sleeping airport that was her nap time. Yeah,
what did you learn about yourself in order to make
that work? I'm going to start with patience, I'm guessing,
(18:51):
but what else did you learn in those moments, especially
because you were as high achieving as they come, and
I have to image there were moments throughout that journey
that you were very humbled by not being able to
figure it out the first time or to get everything
done that you wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I realized how much we are not in control. And
I think that's what motherhood has taught me, is you
have all of these plans. Two of my friends just
had babies and they're like, they're gonna sleep all night.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
They called us in the middle of the night.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
She's not sleeping, you know, and Leila would inevitably, she
was the best baby, best kid. We traveled to Russia,
to China, to everywhere, but inevitably it'd be a big
playoff game.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
He would be up all night screaming, you know. And
I think it's just nervous for you.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
She was was she was nervous for She was nervous
for the playoffs. You're right, but I do feel like
you're not in control. And I think that relinquishing that
was is a superpower because a lot of times we
do try to like micromanage and control things. And I
think my kids have really taught me you literally do
(19:58):
the best that you can.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
You relinquish the results, and you keep it moving.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
There are some days where I would come to practice
and I know my teammates were probably looking at me crazy,
but they didn't know that I was just.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Up all night.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Nobody cares about that when the lights are on. So like,
you do the best that you can and try not
to make, you know, try not to make those excuses,
but it is hard, and I did have to give
myself grace. I grew up with a mom that was
at everything. She was there when sitting front row in
a play that I had one line and I was
just like, geez, you really don't have to come, you know.
(20:31):
And so it's really hard for me to not be
that for Leila because that's what I saw as motherhood.
And so I think it's giving ourselves grace of understanding,
like we all are just doing the best that we can.
And I'm super grateful in the order that we've had
our kids, because I cannot imagine my second son sleeping
in booths and traveling like we don't take him on planes.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
So I just I realized how great of a child Laila,
and how patient, and how we just looked at each
other and we were literally just trying to figure it out.
And so it's super special to have her goal along
on the journey with me and to kind of see
the world through her eyes, like she I use this.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
All the time.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
At the Grammy's Blue Ivy sitting between jay Z and
Beyonce's who the best singers performers ever, and She's like,
where are my spruit snacks like they don't. Your kids
do not care what you do, you know, and so
I think that that was a superpower and Layla just
wanted her mom, and so I think being able basketball
was my first love, and I think Leyla has allowed
(21:35):
me to kind of move that to the side a
little bit and understand that there's more to life than
just basketball.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I think your kids don't care what you do, but
also they do see what you do, yes, And I
will say that there is so much greatness and joy
and the parent that is there for everything, and there
is so much to be learned from the parent that
is doing other things that you're watching. And I remember
growing up my mom's a lawyer. She wasn't there for
like the tea parties that the moms who didn't work
would come to during the day at school, and I
would feel sad. And I had great teachers who said, oh,
(22:03):
you're so lucky. Your mom's so smart and so successful
and a career woman, and you're learning from her. And
it changed my mindset on why she wasn't there, and
I was able to use that to motivate myself. So
I think it's fine either way as long as you
find the lesson in it and it feels intentional.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
When you are there, you know, and there's presence and presence.
And I say that in like I love you know,
even though when I'm not there, I'm going to be present.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I'm gonna you know.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
We used to do sleep calendars when I would have
to travel, and she would make me a sleep calendar
and I would make hers of how many nights, So
if it's three nights away, you know, we would FaceTime
at night I think with Skype at the time, and
we would cross out the nights, you know, because it
is hard. You do feel guilty, But you know, I
hope that she understands that whatever is possible to be
(22:55):
at I'm going to be there, and even when I'm not,
I am there, you know, making sure.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Sure that she's doing what she's supposed to. Take me
back to twenty sixteen. It's a tough year. You separate
from your husband, you get cut from the Olympic team,
and pat summit passes away, and you also lead your
sparks team to a title. How did you do that?
How did you compartmentalize or process and heal while simultaneously
(23:21):
pushing for that moment.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
What's crazy is I look back at twenty sixteen and
it was such a blur because it literally was left foot,
right foot.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Breathe, repeat.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And basketball has always been my solace through whatever ups
and downs. That's why it's been so hard with injuries,
because I can't go play basketball to get away from everything.
So in twenty sixteen, I think when things happen, sometimes
we doubt our pass, you know, and we doubt what
(23:56):
we did before and our preparation and things like that.
I learned to reevaluate, not doubt. I feel like there's
a purpose in everything that happens. And I feel like,
you know, you still have to look yourself in the
mirror and know who you are, and I think twenty
sixteen allowed me to do that even more so, you know,
to quiet the noise, to really like get back to
(24:18):
what makes me happy. And so, you know, obviously Pat
passing away was a huge blow, but I feel like
everything's full circle, Like we won off of an offensive rebound,
you know.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
What I mean. Like that's crazy. So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I just think that twenty sixteen was super difficult in
one hand, but in one hand, nine years it took
me to win a WBA championship with my team and
to then have that at the end. I think you
need those things sometimes to remind yourself why you go
through the grind every day and why you're doing. You know,
(24:58):
you get up every day and you try to be
a good person, and you work out and you do
you know, you set goals and all of those things,
and so I think it teaches you, you know, you're
going through a tough time now, but continue to be
who you are. And so, you know, I really leaned
into that with Coach Summit especially.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
It took you nine years to win that first title,
but the Cubs won in twenty sixteen. It took them
one hundred and eight to get that one, So you
were actually on a pretty fast track. You were you
were doing okay. I mentioned that you separated from your
husband that year. Years later you announced a relationship with
your wife who's here, and that you were already married.
Made the big announcement. Yeah, I need you to tell
(25:38):
me the story of the wedding and your agent requests.
Oh yeah, the attendees sign and I'm like, we don't
otherwise it's for sure getting out. Yeah. No, we we
had a small intimate Yeah, I wasn't invited, so cool.
Your irritation was in the mail. You didn't take you Okay? Cool.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
We had a small ceremony in Mexico and it was amazing.
It was fifty how many people sixty okay, sixty of
our closest family and friends. And my agent was flipping
out because he was.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Like, somebody's gonna say something. We need NDAs or he
wanted a statement, right, He's like, either take a statement
or whatever. And I was like, listen, We're going to
do things at our own pace, which is part of growth, right,
Like all of us found knowing what you want to
do and upholding those boundaries. And my wife and I
we just wanted to enjoy that moment. We didn't want
(26:32):
the stress of everything else. And for two years there
was this bubble around that magical day and you know,
it was beautiful. It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
We didn't do an NDA's and we were able to
tell our own story. I didn't want to do, you know,
a release or whatever. We just did an Instagram post
and shocked some people. But I think people that have
been around women's basketball, they see her and some knew
and some didn't. But I'm grateful for people allowing me
(27:06):
and my wife and my family to do things at
our own pace, at our own time. And I talk
a lot about in the book support system and in
this day and age where we see what going viral
can do to families and people and things like that,
we should all just be respectful of.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
That, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
And it doesn't mean that we're ashamed or embarrassed. Sometimes
it's just not your business, you know what I mean,
or something that we don't we're not comfortable sharing. And
I think that that there in this day and age,
that has to be a priority for all of us
to make sure that we're you know, we're doing that.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
I just can't believe your group of friends, like tell
us your secret, how do you curate sixty people? We'll
have going on to that for two years and it
never gets out.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
My favorite comment I read one of the comments and
actually Vanessa Bryan send it to me, where it was
like I need Cannas Parker Adele and Vanessa Bryant's friends,
and you know it's I feel like the people around
you are so important, you know, like you can't have
(28:13):
just a bunch of yes people and people that are
gonna just let you, you know, act stupid and make
bad choices. But you also need people that are going
to show up and be supportive. Not when we're cutting
down nets, but when you know you need to pull
up and talk or you need support and things like that.
And so I am super grateful for my family and
(28:34):
my support system. And I mean, I'm still best friends
with my friends since seventh grade. She was at the
wedding with her husband, I mean down the line. So
I'm just grateful for, you know, for our family and
our friends.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
How did you feel about fans and sponsors and how
they might react to the news that you were not
only married to a woman, but that maybe what they
you know, that they were behind on the news, that
they hadn't been let in on this for several years.
What's wild? And again I'm just on repeat. I talk
about this in the book.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
It's interesting because I would be in these scenarios years
and years ago, and fans would walk up to me
like it was a badge of honor that I was straight,
And for a while, I think sometimes others felt that
and I had to unpack that as well. That are
(29:26):
we hesitant for this? Because it's a disappointment, like you know,
or I had someone be like, you should probably negotiate
your TV deal before you come out. You know, Like
it's just things like that impact like who I love
is impacting all of these things, which is wild. And
I understand we are getting better in our world and
(29:47):
more progressive and you know, all of those things, but
there's still so much, so many things that we need
to fix. And I think that was like a look
the mirror type of scenario where it is kind of crazy.
You know, we are in the WNBA, the majority of
(30:09):
the minority in this country, and if I'm not living
authentically and if I'm in some way, shape or form.
I think when we went through the process of having
our son, that's where I was like, no, like we
need to tell people because I don't want my son
to ever think I don't love his mom or that
there was some sort of difference, and so, you know,
(30:31):
I think it's a lot to unpack. But it's also
a balance of privacy versus you know, letting people in and.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
The amount of people that you helped by wanting to
talk about it, and that's your choice. You don't owe
the people that, but you know. For instance, producer of
my show Good Game with Sarah Spain Subscribe now, Mesh
actually on a recent show talked about you in particular
and how early in the w the baby haired assassin
who was a straight, beautiful woman with a husband and
(31:01):
a kid was a great advertisement for a league that
often pushed back against stereotypes about queer black women being
the majority of the players, and you were able to
be this avatar for this thing that they wanted to
prove existed in the league and was the face of
the league. But then at the same time, your decision
to be authentic and talk about your wife and your
family now has made it easier for so many people
(31:23):
coming up to feel authentic in their own life and
their identity. And so you taking back that narrative and
saying I'm in charge of what's true and also what
i want to be is really powerful.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I know what it's like to look at people and
want to be them. I remember as a kid watching
Robin Roberts on Sports Center, and I thought it was
the coolest thing that you have this woman that's up
there like holding her own talking about sports.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You know, the coverage was different. I just liked it.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I saw her and myself, and I cannot tell you
enough how much my heart smiles. When I was actually
here at All Star for NBA All Star and we
did a screening of my doc and there was a
couple that was in the in the the theater and
(32:16):
she stood up to grab the mic and I saw
her like handshaking, and so she's telling me, you know, basically,
you know, how did I decide to, you know, be
unapologetic and was it something that I just woke up
and was one day or da da da?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And so answer the question.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I leave and I feel a tap on my back
and she's like, you know, my girlfriend and I we've
been together for six years and we just can't come
to tell our family because our families aren't accepting and
da da dah and all this stuff. So she starts crying,
I start crying whatever. And so then fast forward, I
see her this is Geez a year later and she's
like showing me her ring and she's like, you know,
(32:55):
we had the difficult conversations and we talked about it,
and so I think there's not a one side fits
all approach, but I think the more that we can
support and come from a place of like understanding and
not a place like I talk about this all the
time sometimes don't say anything. Just don't say anything, let
the person talk and be who they are. And I
(33:16):
think that's that's what's crazy to me, is that people
are scared to be who they are and that you know,
if you love them, you should encourage that.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Yeah, you guys have two children, Aaron Hart, how different
was raising kids? Not on the road, not playing ball,
not you know, missing them, but also getting that break.
What's it been like?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
It has been unbelievable to be at home more. I
all often we'll push back on that though, because I
do broadcasting, so I'm gone a little bit, but not
I'm not running up and down the court and you know,
doing shoot around and all that stuff. But it has
been unbelievable to be able to be present. I The
reason why I had to end my career is because
(34:01):
I broke my navicular bone in my foot, which is
one of the worst bones that doesn't have a blood supply.
So I had a reconstructive surgery and in my head
I was done, but I was like holding out hope,
like maybe well, when I broke my foot, I found
out at All Star in twenty twenty three, Yeah, twenty
twenty three, that I wasn't gonna be able to play
the rest of the season, and so had my surgery.
(34:24):
And I'm sitting in the bleachers and I'm at my
daughter's first Varsy volleyball game, and I'm like, this is
where I'm supposed to be. You know, all those years
we grinded, we did all those things, like you know,
we were in Russia and Spain and Turkey and China
and flying here and there in six months and come
back and jump to the WBA. So now it's like
a weird dynamic of being president at home and going
(34:47):
to farmers markets and you know, like I mean, we
literally my son wakes up in the.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Morning, He's like Farmer's Market.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I'm like, dude, no, it's Saturday, Like farmers Market's on Saturday.
So it's amazing because I didn't think I was a
person I could ever slow down. But there's beauty in that.
There's beauty in the steady, slow pace. And I'm I'm
figuring out that balance of it. And so my sons
have kept me present. They you know, I smell their
feet and know what their feet are you know what
(35:15):
their feet smell like? Whereas like Layla, it was just
kind of like, let's we gotta go, like it's like.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
A mad dash.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
And so it's been a lot slower, and I think
I've been a lot slower with Layla as a teenager
as well, which has been great.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
I feel like the nice thing about getting older and
for the young people out there who think us old
are lying when we say it gets better. I thought
that too, but it actually is. And there are some
people that this doesn't happen for, but a lot of
folks you do just naturally want to slow down, yes,
and you get washed and you want to like go
to farmers markets and birdwatch and like garden and stuff
(35:48):
instead of plubbing. I'm not at bird watching yet, no bird,
but you'll get there. There is a little mocking bird,
like yeah, there's a whole mocking bird that shows up
in my backyard. You get into it cool, and they're
watching it.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
I'm like I remember my grandma watching squirrels, and I'm
like I'm turning in.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You're doing it, yeah, and it feels nice. Yeah. Yeah.
I just interviewed Megan Rapino and she's like I'm just
I'm into photography and cooking, and I'm like, yeah, you're washed,
like welcome, true, yeah, true, there's beauty in it though, yes,
but you're also still very busy. Fifth down Capital Avenue,
Capital Ownership in the group, trying to bring the WNBA
to Nashville. President of Adidas Women's Basketball on camera gigs
(36:26):
with TNT and Amazon. A newly announced podcast with the
Indiana Fever's a Leah Boston board seedscribe subscribe Yeah. Board
seats for all sorts of things, including unexpected things like
Mike's Hot Honey that you're on the board for by Mike. Hi, honey,
it's really good. It's so good on pizza if you
get like, you know, like coprese a pizza and then
a little Mike's Hot Honey on top.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Like I'm literally I'm not even kidding. I know I'm
on the board, so technically I should say.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
This, but it is really good. I'm not on the board.
It's becoming salmon. All that just amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
How do you decide what to say yes too? You know,
I think it's more so what I'm saying no too,
and know is a full sentence, And I think you
feel it in your bones when it's not right.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
I do not stew over decisions.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I am one of those decision makers where I feel
like my favorite book is Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, and it
talks about decision making and how we kind of stew
over all of these things when really it's a snap
decision and you just know. But it's all of everything
connecting for you to just know. It's an intuition, your experience,
and I don't know, I just truly believe in like
(37:37):
my gut and my heart and all of those things aligning.
And so in that process sometimes there are things where
I'm like, no, it just is not going to fit
into what you know, who I am and how I operate.
And as you get older, you not only birdwatch and
become washed, you also understand the power of no.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
And I had to.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Go through that where you're on a plane and you're like,
why did I Why did I decide to do this?
It's taking away And so I think it's more the
addition part of making sure that it's not subtracting too much.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Yeah, there's a great phrase, make sure when you're saying
yes to something, you're not saying no. To something else,
and you pretty much always are, even if the other
thing is just time at home or time relaxing to
do something else. One of the things that I think
is hard for legends like you is that at any moment,
you could be giving yourself to something you do want
to say yes to and you do care about. And
(38:30):
I think, especially in women's sports, there's an expectation to
always be giving back, often at low ball prices. I've
talked to Abby Wambach about this. She's like it took
her wife, who's outside of the sports world, to tell her,
every time you say yes to that for no money,
you're allowing them to not pay other women too. And yes,
you want to help that charity, and yes you want
to help that cause, and yes you want to support
(38:52):
women's sports. But if you're giving all of your time
and energy and getting nothing back and allowing them to
do that to everyone else, it just perpetuates the idea
that the value isn't there. And I wonder how you
handle that. I need to ask for something to prove
my value, but also I really want to say yes
to these things. Or maybe you don't have time and
you have to say no. How do you reconcile that
with yourself, because I feel tremendous guilt. I'm terrible at
(39:13):
saying no. I always want to sign the thing and
meet the people and help the person, and I need
to learn how to be better at that. What do
you tell yourself when you're like, this isn't a fit,
But that doesn't mean I don't support it and I'm
not with you.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Well, first, I'm like you, especially early on, but I
have people around me now that are like no, your
children mostly just exactly, but like aren't like no, this
is the value and like you said, you're giving up something,
so it's got to be worth it. And in terms
of women's sports, not just basketball, across the board and
(39:50):
how brands now are hopping on board whereas before it's
proving your worth. Women have to prove their worth over
over and over again. And that's what it is. And
you're looking at the WNBA now and a lot of
it had to do with numbers don't lie. Nil does
not lie when you come into the league, and there
(40:11):
is a price, that's what it is. You looked at
social media, you looked at nil, you looked at all
of that stuff, and so I think we as individuals especially,
you have to know your worth and you have to
be okay because guess what they did this poll. It's
so funny, especially for Gatorade. I think you were in
the board meeting where they were talking about women together
(40:32):
in Gatorade and they were talking about how women don't
consider themselves athletes, but a guy that goes and works
out once a week is like.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Yeah, I'm an athlete. Yeah, gatory, you.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Know, And so I need to fuel my body exactly.
I need that level of confidence when we walk into
board meetings that if you work out and walk once.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
A week, you think you're an athlete.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
That's the type of level of confidence that I think
women have to have and understanding this is not, you know,
discrediting you, This is not being respectful. It's knowing your
own worth and being willing to walk away from the
table if they're not giving you that.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
And I think we're seeing that across women's sports in
so many spaces, whether it's the new CBA negotiation, to
TV deals to anything else. And now that we actually
have the hard data and facts for it, it makes
it a lot easier to walk in those rooms and
be like, hey, look, the Golden State Valkyries are a
six hundred million dollar franchise. They haven't even finished a season,
Like when valuations are that high, when the NWSL is
getting better ratings than a lot of men's leagues and
(41:27):
they're still getting low ball down their TV rights, like,
we thankfully have the data now to help step into
those rooms with that confidence. We can also all buy
a mug that I've seen. That's God, grant me the
confidence of a mediocre white man. My apologies to mediocre
white men in the room. I see you, Oh that's
a bar, put it on a T shirt. We're out
(41:49):
of time, so I have one last question for you.
What's the dream you have that no one knows about?
What's the scary haven't had time to do it? Or
you're too scared to try it. It's stand up comedy,
it's art, it's acting. Is there anything that always in
the back of your head you've been like, Oh, I'd
always like to do that, but you've never done it.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
That's a really so I am such a foodie Like
I'm a foodie and I am a Whino like I
love wine, I love food like my love language is that?
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Have we changed the meaning of whino or are you're
trying to get us to reach out with help? I
think it just mean a connoisseur, A connoisseur. Yeah, well
all right, well yeah, call it what you want, but
appreciate it. Yeah, love it.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And so I would love to do like a Anthony
Bourdain like sports and wine and food, and I would
love to do that and kind of talk about history.
I'm a huge I love history and every museum possible.
I've been to the Kennedy Monument over here in Indianapolis.
Like literally every museum in every city across the world,
(42:52):
I've probably been to at least once. And so I
think doing some type of show like that would be
really cool.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
And there's so many many ballers and former ballers that
are really in like the wine space and the food space.
So you could do a really cool kind of collab
with some folks that get into that. Oh yeah, all right, well,
but happy out there's listening. Call up Candace.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
Thank you so much, and you thank you, Thank you everybody,
you guys.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Thanks so much to Candace for joining me. Had a
blast talking tour, and thanks again to Why's for having us.
We got to take another break when we return a
Yes and featuring a women's hoops legend that'll get you
so many cloud points at Trivia Night. Welcome back Slices.
(43:44):
All Right. So if you listen to Monday Show, you
might recall that producer Mesh talked about the WBL, or
the Women's Professional Basketball League. It was the first pro
women's hoops league in the US, and it existed from
nineteen seventy eight to nineteen eighty one. In the spirit
of continuing to appreciate the women's sports pioneers laid the
foundation for the landscape we have today. It's time to
shine a light on one of the wbl's brightest stars,
(44:06):
which brings us to the latest edition of Yes and
all Right. I think we all know that Indiana Fever
star Caitlin Clark bleeds Iowa. She's a des Moin native.
Played for the All Iowa Attack, AAU basketball program, and
went on to the University of Iowa, restoring it to
a level of prominence it hadn't seen in a very
long time before she became the number one overall pick
(44:28):
in the WNBA Draft in twenty twenty four. But before Clark,
another women's hoops legend thrilled the Hawkeye State. So pull
out your Iowa history books and you'll find a star
from the days of the WBL. Molly machine Gun Bowlin,
now known as Molly Kasmer. Hailing from Moravia, Iowa, Kasmer
was known for her shooting prowess, and they called her
(44:49):
machine gun because she scored buckets in rapid succession. Her
lore started very early on in her very first high
school game as a junior on her sixteenth birthday. This
was back when girls played six player half court and
could only dribble twice at a time. She scored a
whopping sixty three points. At seventeen, she was invited to
the final tryouts for the nineteen seventy six US women's
(45:11):
Olympic basketball team, and while she didn't make that squad,
she did firmly cement herself on the map of US
based hoopstars, and the legend only grew when in her
senior year she averaged fifty four point eight points a
game and notched a school record eighty three points in
a single contest. Kasmir went on to play college hoops
at Grandview College in Des Moines. Only a few years
(45:32):
after the passage of Title nine and she continued to
shine there, setting a university record with her twenty four
point six points per game in the nineteen seventy eight season.
That same year, she became the first player to sign
to the WBL, joining the Iowa Cornets. She posted single
game totals of fifty fifty three, fifty four, and fifty
five points, including thirty eight and one half, and she
(45:53):
led the league in scoring with the thirty two point
eight point average. Kasmir led the Cornets to two WBL
championship appearances and was a three time WBL All Star
and Slices Just a quick note. In Cosmar's day, there
wasn't a three point line, but she was still putting
up those numbers. During her three years in the WBL.
She played for the Cornetts, the Southern California Breeze, and
(46:14):
the San Francisco Pioneers. When the WBL went under in
nineteen eighty one, she became a fierce advocate and player
for another domestic league, the Women's American Basketball Association, continuing
the mission to create a sustainable and viable pro basketball
league in the States. Now, Molly's story isn't one that's
super well known, but she was one of the folks
who played back when the women's pro game was just
(46:34):
trying to find its footing here in America, and without
players like Molly laying the foundation, we just wouldn't have
the stars we do today. So yes, Caitlin Clark and
machine Gun Molly Kasmer. Yes, and we love that you're listening,
but we want you to get in the game every
day too, So here's our good game play of the day.
(46:54):
Subscribe to Post Moves Kandas Parker's new podcast with a
Leah Boston, and subscribe to our friends at the Show,
Sidney Colson and Teresa Plaisance's new podcast Unsupervised with SIT
and TP. We'll link to both in our show notes.
We always love to hear from you. Hit us up
on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four
fifty seventy and y'all, if you haven't yet, you got
(47:17):
to subscribe, rate and review It's Easy watch Embracing Slowing
Down a Little, rating forty out of forty years to
finally give NOES review Gardening, Cooking, Bird Watching, all of
our near forty and over forty legends lately are coming
on the show and reminding us that it's okay to
be slightly washed. If you'd rather hit a farmer's market
(47:40):
than a club, rather cook a meal than cook someone
on the court, that's okay. There's a time and season
for everything. And my current season trading memes about being
old and washed with Candice Parker, the one she just
sent me quote, I understand old men sitting on porches
staring at an empty field more now than ever. Preach now,
(48:01):
it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Candace, Good game, Molly Casmer you
how hard it is to say no? I'm working on it.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(48:23):
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
(48:43):
from Avery Loftis and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where We've got
only one more sleep till Sydney Colson and Teresa Playzance's
new podcast, Unsupervised drops. That's a must lessen for sure.
It's Wednesday, July twenty third, and on today show will
be giving you my conversation with WNBA legend Candice Parker
from the Wiser Symposium at WNBA All Star Weekend. We
talked about her book, The Can Do Mindset, the impact
(00:23):
Pat's Summit had on her life, what she learned about
herself raising her daughter Layla on the road, and how
she and her wife managed to keep their relationship private
until it was time to welcome the world. In plus Athletes,
Unlimited Softball brings fans out in Drove Sidney McLaughlin. Lavroni
has her sight set on more American history and the
woman who was Kaitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark ever existed.
(00:44):
It's all coming out right after this Welcome back slices.
Here's what you need to know today. In soccer news,
Denver NWSL has got a name and branding. It was
(01:05):
announced on Tuesday that the NWSL's sixteenth team will go
by Denver Summit FC. The name emerged as the favorite
amongst owners and also amongst fans, who voted on six
different options in recent months. Though the fan vote offered
up Colorado summt FC, ownership elected to go with Denver
summt FC. They said they wanted to honor the city's
commitment to building just this second purpose driven stadium built
(01:28):
specifically for an NWSL team. The team's crest is sharp y'all.
It features green mountains that are sloped at a twenty
six degree angle to denote the year the team will
begin play twenty twenty six, and white snowcaps under a
red sky and an orange sun. The team says the
green and white is a nod to the classic Colorado
license plate, and they described the sandstone red sky as
(01:51):
quote a nod to the iconic red rock formations found
throughout the state. Welcome to the party, Denver sum At
FC can't wait to get out to a game. In
Softball News, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League set the record
for the largest crowd in league history. This weekend Saturdays
sold out contest between the Bandits and Volts at Dell
Diamond and Round Rock, Texas drew over sixty five hundred fans,
(02:13):
and get this, it was the largest softball audience in
Texas history. As well, the game itself was a good one.
The Bandits took a four to three come from behind
victory over the Volts. The Bandits have already secured a
spot in this weekend's best of three AUSL Championship Series
and are set to take on the top seeded Talents.
It's not postseason time just yet, though. The last games
(02:33):
of this inaugural AUSL regular season take place tonight, starting
at seven pm Eastern. First, it's the Volts and the
Talons on ESPN two, followed by The Blaze and the
Bandits at eight thirty Eastern on MLB dot Com. We'll
link to the schedule in our show notes. Speaking of
the AUSL Championship, in a statement on Monday, the league
announced that Sephora will be its exclusive beauty partner and
(02:54):
the presenting sponsor of this weekend's AUSL Championship Series. The
brand will be very visible at the series in Tescaloosa, Alabama,
this weekend, helping enhance the fan experience with photo ops, giveaways,
and activations. Sophora is also going to play a similar
role throughout the AUSL All Star Cup in August, including
creating a glam suite for all AUSL athletes as part
(03:16):
of the All Star Cup Media Day. Love to see
Sephora stepping up to support these superstar athletes. In track
and field news, American star Sidney McLaughlin Livroni will not
compete in the four hundred meter hurdles at the upcoming
US Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, opting to focus
on the four hundred meter flat instead. Quick refresher here
so McGlaughlin Lvroni is the best four hundred meter hurdler
(03:37):
of all time, having won every major title that exists
in the event, including two Olympic gold medals. She first
broke the world record in twenty twenty one and has
since lowered her own mark five more times, including at
last summer's Paris Olympics. But in recent years, McLaughlin Livroni
has been increasing her versatility by integrating the four hundred
meter flat into her program with great success. By the
(03:59):
way back in twenty twenty three at the US Championship,
she became the second fastest American woman to ever run
the event, her time of forty eight point seventy four
was just four hundredths off of Sonia Richards Ross's US record,
but she ultimately had to withdraw from that year's World
Championships due to a knee injury. So, needless to say,
McLaughlin larroney feels like she has a little unfinished business
(04:20):
and we should all be on American Record watch during
next week's US Championships. More Track and Field ATHLOS, the
professional women's track and field meet, is adding the long
jump for the second edition of the competition, happening in
New York City in October. The qualifying jumps will be
held on October ninth in Times Square and feature Olympic
stars like Tara Davis, Woodhall, Jasmine Moore, Quinisia Burks and
(04:42):
Moore leaping for the chance to compete for the crown
at the main event the next day. Little Refresher on ATHLOS,
the women's professional track and field competition, was founded by
Serena Williams's husband Alexis Ohanian, debuted in September of twenty
twenty four with just track events and was capped off
by a Megan the Stallion performance. Yet on this year's
musical performance Tickets for the meet on October tenth are
(05:04):
on sale right now. Will link to where you can
snag them in our show notes. We got to take
a quick break when we come back. My conversation with
the legendary Candace Parker during WNBA All Star weekend. We
chopped it up as part of the Wiser Symposium, a
professional development event for women working in sports. You'll hear
our chat right after this. Hi, Candace, Well, Hello, Hello,
(05:36):
so fun. What a great room of folks.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
No, I heard what an energetic So we're going to
bring the energy this morning, and we absolutely are hold
up your book?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
How fired up are we to get this? I was
just talking to your mom backstage, and the can Do
mindset is not just the name of the book. It
is an ethos for the family, and it is a
message that she gave you as a youngster with older brothers,
trying to figure out who am I, what am I
going to be? How can I keep up with them?
(06:08):
Coming to her in tears, thinking like I'm not going
to be able to keep up. And I want you
to tell us how important it was as a young
person to have that support and to have that nudge
to say you can do anything.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, what's so crazy is I grew up down the
hall from two brothers that are eight and eleven years
older than me, and I think being the baby girl
of the family, you know, there were big shoes to
fill in terms of my two older brothers.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
One played ten years in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
He played alongside you know, talk about Chris Bosh, talk
about Lebron James, played for the caz for a while.
And then my middle brother, he went to Johns Hopkins
and he's just a doctor. So it was kind of
just like looking up to these giants of people, but
still having that sibling rivalry of like I want to
(06:57):
do what they do. I want to be better than
what they were doing. And I think at times I
felt like I was measuring my four year old or
five year old self against these people that have been
doing these things for that long.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And so my mom saw my struggle.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
A little bit, and my nickname is can short for Candae,
and she started kind of the mantra of can do.
And it got me through tying my shoes, It got
me through, you know, walking into rooms where I was
a little nervous, It got me through game winning free throws,
it got me through game winning misses. And so I
think it's just that mantra that soon turned into an acronym,
(07:34):
and it stands for community authenticity, navigating negativity, which is
a part of life, dealing and loving the dash, which
is the journey in the middle of a star end
of things and seizing and creating opportunities. And so that's
kind of the lens that I tell the stories to
this book of that can do mindset that you know,
first started when I was a little girl.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Shouts to your mom, Sarah, who's here? Because a doctor?
You pro players coming out of naper thrill, Naperville lapor thrill.
I call it had a right thrill because I grew
up here had a right. You had a right. I mean,
that's an incredible legacy to look up to. And you
had that mentorship at a young age to tell you
you can and to show you that you could. And
(08:17):
then you get to Tennessee and talk about mentorship. The
one and only Pat Summit. I want you to tell
everyone about the time that Pat humbled you. Which time, well, yeah, fair,
fair like which specific time when you were dogging it
at practice or didn't quite give her what she wanted,
and she pulled you out of practice, and you wanted
(08:38):
to prove her that you were better than her, that
you could show her up, that you could show her
that you cared more. And what happened actly, and she
humbled me.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
If you i'll have a chance to check out chapter four.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I think it's chapter four.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I talk a great deal about coach summit. And you know,
being eighteen years old going to college. I have a
sixteen year old daughter that's here. I understand we know everything.
At that age, you know you're stubborn. You feel like
you your way or the highway. Your parents don't know anything. Well,
it's no different when you go to college. You still
feel that about your coach. And in practice one time,
(09:12):
coach some it was huge on offensive rebounding. I can
still hear her scream my name to go to the boards,
and in practice I wasn't and I was kind of
like dogging it a little bit whatever, so she kicked
me out of practice. I go on the back and
you know, like you're mad. You're there by yourself, like
looking at yourself in the mirror, like, oh, like I'm
gonna show her. I'm gonna figure it out, and so
a showered, got dressed. We had six am practice the
(09:35):
next day, and I was like, I'm gonna get there
at four four THIRTYMNA be in a full lather when
she shows up to practice. So I roll up to
the arena and her lights on and she's in her
office and she just finished doing her workout and she
was starting to plan for practice that day. And so
I think what I took from that is, doesn't matter
(09:55):
what you accomplish in life, like, you still have to
love the little thing and doing those little things that
got you there. At that point in time, she had
six national championships, was one of the greatest coaches in
the twenty first century alongside John Wooden. But she still
showed up early, she still did the little things. She
(10:15):
still beat people who were trying to be what she
was at doing those things. And so I think that's
what inspired me the most about Coach Summit, is like
she had all these words, yes, but it was her
actions that backed it up.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, in fact, her words inspired you so much they
are tattooed on you thought that, Yes, of course, you know,
we won a lot of games at the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
But I think The thing that I saw was Coach
Summit was always the same person, no matter whether she
was winning or losing. Now, mind you, practice has changed
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
We ran a few more we.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Ran a few more line drills if we lost, But
Coach Summit was the same whether she was cutting nats
down or dealing with losses, whatever it is. And so
I always admired that about her, that she never really changed.
She always gave credit to people around her, And so
when she got sick and diagnosed, I will never forget
(11:10):
the conversation. She was like, if you're gonna have a
pity party, you're going to be the only one at it,
because I'm going to attack this the way that I've
attacked my entire life.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And it didn't change.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
And so, you know, sitting in her living room, there
was this quote that said left foot, right foot.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Breathe repeat.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
So I asked her, I'm like, Coach, you know, there
are some days where you don't feel like getting up,
Like your intention in that moment was great, but the
work you have to do to achieve that goal, you
don't feel like doing it in those moments. And I said,
how do you get yourself to do it? And she said,
I put one foot in front of the other, I
left foot, right foot, breathe, repeat, And so I felt like,
(11:46):
even though she wasn't big on tattoos, I feel like
this one she would really appreciate.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, there's the youngster, and you're still giving a little
dig to your coach.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I would definitely have to cover these up with arm bands. Actually,
the adoptive MoMA of.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
The focus of my book has as saying, pity parties,
I don't throw them and I don't attend them. I
like that, so we can always use that. How has
your relationship to some of Pat's knowledge and advice changed
over the years. She was giving you those words as
a young person, and she passed before a lot of
the things that you've been able to accomplish and a
lot of the roles you've been able to take on.
(12:23):
You're now a mother, you're now a business woman, you're
a leader at companies. Are there things that she told
you when you were younger that as you've aged the
words start to change for you.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
It's so crazy, because I think all of us can
relate to this, her definite doesn't. And there are some
youngsters in here that we're probably in diapers when I
was playing at the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So I'm going to give you a little bit of.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Homework of just going and looking up her definite dozen
because basketball is life. Sports is a microcosm of life,
and so everything that you learn with in the game,
it's a life lesson. And every year I got to Tennessee,
she would always assign players certain definite dozens, and mine
(13:07):
inevitably was handle success as you handle failure. And it's
not the way that you all look at it, like
I'm not gloating or whatever. It was more so I
beat myself up when I lost, or when I missed
a shot, or when I didn't play well, and it
really is in life, it's about that next possession. We
had to say at Tennessee, and we always did it,
(13:28):
you know, whenever we were communicating a coach summit emphasize communication.
And now you're communicating with people that come from all
with different walks of life, different upbringings, all of those things.
And so we had a system that when you would
tell me something good, I would say two points, move
on to the next play. If you told me a criticism,
then I had to say rebound, and a rebound is
a chance to get it back, to do it better
(13:49):
the next time to but you're still moving on. And
so I think that's something that I take with me,
is like, you can't dwell on what you did because
it's going to impact going forward what you're gonna do.
You got to learn from it, You got to live
in the moment, and you got to move on and
control what you can control. And I think there was
nobody better of just continuing those lessons, And even to
(14:13):
this day, I still am learning those lessons as a
thirty something year old woman.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Next time my husband's critical, I'll be like, rebound two points. Yeah,
you got pregnant with your daughter, Laila, who I just
saw backstage is now taller than me already. Yeah. Great,
great team. And you got pregnant after this historic rookie
season where you were the first and still only player
(14:38):
to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the
same season. You are riding this high and then you
find out you're pregnant. What were the emotions.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
It's so wild because I think this book kind of
served as like a little therapy session. I pushed sin
on my Instagram posts of retiring and then kind of
had to unpack my entire career during that period of time.
So I'm grateful for it, and I think a lot
of the unpacking was, you know, at twenty two, twenty
three years old, I had always wanted to be a mom,
(15:09):
Like from the time I was younger, I knew I
wanted a little girl. I had named them, like, I
knew I wanted to be a mom, And you know,
I always wanted to have both a career as well
as have a family. And I think when I first
found out I was pregnant, immediately my mind shifted to, like, well,
what is everybody going to think? What are my sponsors
(15:30):
going to think? And unpacking that in the book, I
kind of peeled it back and was like, how unfair
is that as a woman to want to have a
family and your first thought is your career and what
everybody's going to think. Because a lot of the endorsements,
they want to tell the story once the kids here,
but they don't want to go through the process of
(15:51):
when you're pregnant and when you can't play. And there's
a part in the book that I talk about I'm
at a huge you know, a pregame shoot around and
somebody is like, where's Layla, And I am fuming because
I'm like, this isn't a question that you're asking before
the playoffs to Lebron James.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, you're just asking it.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
To me, And so I think it just going through,
Like we have grown so much in the WNBA, But
at the time, there was no maternity leave. You got
paid when you came back from playing. I mean to playing.
I had to buy out half of my hotel room
because we shared rooms at the time, and I was nursing.
I nursed for fifteen months and my mom would come
(16:31):
along and take care Leila to buy a plane ticket
from my mom. There was no childcare feet like, there
was none of that. And so I'm proud because I
think that we have done a great job of moving
that along in terms of maternity health as well as
family planning because you're playing during your prime years of
your life. But I will say, I think we still
(16:54):
have more room to go, and I think that I
want to challenge the WNBA to be the bar of
what motherhood and parenthood looks like, what family planning looks like.
Because of a league of all women run by women,
you know, that's what we have to have. And so
I think the women now are taking the lead. You're
seeing a lot more moms that are able to have
babies and come back and play and things like that.
(17:16):
But I also want to say, you know, maternity leave.
I realized throughout as I was watching the Tennessee coach
come back a week after giving birth to her son
and beat Yukon.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Sorry I just slipped that in. Yeah, I just slipped
that in.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And everybody was commending her on the broadcast, like, look
at that, she's back. And in my head, I came
back fifty four days after having my daughter. And in
my head, I'm like, if coming back is strength, then
taking your full maternity is weak. And that's not the case.
I think we have that in place for a reason.
(17:54):
And so we should really empower mothers and parents because
once you become one, you, like all of us need support.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
We need we need so much support.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
And now I have three and I really commend parents
that aad boys, because I'm like going crazy right now.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
But yeah, the strength is the choice. Yes, if you
want to come back in fifty four days, it's strong
to make the choice that you'll figure out how to
do that, and if you want to take your full time,
it's take that choice exactly. I mean, honestly, it's it's
we already know that women can never win. But if
you're a career woman, then the question is always are
you going to have babies? And if you have a baby,
then it's always one of you getting back to your
(18:29):
career exactly, So you can't you can't win either way.
You gave birth in May of two thousand and nine,
so Layla was with you every step of the way
for your career. She grew up on the road and
on planes, hotels, sleeping airport that was her nap time. Yeah,
what did you learn about yourself in order to make
that work? I'm going to start with patience, I'm guessing,
(18:51):
but what else did you learn in those moments, especially
because you were as high achieving as they come, and
I have to image there were moments throughout that journey
that you were very humbled by not being able to
figure it out the first time or to get everything
done that you wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
I realized how much we are not in control. And
I think that's what motherhood has taught me, is you
have all of these plans. Two of my friends just
had babies and they're like, they're gonna sleep all night.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
They called us in the middle of the night.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
She's not sleeping, you know, and Leila would inevitably, she
was the best baby, best kid. We traveled to Russia,
to China, to everywhere, but inevitably it'd be a big
playoff game.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
He would be up all night screaming, you know. And
I think it's just nervous for you.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
She was was she was nervous for She was nervous
for the playoffs. You're right, but I do feel like
you're not in control. And I think that relinquishing that
was is a superpower because a lot of times we
do try to like micromanage and control things. And I
think my kids have really taught me you literally do
(19:58):
the best that you can.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
You relinquish the results, and you keep it moving.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
There are some days where I would come to practice
and I know my teammates were probably looking at me crazy,
but they didn't know that I was just.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Up all night.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Nobody cares about that when the lights are on. So like,
you do the best that you can and try not
to make, you know, try not to make those excuses,
but it is hard, and I did have to give
myself grace. I grew up with a mom that was
at everything. She was there when sitting front row in
a play that I had one line and I was
just like, geez, you really don't have to come, you know.
(20:31):
And so it's really hard for me to not be
that for Leila because that's what I saw as motherhood.
And so I think it's giving ourselves grace of understanding,
like we all are just doing the best that we can.
And I'm super grateful in the order that we've had
our kids, because I cannot imagine my second son sleeping
in booths and traveling like we don't take him on planes.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
So I just I realized how great of a child Laila,
and how patient, and how we just looked at each
other and we were literally just trying to figure it out.
And so it's super special to have her goal along
on the journey with me and to kind of see
the world through her eyes, like she I use this.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
All the time.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
At the Grammy's Blue Ivy sitting between jay Z and
Beyonce's who the best singers performers ever, and She's like,
where are my spruit snacks like they don't. Your kids
do not care what you do, you know, and so
I think that that was a superpower and Layla just
wanted her mom, and so I think being able basketball
was my first love, and I think Leyla has allowed
(21:35):
me to kind of move that to the side a
little bit and understand that there's more to life than
just basketball.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I think your kids don't care what you do, but
also they do see what you do, yes, And I
will say that there is so much greatness and joy
and the parent that is there for everything, and there
is so much to be learned from the parent that
is doing other things that you're watching. And I remember
growing up my mom's a lawyer. She wasn't there for
like the tea parties that the moms who didn't work
would come to during the day at school, and I
would feel sad. And I had great teachers who said, oh,
(22:03):
you're so lucky. Your mom's so smart and so successful
and a career woman, and you're learning from her. And
it changed my mindset on why she wasn't there, and
I was able to use that to motivate myself. So
I think it's fine either way as long as you
find the lesson in it and it feels intentional.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
When you are there, you know, and there's presence and presence.
And I say that in like I love you know,
even though when I'm not there, I'm going to be present.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I'm gonna you know.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
We used to do sleep calendars when I would have
to travel, and she would make me a sleep calendar
and I would make hers of how many nights, So
if it's three nights away, you know, we would FaceTime
at night I think with Skype at the time, and
we would cross out the nights, you know, because it
is hard. You do feel guilty, But you know, I
hope that she understands that whatever is possible to be
(22:55):
at I'm going to be there, and even when I'm not,
I am there, you know, making sure.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Sure that she's doing what she's supposed to. Take me
back to twenty sixteen. It's a tough year. You separate
from your husband, you get cut from the Olympic team,
and pat summit passes away, and you also lead your
sparks team to a title. How did you do that?
How did you compartmentalize or process and heal while simultaneously
(23:21):
pushing for that moment.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
What's crazy is I look back at twenty sixteen and
it was such a blur because it literally was left foot,
right foot.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Breathe, repeat.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And basketball has always been my solace through whatever ups
and downs. That's why it's been so hard with injuries,
because I can't go play basketball to get away from everything.
So in twenty sixteen, I think when things happen, sometimes
we doubt our pass, you know, and we doubt what
(23:56):
we did before and our preparation and things like that.
I learned to reevaluate, not doubt. I feel like there's
a purpose in everything that happens. And I feel like,
you know, you still have to look yourself in the
mirror and know who you are, and I think twenty
sixteen allowed me to do that even more so, you know,
to quiet the noise, to really like get back to
(24:18):
what makes me happy. And so, you know, obviously Pat
passing away was a huge blow, but I feel like
everything's full circle, Like we won off of an offensive rebound,
you know.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
What I mean. Like that's crazy. So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I just think that twenty sixteen was super difficult in
one hand, but in one hand, nine years it took
me to win a WBA championship with my team and
to then have that at the end. I think you
need those things sometimes to remind yourself why you go
through the grind every day and why you're doing. You know,
(24:58):
you get up every day and you try to be
a good person, and you work out and you do
you know, you set goals and all of those things,
and so I think it teaches you, you know, you're
going through a tough time now, but continue to be
who you are. And so, you know, I really leaned
into that with Coach Summit especially.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
It took you nine years to win that first title,
but the Cubs won in twenty sixteen. It took them
one hundred and eight to get that one, So you
were actually on a pretty fast track. You were you
were doing okay. I mentioned that you separated from your
husband that year. Years later you announced a relationship with
your wife who's here, and that you were already married.
Made the big announcement. Yeah, I need you to tell
(25:38):
me the story of the wedding and your agent requests.
Oh yeah, the attendees sign and I'm like, we don't
otherwise it's for sure getting out. Yeah. No, we we
had a small intimate Yeah, I wasn't invited, so cool.
Your irritation was in the mail. You didn't take you Okay? Cool.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
We had a small ceremony in Mexico and it was amazing.
It was fifty how many people sixty okay, sixty of
our closest family and friends. And my agent was flipping
out because he was.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Like, somebody's gonna say something. We need NDAs or he
wanted a statement, right, He's like, either take a statement
or whatever. And I was like, listen, We're going to
do things at our own pace, which is part of growth, right,
Like all of us found knowing what you want to
do and upholding those boundaries. And my wife and I
we just wanted to enjoy that moment. We didn't want
(26:32):
the stress of everything else. And for two years there
was this bubble around that magical day and you know,
it was beautiful. It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
We didn't do an NDA's and we were able to
tell our own story. I didn't want to do, you know,
a release or whatever. We just did an Instagram post
and shocked some people. But I think people that have
been around women's basketball, they see her and some knew
and some didn't. But I'm grateful for people allowing me
(27:06):
and my wife and my family to do things at
our own pace, at our own time. And I talk
a lot about in the book support system and in
this day and age where we see what going viral
can do to families and people and things like that,
we should all just be respectful of.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
That, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
And it doesn't mean that we're ashamed or embarrassed. Sometimes
it's just not your business, you know what I mean,
or something that we don't we're not comfortable sharing. And
I think that that there in this day and age,
that has to be a priority for all of us
to make sure that we're you know, we're doing that.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
I just can't believe your group of friends, like tell
us your secret, how do you curate sixty people? We'll
have going on to that for two years and it
never gets out.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
My favorite comment I read one of the comments and
actually Vanessa Bryan send it to me, where it was
like I need Cannas Parker Adele and Vanessa Bryant's friends,
and you know it's I feel like the people around
you are so important, you know, like you can't have
(28:13):
just a bunch of yes people and people that are
gonna just let you, you know, act stupid and make
bad choices. But you also need people that are going
to show up and be supportive. Not when we're cutting
down nets, but when you know you need to pull
up and talk or you need support and things like that.
And so I am super grateful for my family and
(28:34):
my support system. And I mean, I'm still best friends
with my friends since seventh grade. She was at the
wedding with her husband, I mean down the line. So
I'm just grateful for, you know, for our family and
our friends.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
How did you feel about fans and sponsors and how
they might react to the news that you were not
only married to a woman, but that maybe what they
you know, that they were behind on the news, that
they hadn't been let in on this for several years.
What's wild? And again I'm just on repeat. I talk
about this in the book.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
It's interesting because I would be in these scenarios years
and years ago, and fans would walk up to me
like it was a badge of honor that I was straight,
And for a while, I think sometimes others felt that
and I had to unpack that as well. That are
(29:26):
we hesitant for this? Because it's a disappointment, like you know,
or I had someone be like, you should probably negotiate
your TV deal before you come out. You know, Like
it's just things like that impact like who I love
is impacting all of these things, which is wild. And
I understand we are getting better in our world and
(29:47):
more progressive and you know, all of those things, but
there's still so much, so many things that we need
to fix. And I think that was like a look
the mirror type of scenario where it is kind of crazy.
You know, we are in the WNBA, the majority of
(30:09):
the minority in this country, and if I'm not living
authentically and if I'm in some way, shape or form.
I think when we went through the process of having
our son, that's where I was like, no, like we
need to tell people because I don't want my son
to ever think I don't love his mom or that
there was some sort of difference, and so, you know,
(30:31):
I think it's a lot to unpack. But it's also
a balance of privacy versus you know, letting people in and.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
The amount of people that you helped by wanting to
talk about it, and that's your choice. You don't owe
the people that, but you know. For instance, producer of
my show Good Game with Sarah Spain Subscribe now, Mesh
actually on a recent show talked about you in particular
and how early in the w the baby haired assassin
who was a straight, beautiful woman with a husband and
(31:01):
a kid was a great advertisement for a league that
often pushed back against stereotypes about queer black women being
the majority of the players, and you were able to
be this avatar for this thing that they wanted to
prove existed in the league and was the face of
the league. But then at the same time, your decision
to be authentic and talk about your wife and your
family now has made it easier for so many people
(31:23):
coming up to feel authentic in their own life and
their identity. And so you taking back that narrative and
saying I'm in charge of what's true and also what
i want to be is really powerful.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I know what it's like to look at people and
want to be them. I remember as a kid watching
Robin Roberts on Sports Center, and I thought it was
the coolest thing that you have this woman that's up
there like holding her own talking about sports.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You know, the coverage was different. I just liked it.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I saw her and myself, and I cannot tell you
enough how much my heart smiles. When I was actually
here at All Star for NBA All Star and we
did a screening of my doc and there was a
couple that was in the in the the theater and
(32:16):
she stood up to grab the mic and I saw
her like handshaking, and so she's telling me, you know, basically,
you know, how did I decide to, you know, be
unapologetic and was it something that I just woke up
and was one day or da da da?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And so answer the question.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
I leave and I feel a tap on my back
and she's like, you know, my girlfriend and I we've
been together for six years and we just can't come
to tell our family because our families aren't accepting and
da da dah and all this stuff. So she starts crying,
I start crying whatever. And so then fast forward, I
see her this is Geez a year later and she's
like showing me her ring and she's like, you know,
(32:55):
we had the difficult conversations and we talked about it,
and so I think there's not a one side fits
all approach, but I think the more that we can
support and come from a place of like understanding and
not a place like I talk about this all the
time sometimes don't say anything. Just don't say anything, let
the person talk and be who they are. And I
(33:16):
think that's that's what's crazy to me, is that people
are scared to be who they are and that you know,
if you love them, you should encourage that.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Yeah, you guys have two children, Aaron Hart, how different
was raising kids? Not on the road, not playing ball,
not you know, missing them, but also getting that break.
What's it been like?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
It has been unbelievable to be at home more. I
all often we'll push back on that though, because I
do broadcasting, so I'm gone a little bit, but not
I'm not running up and down the court and you know,
doing shoot around and all that stuff. But it has
been unbelievable to be able to be present. I The
reason why I had to end my career is because
(34:01):
I broke my navicular bone in my foot, which is
one of the worst bones that doesn't have a blood supply.
So I had a reconstructive surgery and in my head
I was done, but I was like holding out hope,
like maybe well, when I broke my foot, I found
out at All Star in twenty twenty three, Yeah, twenty
twenty three, that I wasn't gonna be able to play
the rest of the season, and so had my surgery.
(34:24):
And I'm sitting in the bleachers and I'm at my
daughter's first Varsy volleyball game, and I'm like, this is
where I'm supposed to be. You know, all those years
we grinded, we did all those things, like you know,
we were in Russia and Spain and Turkey and China
and flying here and there in six months and come
back and jump to the WBA. So now it's like
a weird dynamic of being president at home and going
(34:47):
to farmers markets and you know, like I mean, we
literally my son wakes up in the.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Morning, He's like Farmer's Market.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I'm like, dude, no, it's Saturday, Like farmers Market's on Saturday.
So it's amazing because I didn't think I was a
person I could ever slow down. But there's beauty in that.
There's beauty in the steady, slow pace. And I'm I'm
figuring out that balance of it. And so my sons
have kept me present. They you know, I smell their
feet and know what their feet are you know what
(35:15):
their feet smell like? Whereas like Layla, it was just
kind of like, let's we gotta go, like it's like.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
A mad dash.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
And so it's been a lot slower, and I think
I've been a lot slower with Layla as a teenager
as well, which has been great.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
I feel like the nice thing about getting older and
for the young people out there who think us old
are lying when we say it gets better. I thought
that too, but it actually is. And there are some
people that this doesn't happen for, but a lot of
folks you do just naturally want to slow down, yes,
and you get washed and you want to like go
to farmers markets and birdwatch and like garden and stuff
(35:48):
instead of plubbing. I'm not at bird watching yet, no bird,
but you'll get there. There is a little mocking bird,
like yeah, there's a whole mocking bird that shows up
in my backyard. You get into it cool, and they're
watching it.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
I'm like I remember my grandma watching squirrels, and I'm
like I'm turning in.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You're doing it, yeah, and it feels nice. Yeah. Yeah.
I just interviewed Megan Rapino and she's like I'm just
I'm into photography and cooking, and I'm like, yeah, you're washed,
like welcome, true, yeah, true, there's beauty in it though, yes,
but you're also still very busy. Fifth down Capital Avenue,
Capital Ownership in the group, trying to bring the WNBA
to Nashville. President of Adidas Women's Basketball on camera gigs
(36:26):
with TNT and Amazon. A newly announced podcast with the
Indiana Fever's a Leah Boston board seedscribe subscribe Yeah. Board
seats for all sorts of things, including unexpected things like
Mike's Hot Honey that you're on the board for by Mike. Hi, honey,
it's really good. It's so good on pizza if you
get like, you know, like coprese a pizza and then
a little Mike's Hot Honey on top.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Like I'm literally I'm not even kidding. I know I'm
on the board, so technically I should say.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
This, but it is really good. I'm not on the board.
It's becoming salmon. All that just amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
How do you decide what to say yes too? You know,
I think it's more so what I'm saying no too,
and know is a full sentence, And I think you
feel it in your bones when it's not right.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
I do not stew over decisions.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I am one of those decision makers where I feel
like my favorite book is Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, and it
talks about decision making and how we kind of stew
over all of these things when really it's a snap
decision and you just know. But it's all of everything
connecting for you to just know. It's an intuition, your experience,
and I don't know, I just truly believe in like
(37:37):
my gut and my heart and all of those things aligning.
And so in that process sometimes there are things where
I'm like, no, it just is not going to fit
into what you know, who I am and how I operate.
And as you get older, you not only birdwatch and
become washed, you also understand the power of no.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
And I had to.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Go through that where you're on a plane and you're like,
why did I Why did I decide to do this?
It's taking away And so I think it's more the
addition part of making sure that it's not subtracting too much.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Yeah, there's a great phrase, make sure when you're saying
yes to something, you're not saying no. To something else,
and you pretty much always are, even if the other
thing is just time at home or time relaxing to
do something else. One of the things that I think
is hard for legends like you is that at any moment,
you could be giving yourself to something you do want
to say yes to and you do care about. And
(38:30):
I think, especially in women's sports, there's an expectation to
always be giving back, often at low ball prices. I've
talked to Abby Wambach about this. She's like it took
her wife, who's outside of the sports world, to tell her,
every time you say yes to that for no money,
you're allowing them to not pay other women too. And yes,
you want to help that charity, and yes you want
to help that cause, and yes you want to support
(38:52):
women's sports. But if you're giving all of your time
and energy and getting nothing back and allowing them to
do that to everyone else, it just perpetuates the idea
that the value isn't there. And I wonder how you
handle that. I need to ask for something to prove
my value, but also I really want to say yes
to these things. Or maybe you don't have time and
you have to say no. How do you reconcile that
with yourself, because I feel tremendous guilt. I'm terrible at
(39:13):
saying no. I always want to sign the thing and
meet the people and help the person, and I need
to learn how to be better at that. What do
you tell yourself when you're like, this isn't a fit,
But that doesn't mean I don't support it and I'm
not with you.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Well, first, I'm like you, especially early on, but I
have people around me now that are like no, your
children mostly just exactly, but like aren't like no, this
is the value and like you said, you're giving up something,
so it's got to be worth it. And in terms
of women's sports, not just basketball, across the board and
(39:50):
how brands now are hopping on board whereas before it's
proving your worth. Women have to prove their worth over
over and over again. And that's what it is. And
you're looking at the WNBA now and a lot of
it had to do with numbers don't lie. Nil does
not lie when you come into the league, and there
(40:11):
is a price, that's what it is. You looked at
social media, you looked at nil, you looked at all
of that stuff, and so I think we as individuals especially,
you have to know your worth and you have to
be okay because guess what they did this poll. It's
so funny, especially for Gatorade. I think you were in
the board meeting where they were talking about women together
(40:32):
in Gatorade and they were talking about how women don't
consider themselves athletes, but a guy that goes and works
out once a week is like.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Yeah, I'm an athlete. Yeah, gatory, you.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Know, And so I need to fuel my body exactly.
I need that level of confidence when we walk into
board meetings that if you work out and walk once.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
A week, you think you're an athlete.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
That's the type of level of confidence that I think
women have to have and understanding this is not, you know,
discrediting you, This is not being respectful. It's knowing your
own worth and being willing to walk away from the
table if they're not giving you that.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
And I think we're seeing that across women's sports in
so many spaces, whether it's the new CBA negotiation, to
TV deals to anything else. And now that we actually
have the hard data and facts for it, it makes
it a lot easier to walk in those rooms and
be like, hey, look, the Golden State Valkyries are a
six hundred million dollar franchise. They haven't even finished a season,
Like when valuations are that high, when the NWSL is
getting better ratings than a lot of men's leagues and
(41:27):
they're still getting low ball down their TV rights, like,
we thankfully have the data now to help step into
those rooms with that confidence. We can also all buy
a mug that I've seen. That's God, grant me the
confidence of a mediocre white man. My apologies to mediocre
white men in the room. I see you, Oh that's
a bar, put it on a T shirt. We're out
(41:49):
of time, so I have one last question for you.
What's the dream you have that no one knows about?
What's the scary haven't had time to do it? Or
you're too scared to try it. It's stand up comedy,
it's art, it's acting. Is there anything that always in
the back of your head you've been like, Oh, I'd
always like to do that, but you've never done it.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
That's a really so I am such a foodie Like
I'm a foodie and I am a Whino like I
love wine, I love food like my love language is that?
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Have we changed the meaning of whino or are you're
trying to get us to reach out with help? I
think it just mean a connoisseur, A connoisseur. Yeah, well
all right, well yeah, call it what you want, but
appreciate it. Yeah, love it.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And so I would love to do like a Anthony
Bourdain like sports and wine and food, and I would
love to do that and kind of talk about history.
I'm a huge I love history and every museum possible.
I've been to the Kennedy Monument over here in Indianapolis.
Like literally every museum in every city across the world,
(42:52):
I've probably been to at least once. And so I
think doing some type of show like that would be
really cool.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
And there's so many many ballers and former ballers that
are really in like the wine space and the food space.
So you could do a really cool kind of collab
with some folks that get into that. Oh yeah, all right, well,
but happy out there's listening. Call up Candace.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
Thank you so much, and you thank you, Thank you everybody,
you guys.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Thanks so much to Candace for joining me. Had a
blast talking tour, and thanks again to Why's for having us.
We got to take another break when we return a
Yes and featuring a women's hoops legend that'll get you
so many cloud points at Trivia Night. Welcome back Slices.
(43:44):
All Right. So if you listen to Monday Show, you
might recall that producer Mesh talked about the WBL, or
the Women's Professional Basketball League. It was the first pro
women's hoops league in the US, and it existed from
nineteen seventy eight to nineteen eighty one. In the spirit
of continuing to appreciate the women's sports pioneers laid the
foundation for the landscape we have today. It's time to
shine a light on one of the wbl's brightest stars,
(44:06):
which brings us to the latest edition of Yes and
all Right. I think we all know that Indiana Fever
star Caitlin Clark bleeds Iowa. She's a des Moin native.
Played for the All Iowa Attack, AAU basketball program, and
went on to the University of Iowa, restoring it to
a level of prominence it hadn't seen in a very
long time before she became the number one overall pick
(44:28):
in the WNBA Draft in twenty twenty four. But before Clark,
another women's hoops legend thrilled the Hawkeye State. So pull
out your Iowa history books and you'll find a star
from the days of the WBL. Molly machine Gun Bowlin,
now known as Molly Kasmer. Hailing from Moravia, Iowa, Kasmer
was known for her shooting prowess, and they called her
(44:49):
machine gun because she scored buckets in rapid succession. Her
lore started very early on in her very first high
school game as a junior on her sixteenth birthday. This
was back when girls played six player half court and
could only dribble twice at a time. She scored a
whopping sixty three points. At seventeen, she was invited to
the final tryouts for the nineteen seventy six US women's
(45:11):
Olympic basketball team, and while she didn't make that squad,
she did firmly cement herself on the map of US
based hoopstars, and the legend only grew when in her
senior year she averaged fifty four point eight points a
game and notched a school record eighty three points in
a single contest. Kasmir went on to play college hoops
at Grandview College in Des Moines. Only a few years
(45:32):
after the passage of Title nine and she continued to
shine there, setting a university record with her twenty four
point six points per game in the nineteen seventy eight season.
That same year, she became the first player to sign
to the WBL, joining the Iowa Cornets. She posted single
game totals of fifty fifty three, fifty four, and fifty
five points, including thirty eight and one half, and she
(45:53):
led the league in scoring with the thirty two point
eight point average. Kasmir led the Cornets to two WBL
championship appearances and was a three time WBL All Star
and Slices Just a quick note. In Cosmar's day, there
wasn't a three point line, but she was still putting
up those numbers. During her three years in the WBL.
She played for the Cornetts, the Southern California Breeze, and
(46:14):
the San Francisco Pioneers. When the WBL went under in
nineteen eighty one, she became a fierce advocate and player
for another domestic league, the Women's American Basketball Association, continuing
the mission to create a sustainable and viable pro basketball
league in the States. Now, Molly's story isn't one that's
super well known, but she was one of the folks
who played back when the women's pro game was just
(46:34):
trying to find its footing here in America, and without
players like Molly laying the foundation, we just wouldn't have
the stars we do today. So yes, Caitlin Clark and
machine Gun Molly Kasmer. Yes, and we love that you're listening,
but we want you to get in the game every
day too, So here's our good game play of the day.
(46:54):
Subscribe to Post Moves Kandas Parker's new podcast with a
Leah Boston, and subscribe to our friends at the Show,
Sidney Colson and Teresa Plaisance's new podcast Unsupervised with SIT
and TP. We'll link to both in our show notes.
We always love to hear from you. Hit us up
on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave
us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four
fifty seventy and y'all, if you haven't yet, you got
(47:17):
to subscribe, rate and review It's Easy watch Embracing Slowing
Down a Little, rating forty out of forty years to
finally give NOES review Gardening, Cooking, Bird Watching, all of
our near forty and over forty legends lately are coming
on the show and reminding us that it's okay to
be slightly washed. If you'd rather hit a farmer's market
(47:40):
than a club, rather cook a meal than cook someone
on the court, that's okay. There's a time and season
for everything. And my current season trading memes about being
old and washed with Candice Parker, the one she just
sent me quote, I understand old men sitting on porches
staring at an empty field more now than ever. Preach now,
(48:01):
it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Candace, Good game, Molly Casmer you
how hard it is to say no? I'm working on it.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(48:23):
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rutterer.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
(48:43):
from Avery Loftis and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.
Host
Sarah Spain
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