November 7, 2024 • 48 mins
In this episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly talk with former WNBA player Candace Parker about how she’s making a name for herself off the court. Parker shares how she got into the business side of basketball by working closely with Adidas, her former sponsor, why she loves being an NBA broadcaster and what she’s looking for in her investments.
Become a Bloomberg.com subscriber using our special intro offer at bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. You’ll unlock deep reporting, data and analysis from reporters around the world, plus access to a suite of subscriber-only newsletters.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Jason Kelly. I'm Alex Rodriguez, and welcome to the deal.
On this episode, Candace Parker. All right, Alex, we are
catching Candace at an amazing moment in her career. She's
stopped playing She's moved on to being a business person
full stop. Reminds me a little bit in her ambition
(00:33):
of somebody I know who used to play bass.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
You know, I really connected with her. I felt like,
very much like I was looking in the mirror a
little bit. She has such a great vision, a clear,
big vision. But she's also a media star. I believe
she'll be a future owner in the NBA and WNBA.
She has a wonderful relationship with Adidas where they made
her the president of basketball for women's basketball. And if
(00:56):
she was a stock, Jason, I would buy as much
as I can.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This is a good one. Folks. Up next, Candas Parker,
all right, please introduce yourself.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I'm Cannas Parker, so happy to join you all.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And how would you describe what you're doing these days?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I'm more outside the lines, I would say.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
I think my whole goal is to continue to grow
the game of women's basketball and women's sports in general,
and so was named to dida's women's basketball president recently
this year, just kind of like the business of sports,
if you will. And then also doing a little broadcasting
with the guys on TNT in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Early in your career, you know, you grew up in Illinois,
you end up at University of Tennessee, which is already
iconic at that moment when good are you made it?
More so a couple of national championships you played for
Pat Summit. We talk a lot about coaches being influential.
I mean, Alex talks all the time about how pivotal
(02:10):
that was for him. When you think about the pantheon
of coaches Pat Summit is there across all sports. Tell
us about meeting her and what convinced you to go
to Tennessee, because that clearly is when you talk about deals,
like making that deal really changes the trajectory of your career.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
Well, what's crazy was, Yeah, it was in between the lines.
You know, obviously I wanted to play basketball. I didn't
go to Tennessee to like be a writer, like. I
went there with the mindset that I wanted to play basketball.
As a career. She was landing from speaking to the
CIA when I flew in for an unofficial visit, Like
let that set in, and I remember my dad just
(02:51):
kind of like sitting back in his chair. And my
dad is the one that is the visionary and the
like he's the one that was like, you're six or four,
but you're still going to be able to dribble, shoot, pass.
We're not going to stand you by the basket. And
in other ways, I think it was the same. He
wanted someone that would teach me not just basketball and
the x's and o's, but about like after the ball
(03:13):
stops bouncing and those lessons that you learn now are
going to be applied later. And Coach Summit was the
perfect example for that. Like I wanted to be a
mom and to watch her just balance being a mom
as well as being one of the best, if not
the best coach ever and win national championships, her as
(03:34):
a human, growing the game of women's basketball when she
was at the forefront of Title nine before it was popular.
So just being able to like see all of that
at a young age and then now be able to
learn those lessons through that, I think that's what got
and sold myself and my parents.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
I get really nerdy about this, like Jason said, like
because my father left at the age of ten, Mentors
and coaches kind of you know, formulated my life really
and really made such a big impression and inspiration in
my life. But specifics, is there one or two things
you can share because we didn't play for Coach Summit
that really motivated you that to this day that you
(04:12):
still carry with you.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
One hundred percent. The biggest thing with Coach Summitt is
she was the same person when she was hanging banners
as when she was going through rough patches. And you know,
she has a definite dozen principles that she would give
all of us when we first arrived at Tennessee, and
she would check back in with us every year, and
(04:34):
every year she would assigned a different definite dozen. Well
I got the same one every year. It was handle
success as you handle failure. And it was the opposite
of what you think. I think I beat myself up
when I miss a shot or when I'm not successful
or when I lose a game. But it was like
you move on real quick when you succeed. And so
it was like these lessons every single year. I would
come back and get different lessons from things that I
(04:55):
observed about her. But Coach Summit just had a presence.
I think she'd man did greatness and respect, but she
was one of the best listeners, and I think that's
what set me up a little bit because the expectation
where was all coaches were like that because I played
for my dad, my high school coach, and Pat Summit,
so the expectation was like this is how it was,
(05:17):
but wasn't. She would come to time out and be like, Parker,
what do you think?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Right? This coach is asking me what I think?
Speaker 5 (05:23):
And then sometimes we would do what I would say,
or sometimes we wouldn't. But the times we would do
it or not do it, I would still feel ownership
and feel heard. That's what separates her is she was
one of the best listeners and would really take what
you said into account.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Talk to us about the game of basketball at that
level at that moment, because that was when if you
were coming up, that was when you were going to
be the most popular. So what was it like in
that era? What do you remember most distinctly about those days?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It was before all the Instagram and Facebook, so I
look at that as like the good old days a
little bit. Playing basketball at that time, it was like
the intimate you watch in television or you're at the game,
and that's how you kinda were able to be a
part of what we were doing.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
But I will say I think was Diana.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Tarasi said to me, and this is when we played
together in Russia. She said, your heyday is when you're
playing in college and then people slowly but surely forget
about you as you progress in the WNBA. And I
just thought it was so weird because it's like opposite
for the men. We were winning national championships. We were
rock stars on the road. I mean we sold out
arenas and we had the highest attendance at home games,
(06:34):
and I mean playing in front of twenty four thousand
screaming fans at Thompson Bowling Arena in Knoxville on a
random Sunday against Vanderbilt or against Yukon on national television
with that rivalry, and I think it set the stage
for solidifying that women's basketball was special. But it also
was like, this is what we're capable of if it's
(06:56):
properly invested in. And I think that was the whole separation.
I don't think it was the talent. I think it
was the proper investment that we needed within the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And when you were in college and you're playing in
front of sold out crowds and you guys were rock stars,
did Candice Parker already start thinking about life after WNBA
and being a rock star in the world of business
and where you are today? How far back do you
go back to visualizing the future?
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Well, for I would say a semester and a half
I was a finance major because I really wanted to
do that, and then coach Summit wouldn't change practice and
I needed a pre wreck and I was like, I'm
not staying here another year and a half for finance.
But yeah, I always wanted to do and be a
part of and learn outside of basketball, And you know,
(07:44):
that includes asking questions. I think immediately in broadcasting, just learning,
you know, learning about media, learning how to communicate, learning
how to be behind the camera and what goes on
and what you know, what the expectations are, but also
just asking why you know and when you're walking into
meetings you sign a business manager finance team like learning
(08:05):
to ask questions. I think was my end to a
lot of different things. And I learned that early on
in college where people like answering questions. You know, I
think a lot of people are scared to ask them,
but if you ask, usually there's a relationship that's developed.
Questions are answered, you know, and you learn more. And
so I think that was kind of my Okay, the
(08:27):
more questions I asked, the more lanes are going to open.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
And so that's kind of what I did early on.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Where does that come from? Do you think? Because there
are a lot of people in your shoes who had
a big content, especially given the level of fame that
you're achieving at the college level, like this is awesome.
I'm just going to do this as long as I can.
What gave you that need? It sounds like to look
around the corner and to think about what was next?
(08:52):
Is that from growing up? Like where does that come from?
Speaker 5 (08:55):
I'm like the annoying little sister that I always asked
why I have two older brothers there eight and eleven
years older than me, my heroes. I always ask why,
and we always debated, And so I think that was
also people are like, how do you sit at the
desk with Chuck and Shack and Kenny and d Wade
and you know, Jamal and all of those guys, how
do you sit there? And I'm like, that was every
Saturday and Sunday in our house, right, And so I
(09:17):
think it just comes from wanting to ask. I think,
being okay, being embarrassed at times if people are like,
how does she not know this? But a lot of
times I learned when I'm asking questions people might not
want to ask that they didn't know the answer either,
And so like I don't know that came from being
on team sports as well, Like I would raise my
(09:38):
hand and be like, I don't understand the scout or
I don't understand the defensive coverage, and so it just
kind of became a habit of just wanting to know
and wanting to know more.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And given what you said, and Diana Tarossi's observation was
exactly right at that moment, like this this is it,
like or at least this is this is the peak,
given that what are the decisions or how do you
make the decisions coming out of college as to what's
going to happen.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Next when you're young, and especially I had my daughter
after my first season in the WNBA. I think you're
automatically thinking about your brand and getting better at your sport,
but you're also thinking about your finances and making sure
that you can take care of your family the best
way you can. I was fortunate to be able to
(10:23):
have long standing partners Adidas, I've been with sixteen years
of my career, Gatorade. I mean, you go down the line,
Karmat like, I've been blessed to have the ability to
do other things outside of the lines, but overseas was
forefront because that was the way that you could take
(10:44):
care of your family at a different level, and that
was the sacrifice, but it was also a foresight of like, Okay,
later on, I'm able to do the things that I
want to do. I just have to, you know, kind
of grind right now. And so that coming out was like,
you play in the WBA, that was a summer job. Yes,
the endorsements came for that, and there was money made
(11:04):
off of endorsements and things like that, but direct WNBA,
I mean you look at my rookie salary. I think
it was like fifty six fifty seven thousand dollars. And
as a kid, you always dream of going to the WNBA,
and I remember telling kids like, no, you s stream
to go overseas, Like, right, this is you know, that's
that's actually the dream. That's how you take care of
your family.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I don't want to get too far away from this
idea of what coming into the pros was like. And
I'm going to turn this on you for a second.
I mean, can you imagine if you're you're getting drafted,
so you got this contract with the Mariners, but the
Mariners are like, yeah, we're gonna give you a few bucks,
but you actually need to go to Japan and play there.
(11:43):
I mean that, I mean that would be wild, that
would be wild. Yeah. Did it feel wild? I mean
or did it just feel like this is this is
what you do.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
At the time, all of us were saying that we
hope at some point in time we don't have to
go overseas, but I think you go where the money is.
And it was just you know, the ability to take
care of my family. And over there, I played for
one of the best clubs in Russia. We had chefs,
we had drivers, we flew private, amazing apartments, and so
(12:20):
it was like, yes, it was a sacrifice, but you
were also being I was able to capitalize on the
things that I was missing in the league, like the
things we didn't have, and it was just unfortunate that
we had to go thousands of miles away to actually
get you know, equitable pay and to be taken care of,
you know, like we should.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah. And by the way, also pointing out, you're in
the WNBA. You're both the Rookie of the Year and
the MVP. So you're not You're not a scrub player.
You are there. You're literally the best player. And this
is the economics of the situation. So fast forwarding just
for a minute, do you have some measure of cognitive
(13:03):
dissonance then looking at where the w is now and
thinking about what it was not that long ago. You're
not You're not an old person.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
How do you process that?
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Well, I'm pissed that they started chartering the year I retired.
I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
Because our back to backs used to be we would
play and then we'd go to sleep, and we'd wake
up to take the six am flight, and then we
still play the next day. Yeah, so you know, it
makes me a little angry because it would have been
nice to, you know, for your body to kind of catch.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
That charter flight.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
But I mean, I feel like all of us feel
a responsibility and a part of the growth that's happening
right now. I mean, the league was hard for so
many years, and that's what I said when I retired,
I hope that it's not so hard for the next
so difficult. I wanted to get better, but finding a gem.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
That's open, that can be open.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
It was so hard out in LA and I lived
out here because we didn't have a practice. So more
so I'm mad because I'm thinking of how much better
I could have been if I had an off season,
if I didn't have to go overseas, and I could
have put weight on, and I could have bulked up
in the weight room and focused on what I wanted
to improve on. But I also look at the doors
that are opening now and where the sport is. And
(14:18):
you know, I play with a lot of angry old heads,
is what we call them. I work with a lot
of angry old heads. I don't want to be the
angry old heads. So I'm not going to be, you know,
shack coming in like we all, you know, man up.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I'm not gonna be back.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
I'm going to be the person that's like, I'm happy
where it's at. But man, like if I would at
Nil and kind of you know, you got to think
about what if occasionally, and but I'm happy for the
doors that are open right now, and I hope to
be a part of the process of continuing to open
those doors.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
What do you make of Nil, I mean, you've lived
a very different existence.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
Is extremely Papa John's for for pregame meals and trying
to figure it out.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, like they couldn't feed us when I was there.
It was illegal. You couldn't.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
You couldn't feed us, Building number three Jerseys, you know,
walking around. But I think that this is an exciting
landscape because really athletes are brands, and to be able
to see individuals like Caleb Williams that are actually capitalizing
on opening up private equity firms and you know, fresh
(15:23):
out of college, investing in acquiring equity in something at
a young age, I think that that's where you really
see generational not just wealth, but change. And so for
so long, I think we've idolized you know, rock stars,
movie stars, all that. Now it's it's athletes, it's athletes
(15:43):
like it's athletes with some of the biggest following on Instagram,
and so it's I think it has a lot to
do with why the NCAA knew that they had to
allow NIL inside. Now it's a while while West and
I think there's a lot of things that need to
be figured out. But I hope in Tennessee can pay
pay a bag so that we can continue.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
You speak about the NC DOUBLEA, I'm going to let
you put the commissioner of the NC double A and
the head of NIL if there's one or two adjustments
that you can make. Because there's so many things that
are good, and you mentioned there's some challenges. What are
some of the quick fixes that you would do now
and maybe some long term?
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Well long term, I think we're taking care of the
front and center athletes, but there's very few front and
center forward facing that would have probably made their money anyway.
And I think over time, as we're looking the WNBA,
the MLB, you always got to take care of your
median income like you always have to take care of
the middleman. So where is that within the NC double A.
(16:39):
I think that's something health insurance, whether it's you know
stipends whether it's are they actually going to be considered
a union at some point. I think those are all
things that should come up for conversation, just because the
NCUBA is a business and we're seeing it's necessary to
(17:01):
be able to take care of your athletes, not just
the ones that are going to be able to sign
the endorsement deals and get the national commercials.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
So one of the key decisions you clearly make is
getting into business with Adidas as an endorser. Initially, they
come in and they want you to endorse their product.
How did that happen? Like, I mean, because that feels
like we talk about signature deals. That feels like a
signature deal for you.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
It's so interesting. They sent me.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
A pair of red Tracy mcgrady's when I was fourteen
years old.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
People are now googling tracing.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Better better know Teamate, and I thought I was the
coolest person in the world, and I wore those everywhere.
And then it was the Pro Models that came out
and I had the green and the red one.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
And then the next year they sponsored my team.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
My high school team, no kidding, and so they sent
us a whole box of things.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
I got like exclusive stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
And then I went to the University of Tennessee, which
was also Adidas at the time, and so it was
this relationship and I knew everyone there and I felt comfortable.
And I think when I did sign with them, when
I became a pro, like we knew each other very well.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
So we worked through the kinks.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
We worked through me going overseas, we worked through obviously
my pregnancy, my injuries, and I stuck with them through
some things as well. And so I think it became
when it becomes a partnership and a collaboration where you
feel heard, you're trying to really genuinely enjoy the brand.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like everybody knows in my house, don't come in my
house with Nikes.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
I don't come in my house like I leave the
Nikes at the door, and it's a joke.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Yeah, it's a joke in my house.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
And it's been amazing to have a partnership with them
and to grow through all phases of life. And I
think now sitting as Adidas Women's Basketball as president, I
feel like a responsibility. Likes it's an ownership, it's a
part of me. I feel part of the brand, and
I'm just growing it trying to grow it from a
different vantage point.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Tell us about that moment where they call and say,
we want you to take this role, like this is
a not just we want you to wear a shoe,
not just a signature shoe. But talk about that moment
where they say we want you to have a different job.
Speaker 5 (19:33):
It was so interesting because again I'm planning for the
next phase of life, but I really want to know
what goes into building a brand, building a collection. So
as we were doing my collections that were coming out,
the eight Collections, and it was, you know, a clothing line,
I wanted to be in the meetings. I wanted to
be in the planning. I wanted to talk to Dick's
(19:54):
Sporting Goods where it would be carried. I wanted to
be in the design. I gave feedback, real feedback about shoes.
I didn't just come in to check a box like
I came into office. And so I think through those
conversations again, developed a lot of relationships. Nobody is at
Adidas now that was with me when I first signed,
so it's all new people. It's just new relationships that
(20:15):
were developed and the trust and all of that.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
And so this was kind of in the making.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
I felt I didn't know it was going to be
like this, but I'm always super passionate about growing the
brand and especially growing it for women's basketball. And so
when when they kind of made the pitch to me,
it was a random meeting, I went down to la
their office here and it was a video and they
had like this briefcase what's going on and on? You know,
(20:42):
they pull out the jacket and on it it's like
Adida's you know, women's basketball president.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
And I was like, wait, what you know? And they
were like, we would love for you to be a
part of the brand.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
It made me a jacket, a letterman's jacket, and it
was really cool because they were like, we want you
to continue to grow the game, but just differently.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
So Candice, I've been in those meetings too, but with
the rival company up in the same way up there
in the Pacific Northwest in Portland. So you go through
the presentation, walk us through how do you go from
that presentation to actually putting some type of term sheet
in front of you and your agent and does it
go back and forth a couple of times? Do you
(21:20):
redline it? Walk us through that?
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Yeah, I think there are questions all the time about
you know, filling in defining a role, and I think
that's the biggest thing. But at the end of the day, yes,
we did go back and forth, but I think having
trust in somebody to fulfill promises and having a reputation
and having experience with them, you trust that even if
(21:43):
everything isn't you know, boldline or whatever, that they're going
to deliver on what they're going to say.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
And so I think that was the thing.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
I mean, you know, we agreed in principle pretty quickly,
but it was just the underlying things of what you know,
I wanted to do with this role and what was
expected of me and you know what I would need
to be able to succeed and to really continue to
grow it from that perspective, and honestly, I can say
from day one, the first meeting we've had, it's been amazing.
(22:12):
My imprint won't be on it until twenty twenty five,
because you know how the brand works, it's a year ahead.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
But already, like just.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
The conversations that we've had and you know our focus
and you know what our intentions are.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
I think grassroots.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
You see a kid like me at fourteen years old
put on some Tmax.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
It had a lasting impact.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Yeah, and so I think we're realizing not to give
away secrets to the you know, to the other brand.
We're realizing, like it's super important to find that fourteen
year old kid.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, and so I don't want to get too far
away from this signature shoe conversation. Swap some notes here.
What was it like when that happened, you know, when
when you put on your own shoe, It.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
Was nothing like it.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
I think I love the design process because I was
a sneakerhead back in the day.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
You know, I wore the kg's when.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
He was there, wore the you know this, you know,
the pro models, the Tmax, the.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
AIS, I mean all that.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
So I was always into like, okay, so you're able
to start from the ground up. There's no design and
you can design whatever you want. And at the time,
it's so funny. The first thing I said, I was like,
I like skittles. I want to have like smash skittles
on the bottom of the shoe.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
And they came in.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Like fifteen designs of like smash skittles, Like what would
that look like? And spark colors and all this stuff.
So I just I had the coolest experience creating the shoe,
and then when it finally came to life and I
actually put it on, I think I was more excited
because I had replica shoes for all my nieces and
nephews and my daughter, and so it was really cool
(23:46):
to see like my shoe and what came about from
that on other people's feet.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
What was it like for you.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
I remember one of the kind of meetings of creative
where they were asking me, what's your favorite car, what's
your favorite watch, what do you order a Starbucks? And
like all these questions, but they asked me like fifty
questions and then they came up with this awesome killer shoe.
And then that led to my first commercial with Nike,
where I took the shoe and put it in a
blender and then I drank the drink and it was
a dream come trure. I mean, I'm a kid from Miami.
(24:14):
I collected my mom collected food stamps, and here I
am wearing my own Nike sneakers with my teammate Griffy,
And in many ways I felt like, you know, Jordan
and Pippin, because they both had their sneakers and he
and I had our own sneakers, so I thought it
was awesome.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Let me ask you this, what was that feeling like
the first time you saw somebody else wear it like
when you just were driving to your car and you
just looked and you saw somebody or whatever, Like, what
was that feeling?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
I wish I had an iPhone so I could take
a picture, but I told a bunch of people. I
don't think they believed me, but the first time was like,
it's a surreal moment. You like, how are they wearing
my sneakers? That's pretty cool? And it just gives your
sense of pride for sure, and a real connection to
the company that they believe so much in you. I mean,
think about it. They just can pick anybody in the world,
(25:00):
and they picked Candice Parkering to be the president of
women's basketball. You have a fiduciary duty to that company.
And the fact you've been with them for sixteen years,
it's amazing. I've been with nik for twenty five years, right,
that's all I've worn and Lawyersy's a big thing to me.
So it's been a great relationship for me as well.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So when you think about kind of this next chapter.
It's something you've been working on for a while. But
I want to read a paragraph that jumped out at
me and I read it to Alex earlier. I'm going
to read it back to you. So this is a
paragraph from your retirement announcement on Instagram. I'm quoting here.
In the meantime, know all caps, I'm a businessman, not
(25:39):
a businessman. This is the beginning. I'm attacking business, private
equity ownership. I will own both an NBA and WNBA team,
broadcasting production, boardrooms, beach volleyball, Domino's. This is apparently in
the side. I think to your wife, Sorry, baby, it's
going to get more real with the same intensity and
focus I did basketball. Wow, break that down for us.
(26:03):
That's like a mission statement, I think unpacking.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
I always believe in speaking things into existence, and that
is a goal of mine and I'm not going to
shy away from it. I think everybody assumes, you know
WBA players own a WBA team, but I'm a huge
fan of the NBA as well, and I think that
that's a possibility as well. And I think just taking
(26:29):
that mindset of being an athlete on the court, you
set all of those microscopic and telescopic goals, but really
the work comes behind figuring out how I'm going to
do that, and every single day putting yourself in a
position to be better than you were the day before.
I really, I really think it's just recreating the blueprint
of what you had as an athlete. I mean, you
look at seasons, you figure out what your goals are.
(26:51):
Obviously the championship would be owning a team. And we
know some people, we know a couple, we know a
couple of people, people that have and people that will hopefully.
But I think it's it's the relationships, it's learning. It's
so crazy because you know, I'm a huge Malcolm Glawell,
like I read all his books.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
Yeah, and you.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Talk about outlier and it talks about ten thousand hours.
You talk about the time, and I think you know
you've experienced this with with your kids as well, where
you're trying to teach them that if you put the
time in, you can have these God given abilities. But
if you put the time in, then you're going to
be better. Right, you can turn into greatness just from
putting the time. And I think athletes when they endo career,
(27:31):
you forget how much time you put in to be
really good at your sport. And I have to remind
myself that I need to put the time and the
energy and the effort. And sometimes that's goal setting, and
sometimes that's like like now my Google calendar, it's it's
for real, like I have to stay you know, I
have to stay on top of that because that's what
I want to do.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
And so that's going to give me there So can
does this talk about that? You talk about the reps
and I'm a big believer of that. I've always said,
I'm not going to be the smartest. I'm not going
to be like obviously, I didn't go to any ivy
leave college.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I didn't go to college.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
So I'm going to be the hardest work and first
one there, last one to leave, and I'm going to
grind and I'm going to study. But talk about studying
for you, how do you make up the time because
you were playing basketball to compete in the world of
the Mark lazwis that David Blitzers, what kind of studying
do you do? And walk me through your mindset of
how do you fill that gap?
Speaker 5 (28:24):
I love asking people for twenty minutes of your time
bi monthly. I just need twenty minutes of your time,
and can we go over this deck and you teach
me what you saw or past decks that have been
successful or companies that you've passed on. What did you
look at? What did you see? What did the margins
(28:45):
look like? What made you lean towards this? What are
the qualities? Because here's the thing you can probably I
always say this when I'm scouting somebody in basketball, there's
that like intangible that your brain's putting together, but it's
all things that you've learned over time.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
How do they move?
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Like, how are they handling? Are they looking up? Are
they seeing the floor? Are they making their teammates better?
Speaker 4 (29:08):
All those things?
Speaker 5 (29:09):
And I think in business it's like that as well,
especially when you're picking between you know, apples to apples
and you're picking between people because honestly, that's what it is.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
It's all relationships.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Right.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
You can have an amazing idea in the wrong person
running it, and you can have an uh okay idea
and the right person's running it. And I think that's
what I'm learning the most from mentors like Mark Lazari
and from you know, I've involved with other individuals. You
talk about Andy Spellman, you talk about Mark Roberts, I
mean down the line. But the thing that I'm noticing
(29:41):
the most is how important it is for me to
also get in rooms with women and learn and listen
and be a part of that network and growth as well.
So I think just picking their brain, asking questions and
not being afraid to ask for time.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah. Love that. Let's talk about Mark Lazarie for a second,
because off camera I got a little intel which your
business relationship with him began, I believe with you giving
him a black eye.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
I crossed him first, then I gave him a black guy.
And now I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
We were playing in a celebrity game at NBA All
Star and Mark was playing and I did a fake.
I did my like patent over the head fake, and
he turned and looked, and by the time he reacted,
I had already gone, and so we bumped heads.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
And his daughter's thought.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
That you were a professional basketball player, the only professional
basketball team owner.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, he was an owner.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
He was an owner on that team, and it was hilarious,
and so his daughters thought it was the funniest thing.
And so ever since then, every NBA All Star We'd
always seek each other out. We would always find each other.
I'd see his daughters, we'd talk, we'd hang out, go
to dinner, all those things.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
And then about.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
What was it twenty twenty two, twenty one when the
Bucks were, you know about on the CUSPA winning a championship.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
He's like, we got to you your bulls fan.
Speaker 5 (31:01):
I'm a Bulls fan. It was great in the nineties,
Now not so much. We got to get you out
here to a game, and I'm like, there's I'm never coming.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
To a Bucks name.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
I can't do it. Well, he convinced me.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
I drove from Chicago to the Bucks and just seeing
the environment, being able to see dear district, all the
things that he's done, it was unbelievable. And just to
continue to talk to him and catch up with him
and do all that it was amazing. And then you know,
he started, you know, Avenue Capital Sports, and then he
(31:33):
called me one day and was like, I would love
for you to be involved in it. And Mark is
one of those people that it's super special. I think
we have an amazing friendship. But also everything he says
he does, and I think that's the thing that I
respect most about Mark Lazarie.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
He's a great mentor. I got to get share one
Mark Glazery store just to tell you what an incredible
guy he is. Back like in eleven, a couple of
years after we won the title with the Yankees, we
had a date where he was going to mentor me
and we're gonna go over my real estate deck, right
And I said, I'll probably be there on eleven I said,
Yankee rest Sox games usually go a little longer, or
maybe eleven thirty. Well, of course we're going to extra endings.
(32:10):
It's like one am. I'm texting him. I said, hey,
rain check, I'm sure you're sleeping. He goes, no, come over.
I'm like, well, first of all, you're up, So I
get I knock in his house. He's got his pajamas on,
and we spend the next hour and a half on
his couch, one in one and he's going red marking
my deck. And then he's been a long time investor
of mine. We've been partners with several other things, and
(32:32):
I'm sure we'll do other things. But when you have
mentors like that that are really special, that's just an example.
Nobody knows that story. But you know stories like that,
and I've experienced stories like that, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
That's what separates it if you think about it, Like
everybody wonders why Steph can shoot like he shoots. Yes,
it's god given talent some of it. But like, who's
the one that's in the gym getting the most shots
of mm hm, And it's it's guys like Mark that
put the time in, put the energy in, do the
extra I think that I'm learning that are successful.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
But he's a nice guy.
Speaker 5 (33:03):
I think that's what separates him is he actually genuinely
cares about you as a human and what you do
and the decisions that you make.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Talk to us about women's sports, you know, it's something
you started this conversation talking about being committed to women's
basketball and women's sports. What needs to happen next for
women's sports. From a business perspective.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
We've always talked about properly investing in a product. I mean,
we've been screaming from the rooftop that scared money doesn't
make money, that you actually have to properly invest in
not only the sport and the business plan, but also
the athletes. The thing I respect most about the NBA
is Adam Silver. He calls me, I'm just like, I
don't even I mean, he asks questions to me, and
(33:58):
I'm not part of the NBA. The stars of the
NBA questions, Yeah, yeah, hopefully Lebron is on speed dial.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
He talks to me as a relationship with them.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
And I think that within women's sports for so long,
it's been a separation of investment and product for a
very long time. And I think the first conversation I
had with Mark was what are you dedicating? What percentage
of the fund are you dedicating to women's sports? Because
this isn't something that I want to come into and
just not make an impact on something that I'm passionate about.
(34:33):
And he's like, we're going to invest in women's sports
and we're going to do it. And this was before
this last year year and a half, which was unique timing.
And I said, okay, but I need more than an
investment of money. I need time as well, because you
can't just invest in a product that you've never seen.
So I was like, come to the final four. I
have a suite, Come sit with me at the women's
(34:53):
Final four and let's watch Iowa and South Carolina go
at it, and he came, you know, and he was
there and you know, met everybody saw the environment. And
I think that within women's sports, what we need is
people that are knowledgeable.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
About the growth of it.
Speaker 5 (35:11):
But also we need the billionaire owners that are going
to come in and actually make an impact and grow
the game again.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
And so what's your role in that.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
I think my role in that is understanding through past growth.
And that's why everybody was yelling from the rooftop. Wheah dah,
it's twenty eight years young. There were a lot of
leagues that it took took year thirty to really make
a growth. So it's coming, whether it comes at twenty eight,
twenty nine, thirty one, and we've seen it. The crazy
(35:45):
thing that I think it's little fixes And this is
where my role is is to question and to push
and to encourage.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
ABC. It was the first time they put the women's
NCAA game on on ABC.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Was the first year that Kaylen Clark made the championship game.
Are you surprised that the viewership was up? Are you
surprised that people actually saw the product?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
It was buried for so long on ESPN.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
There's so many times during the INCA game and even
WNBA playoffs, I turn on the NBA doesn't want to
clash with NFL playoffs or NFL Opening Week, So why
would we then put the WNBA. I don't care if
that's the time slot that they're giving you. Let's fight
for another one or let's find something else. And I
think with streaming, with social media, now it's more front
(36:33):
and center. You're seeing the leaders of and I'm sorry,
I'm passionate about this. So now within you look at
statistics within social media and following and it's page Becker's.
She had more followings than Suggs, who was a top
four pick. She had more following than Anthony Edwards when
(36:54):
he was coming into the league. So now you're able
to look at social media and see what the following is,
the clicks, the like, the what they're selling. You know
what people are looking for, and you're now able to
see that, Okay, we women can sell things, and I
think that that is my role is to continue to
(37:14):
push the envelope of what that looks like, of visibility,
but also like having relationships to be able to build
what you're trying to build.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
So one of the relationships that we have watched you
develop because you've done it on television, is with some
of the biggest personalities in NBA history. So I want
to talk a little bit about broadcasting. You've had some experience.
I want you guys to talk about this a little bit.
A lot of people maybe who didn't know you when
you were playing, now know you from giving it to check.
(37:48):
We know you guys are good friends. We've seen the
video of you hugging him after the championship game. Tell
us how all that came about. Because it's not traditionally
natural progression to be like a star women's basketball player
and then be chopping it up on the best watched
studio television show in sports.
Speaker 5 (38:10):
I have to pinch myself sometimes because those guys were
on my wall and coming into a situation like that.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
I'm a basketball hoop head.
Speaker 5 (38:19):
Like I watch the game, and then I watch all
the highlights and the analysis after. Then the next morning
I wake up and I watch the analysis of the
analysis of the game previous. Like I drive my family
crazy with sports just being on television every type of sort,
and to be able to sit at that desk and
(38:39):
talk basketball and talk basketball with people that were on
your wall, but also basketball with people that played it
differently than you. And I don't mean just NBAWNBA. The
battle I have with Shack all the time is He's like,
just get the ball and score, and I'm like, check,
not everybody is seven footless three hundred pounds. Like, it's
not barbecue chicken for me. I got to do a
couple moves, you know, And so to be able to
(39:02):
sit at a desk like that and to chop it
up with them on a nightly basis, it's super special.
And I think early on I was a little like starstruck,
but as time went on, I realized, like, I'm not
trying to be one of the guys.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
I'm trying to be one of the players.
Speaker 5 (39:16):
And once we kind of like understood that and their perspective,
they don't take anything I say to heart. We go
back and forth and again, my brothers prepared me for
it because I can take a lot of jokes and
they're making fun of my outfits or making fun of
how I walk. They say I walk like Kenny Smith
because my knees are you know, I'm bow legged.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
So I can take all of.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
That talk to me a little bit about your preparation.
Are you watching games, are you taking notes?
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Do you have a coach?
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Walk us through that a little bit.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
It's so interesting because I think it's changed over time.
Speaker 5 (39:44):
There's a lot of broadcasters that go by feel, and
I think that that's a skill that's a skill set.
Like you think about Reggie Miller, He's able to paint
a picture of what the game is, of what this
person is thinking or whatever. And you think about stan
Van Gundy, who's more of like stats and like all
all of these things. And you know, I'll be honest,
I think Shaq would come out and tell you he
doesn't prepare when he comes to show.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
Half the time he doesn't know who's playing, you.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
And that's a skill set in itself.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
So I think for me, I just had to develop
over time my way of preparation and I always have
basketball on. I like knowing backstories. Scouting report is huge
for me, so I know what your go to move
is and so I'm going to bring it up.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
Kenny Smith told me something really cool.
Speaker 5 (40:24):
He said, when you're preparing, make sure that you're preparing
to speak to the grandma, that you're prepared to speak
to the person that is a basketball head, and you're
prepared to speak to the novice. And so if you
can say one thing and be able to speak in
touch to all of those people, then you've done a
good job. And so I've tried to continue to prepare
so that I'm ready for that on television.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
So what do you do next in broadcast? I mean,
do you have as your goal setting, as your Google calendaring? Like,
what do you think about when it comes to the
media world.
Speaker 5 (40:55):
Baby Hair Productions is a production company I started. First
passion project was Title nine documentary that we were able
to complete and do with Turner. I think it's growing
that and kind of being behind the camera and being
able to develop stories and storytelling, because I think that's
that's where you really impact people and change, is being
(41:16):
able to tell stories of what's come before, and whether
it's in women in sports, whether it's women in business,
whether it's whatever it is. You know, I would love
to continue to tell those stories and to be able
to you know, produce and to do things like that well.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
And it's interesting too when you think about and we
talk about this all the time, that it feels like
One of the next big steps forward for women's sports
is the so called shoulder programming, right, you know, the
stuff that goes you know, you guys are talking about
for baseball, for the NBA, there is all the pregame
and post game and the storytelling that goes around it.
Some of that has been I would argue missing with
(41:54):
women's sports. So it feels like a big business opportunity.
Speaker 5 (41:57):
If I dare say something, I just think it's so
funny because you talk about, you know, like the pre
and postgame shows. I tuned in the week that Russell
Westbrook and Kevin Durant we're gonna play each other, because
all week all I heard was they didn't like each other.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
It was all these stories.
Speaker 5 (42:16):
And it's so funny because we turn women's sports into
these like the Caddy Da Da da and all this stuff,
and it's like, no, men's sports is just called something different.
Speaker 4 (42:24):
It's the same. It's a synonym of whatever it.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Is, and.
Speaker 5 (42:28):
I'm like, it's a synonym of what you're calling women's sports.
It's all the storylines behind the story. And so now
for women's sports to be able to get pre and
postgame shows, I think we're still kind of figuring out
what that looks like.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
And I think we're still a little sensitive of.
Speaker 5 (42:43):
Actually saying what needs to be said because we're so
protective of women's sports. Were sometimes it is hard to
watch because that wasn't a good pass, It wasn't a
nice move, you know. So I think we're still figuring
out our lane to grow the sport but also be
honest and critique in a way that the viewers would
love to watch.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Which is a corollary to the whole argument around women's sports,
right that you know, you had a lot of I mean,
you see this in your work. We've seen it in
the w We've seen it INWSL where a lot of
people are like, oh, we're just really rooting for these girls,
and like we're going to put some money in from
the foundation and hope for the best versus private equity
coming in a Mark Lasry, A Joe and Clara Si,
(43:24):
you know, coming in and being like no, no, no, no,
we're going to make some money here. We're going to
get butts in the seats, We're going to sell the
media rights for a bunch of money, and this is
going to be a real business going for I mean
that's your interest.
Speaker 5 (43:37):
It sounds like the thing that irks me the most
is if you go to an NWSL game, it'll say, look,
he's supporting the NWSL, But if you go to a
Chicago Fire MLS game, it's look, he's front and center
watching these guys work, you know. So it's all in
the conversation and how we are able to.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
Figure out what our.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Fans want and need. They want to see superstars, you
want to see people courtside. But it's also like the
verbiage that we're using in social media posts and how
we look at women's sports as a business.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
It's not support.
Speaker 5 (44:10):
This isn't a charity. I loved when Claire Lusai said,
I'm trying to make money. Yeah, this isn't something that
I'm coming in and I'm in a blow. I'm just
gonna use my money to further the cause. No, this
isn't a cause. This is a business opportunity. And now
that mindset, I think is shifting. It's shifting in volleyball
with the amount of people, I mean, ninety seven thousand
(44:32):
people went and watched a volleyball game. Put that in perspective,
and I'm just watching, like my daughter played front and
center at homecoming. Their volleyball team was out under the
lights playing and it was young boys. I mean I
could almost cry looking at young boys scream for the team.
So it's like, now we're having a generation of men
that have grown up with women as role models and
(44:53):
in leadership positions, and now from a business mindset, we
have to take all of that information the blueprints say
and just not be stupid.
Speaker 4 (45:02):
Honestly, like, let's just not let's just not be stupid.
And I think we we could get this.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
All right, Let's not be stupid. That's the.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
Stupid.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Let's wrap all right. Now we're gonna move to rapid fire,
which hopefully won't be stupid. But we'll see. All right,
I'll start and the will bounce it back and forth
and just you know, we'll keep it tight. What's one
word to describe your deal making style?
Speaker 5 (45:32):
Intuitive? Inquisitive? There you go, inquisitive in a deal. What's
more important your instincts or data instincts? Who's your dream
deal making partner with them?
Speaker 3 (45:43):
Mark Lazari, who's your dream co host on the NBA broadcast?
Speaker 4 (45:49):
Allen Iverson.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
That's a good one. What's the best piece of advice
you've received on deal making or business.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
Listen to all the facts, but then ultimately you make
your decision.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
What's the worst business advice you've ever received?
Speaker 4 (46:03):
Listen to everyone else and do what they want and
do what they want you to do.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
What's your hype song before you go into a big
meeting or negotiation?
Speaker 5 (46:12):
I spray some angel perfume an honor at coach summit
and I play What more can I say? By Jay
z Okay?
Speaker 3 (46:19):
You can only watch one sport for the rest of
your life. Which one is it?
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Basketball?
Speaker 2 (46:23):
What team do you want to see win a championship
more than any?
Speaker 4 (46:27):
Chicago Bulls?
Speaker 2 (46:29):
What's a fun fact about yourself that your teammates would
be surprised to hear? Teammates, business associates, whoever?
Speaker 4 (46:35):
I can juggle?
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Oh that's a good one. All right, Cannice, this was
so fun.
Speaker 5 (46:41):
I appreciate you all, I really do, and I hope
that we can sit down at some point chat and
do this.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Chop it up.
Speaker 4 (46:49):
Be great?
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Thanks so much for listening to the deal. If you
never want to miss the story, become a Bloomberg dot
Com subscriber today. Check out our special intro offer right
now at Bloomberg dot Com Slash podcast offer or click
the link in the show notes. You'll also unlike Deep reporting,
data and analysis from Bloomberg reporters all around the world.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
The Deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly.
Our producers are Anamazarakis, Stacey Wong, and Lizzie Phillip. Original
music and engineering by Blake Maples. Our managing editor is
David E.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Ravella.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Our executive producers are Jason Kelly, Brendan Francis Newnham, Jordan Opplinger,
Trey Shallowhorn, Kyle Kramer, Andrew Barden, Kelly Laferrier and Ashley Hoenig.
Sage Bauman is our head of podcasts, additional support from
Rachel Scaramazino and Elena Los Angeles. Joshua Devaux is Our
(47:57):
director of photography, Rubob Shakir our creative director. Art direction
is from Jacqueline Kessler. Casting by Julia Manns. Our associate
producer is Natasha Abelard, Camera operation by Stephen Neil and
Lynnea Jolson. Our gaffer is Kelly Porterfield, and our grip
is Justin Birch. Katia Vanoy is our video editor. Listen
(48:21):
to the Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
get your podcasts. You can also tune into the video
Companion on Bloomberg Originals and on Bloomberg TV.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Jason Kelly. I'm Alex Rodriguez, and welcome to the deal.
On this episode, Candace Parker. All right, Alex, we are
catching Candace at an amazing moment in her career. She's
stopped playing She's moved on to being a business person
full stop. Reminds me a little bit in her ambition
(00:33):
of somebody I know who used to play bass.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
You know, I really connected with her. I felt like,
very much like I was looking in the mirror a
little bit. She has such a great vision, a clear,
big vision. But she's also a media star. I believe
she'll be a future owner in the NBA and WNBA.
She has a wonderful relationship with Adidas where they made
her the president of basketball for women's basketball. And if
(00:56):
she was a stock, Jason, I would buy as much
as I can.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This is a good one. Folks. Up next, Candas Parker,
all right, please introduce yourself.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I'm Cannas Parker, so happy to join you all.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And how would you describe what you're doing these days?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I'm more outside the lines, I would say.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
I think my whole goal is to continue to grow
the game of women's basketball and women's sports in general,
and so was named to dida's women's basketball president recently
this year, just kind of like the business of sports,
if you will. And then also doing a little broadcasting
with the guys on TNT in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Early in your career, you know, you grew up in Illinois,
you end up at University of Tennessee, which is already
iconic at that moment when good are you made it?
More so a couple of national championships you played for
Pat Summit. We talk a lot about coaches being influential.
I mean, Alex talks all the time about how pivotal
(02:10):
that was for him. When you think about the pantheon
of coaches Pat Summit is there across all sports. Tell
us about meeting her and what convinced you to go
to Tennessee, because that clearly is when you talk about deals,
like making that deal really changes the trajectory of your career.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
Well, what's crazy was, Yeah, it was in between the lines.
You know, obviously I wanted to play basketball. I didn't
go to Tennessee to like be a writer, like. I
went there with the mindset that I wanted to play basketball.
As a career. She was landing from speaking to the
CIA when I flew in for an unofficial visit, Like
let that set in, and I remember my dad just
(02:51):
kind of like sitting back in his chair. And my
dad is the one that is the visionary and the
like he's the one that was like, you're six or four,
but you're still going to be able to dribble, shoot, pass.
We're not going to stand you by the basket. And
in other ways, I think it was the same. He
wanted someone that would teach me not just basketball and
the x's and o's, but about like after the ball
(03:13):
stops bouncing and those lessons that you learn now are
going to be applied later. And Coach Summit was the
perfect example for that. Like I wanted to be a
mom and to watch her just balance being a mom
as well as being one of the best, if not
the best coach ever and win national championships, her as
(03:34):
a human, growing the game of women's basketball when she
was at the forefront of Title nine before it was popular.
So just being able to like see all of that
at a young age and then now be able to
learn those lessons through that, I think that's what got
and sold myself and my parents.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
I get really nerdy about this, like Jason said, like
because my father left at the age of ten, Mentors
and coaches kind of you know, formulated my life really
and really made such a big impression and inspiration in
my life. But specifics, is there one or two things
you can share because we didn't play for Coach Summit
that really motivated you that to this day that you
(04:12):
still carry with you.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
One hundred percent. The biggest thing with Coach Summitt is
she was the same person when she was hanging banners
as when she was going through rough patches. And you know,
she has a definite dozen principles that she would give
all of us when we first arrived at Tennessee, and
she would check back in with us every year, and
(04:34):
every year she would assigned a different definite dozen. Well
I got the same one every year. It was handle
success as you handle failure. And it was the opposite
of what you think. I think I beat myself up
when I miss a shot or when I'm not successful
or when I lose a game. But it was like
you move on real quick when you succeed. And so
it was like these lessons every single year. I would
come back and get different lessons from things that I
(04:55):
observed about her. But Coach Summit just had a presence.
I think she'd man did greatness and respect, but she
was one of the best listeners, and I think that's
what set me up a little bit because the expectation
where was all coaches were like that because I played
for my dad, my high school coach, and Pat Summit,
so the expectation was like this is how it was,
(05:17):
but wasn't. She would come to time out and be like, Parker,
what do you think?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Right? This coach is asking me what I think?
Speaker 5 (05:23):
And then sometimes we would do what I would say,
or sometimes we wouldn't. But the times we would do
it or not do it, I would still feel ownership
and feel heard. That's what separates her is she was
one of the best listeners and would really take what
you said into account.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Talk to us about the game of basketball at that
level at that moment, because that was when if you
were coming up, that was when you were going to
be the most popular. So what was it like in
that era? What do you remember most distinctly about those days?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It was before all the Instagram and Facebook, so I
look at that as like the good old days a
little bit. Playing basketball at that time, it was like
the intimate you watch in television or you're at the game,
and that's how you kinda were able to be a
part of what we were doing.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
But I will say I think was Diana.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Tarasi said to me, and this is when we played
together in Russia. She said, your heyday is when you're
playing in college and then people slowly but surely forget
about you as you progress in the WNBA. And I
just thought it was so weird because it's like opposite
for the men. We were winning national championships. We were
rock stars on the road. I mean we sold out
arenas and we had the highest attendance at home games,
(06:34):
and I mean playing in front of twenty four thousand
screaming fans at Thompson Bowling Arena in Knoxville on a
random Sunday against Vanderbilt or against Yukon on national television
with that rivalry, and I think it set the stage
for solidifying that women's basketball was special. But it also
was like, this is what we're capable of if it's
(06:56):
properly invested in. And I think that was the whole separation.
I don't think it was the talent. I think it
was the proper investment that we needed within the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And when you were in college and you're playing in
front of sold out crowds and you guys were rock stars,
did Candice Parker already start thinking about life after WNBA
and being a rock star in the world of business
and where you are today? How far back do you
go back to visualizing the future?
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Well, for I would say a semester and a half
I was a finance major because I really wanted to
do that, and then coach Summit wouldn't change practice and
I needed a pre wreck and I was like, I'm
not staying here another year and a half for finance.
But yeah, I always wanted to do and be a
part of and learn outside of basketball, And you know,
(07:44):
that includes asking questions. I think immediately in broadcasting, just learning,
you know, learning about media, learning how to communicate, learning
how to be behind the camera and what goes on
and what you know, what the expectations are, but also
just asking why you know and when you're walking into
meetings you sign a business manager finance team like learning
(08:05):
to ask questions. I think was my end to a
lot of different things. And I learned that early on
in college where people like answering questions. You know, I
think a lot of people are scared to ask them,
but if you ask, usually there's a relationship that's developed.
Questions are answered, you know, and you learn more. And
so I think that was kind of my Okay, the
(08:27):
more questions I asked, the more lanes are going to open.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
And so that's kind of what I did early on.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Where does that come from? Do you think? Because there
are a lot of people in your shoes who had
a big content, especially given the level of fame that
you're achieving at the college level, like this is awesome.
I'm just going to do this as long as I can.
What gave you that need? It sounds like to look
around the corner and to think about what was next?
(08:52):
Is that from growing up? Like where does that come from?
Speaker 5 (08:55):
I'm like the annoying little sister that I always asked
why I have two older brothers there eight and eleven
years older than me, my heroes. I always ask why,
and we always debated, And so I think that was
also people are like, how do you sit at the
desk with Chuck and Shack and Kenny and d Wade
and you know, Jamal and all of those guys, how
do you sit there? And I'm like, that was every
Saturday and Sunday in our house, right, And so I
(09:17):
think it just comes from wanting to ask. I think,
being okay, being embarrassed at times if people are like,
how does she not know this? But a lot of
times I learned when I'm asking questions people might not
want to ask that they didn't know the answer either,
And so like I don't know that came from being
on team sports as well, Like I would raise my
(09:38):
hand and be like, I don't understand the scout or
I don't understand the defensive coverage, and so it just
kind of became a habit of just wanting to know
and wanting to know more.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And given what you said, and Diana Tarossi's observation was
exactly right at that moment, like this this is it,
like or at least this is this is the peak,
given that what are the decisions or how do you
make the decisions coming out of college as to what's
going to happen.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Next when you're young, and especially I had my daughter
after my first season in the WNBA. I think you're
automatically thinking about your brand and getting better at your sport,
but you're also thinking about your finances and making sure
that you can take care of your family the best
way you can. I was fortunate to be able to
(10:23):
have long standing partners Adidas, I've been with sixteen years
of my career, Gatorade. I mean, you go down the line,
Karmat like, I've been blessed to have the ability to
do other things outside of the lines, but overseas was
forefront because that was the way that you could take
(10:44):
care of your family at a different level, and that
was the sacrifice, but it was also a foresight of like, Okay,
later on, I'm able to do the things that I
want to do. I just have to, you know, kind
of grind right now. And so that coming out was like,
you play in the WBA, that was a summer job. Yes,
the endorsements came for that, and there was money made
(11:04):
off of endorsements and things like that, but direct WNBA,
I mean you look at my rookie salary. I think
it was like fifty six fifty seven thousand dollars. And
as a kid, you always dream of going to the WNBA,
and I remember telling kids like, no, you s stream
to go overseas, Like, right, this is you know, that's
that's actually the dream. That's how you take care of
your family.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I don't want to get too far away from this
idea of what coming into the pros was like. And
I'm going to turn this on you for a second.
I mean, can you imagine if you're you're getting drafted,
so you got this contract with the Mariners, but the
Mariners are like, yeah, we're gonna give you a few bucks,
but you actually need to go to Japan and play there.
(11:43):
I mean that, I mean that would be wild, that
would be wild. Yeah. Did it feel wild? I mean
or did it just feel like this is this is
what you do.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
At the time, all of us were saying that we
hope at some point in time we don't have to
go overseas, but I think you go where the money is.
And it was just you know, the ability to take
care of my family. And over there, I played for
one of the best clubs in Russia. We had chefs,
we had drivers, we flew private, amazing apartments, and so
(12:20):
it was like, yes, it was a sacrifice, but you
were also being I was able to capitalize on the
things that I was missing in the league, like the
things we didn't have, and it was just unfortunate that
we had to go thousands of miles away to actually
get you know, equitable pay and to be taken care of,
you know, like we should.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah. And by the way, also pointing out, you're in
the WNBA. You're both the Rookie of the Year and
the MVP. So you're not You're not a scrub player.
You are there. You're literally the best player. And this
is the economics of the situation. So fast forwarding just
for a minute, do you have some measure of cognitive
(13:03):
dissonance then looking at where the w is now and
thinking about what it was not that long ago. You're
not You're not an old person.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
How do you process that?
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Well, I'm pissed that they started chartering the year I retired.
I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
Because our back to backs used to be we would
play and then we'd go to sleep, and we'd wake
up to take the six am flight, and then we
still play the next day. Yeah, so you know, it
makes me a little angry because it would have been
nice to, you know, for your body to kind of catch.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
That charter flight.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
But I mean, I feel like all of us feel
a responsibility and a part of the growth that's happening
right now. I mean, the league was hard for so
many years, and that's what I said when I retired,
I hope that it's not so hard for the next
so difficult. I wanted to get better, but finding a gem.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
That's open, that can be open.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
It was so hard out in LA and I lived
out here because we didn't have a practice. So more
so I'm mad because I'm thinking of how much better
I could have been if I had an off season,
if I didn't have to go overseas, and I could
have put weight on, and I could have bulked up
in the weight room and focused on what I wanted
to improve on. But I also look at the doors
that are opening now and where the sport is. And
(14:18):
you know, I play with a lot of angry old heads,
is what we call them. I work with a lot
of angry old heads. I don't want to be the
angry old heads. So I'm not going to be, you know,
shack coming in like we all, you know, man up.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I'm not gonna be back.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
I'm going to be the person that's like, I'm happy
where it's at. But man, like if I would at
Nil and kind of you know, you got to think
about what if occasionally, and but I'm happy for the
doors that are open right now, and I hope to
be a part of the process of continuing to open
those doors.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
What do you make of Nil, I mean, you've lived
a very different existence.
Speaker 5 (14:53):
Is extremely Papa John's for for pregame meals and trying
to figure it out.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, like they couldn't feed us when I was there.
It was illegal. You couldn't.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
You couldn't feed us, Building number three Jerseys, you know,
walking around. But I think that this is an exciting
landscape because really athletes are brands, and to be able
to see individuals like Caleb Williams that are actually capitalizing
on opening up private equity firms and you know, fresh
(15:23):
out of college, investing in acquiring equity in something at
a young age, I think that that's where you really
see generational not just wealth, but change. And so for
so long, I think we've idolized you know, rock stars,
movie stars, all that. Now it's it's athletes, it's athletes
(15:43):
like it's athletes with some of the biggest following on Instagram,
and so it's I think it has a lot to
do with why the NCAA knew that they had to
allow NIL inside. Now it's a while while West and
I think there's a lot of things that need to
be figured out. But I hope in Tennessee can pay
pay a bag so that we can continue.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
You speak about the NC DOUBLEA, I'm going to let
you put the commissioner of the NC double A and
the head of NIL if there's one or two adjustments
that you can make. Because there's so many things that
are good, and you mentioned there's some challenges. What are
some of the quick fixes that you would do now
and maybe some long term?
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Well long term, I think we're taking care of the
front and center athletes, but there's very few front and
center forward facing that would have probably made their money anyway.
And I think over time, as we're looking the WNBA,
the MLB, you always got to take care of your
median income like you always have to take care of
the middleman. So where is that within the NC double A.
(16:39):
I think that's something health insurance, whether it's you know
stipends whether it's are they actually going to be considered
a union at some point. I think those are all
things that should come up for conversation, just because the
NCUBA is a business and we're seeing it's necessary to
(17:01):
be able to take care of your athletes, not just
the ones that are going to be able to sign
the endorsement deals and get the national commercials.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
So one of the key decisions you clearly make is
getting into business with Adidas as an endorser. Initially, they
come in and they want you to endorse their product.
How did that happen? Like, I mean, because that feels
like we talk about signature deals. That feels like a
signature deal for you.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
It's so interesting. They sent me.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
A pair of red Tracy mcgrady's when I was fourteen
years old.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
People are now googling tracing.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
Better better know Teamate, and I thought I was the
coolest person in the world, and I wore those everywhere.
And then it was the Pro Models that came out
and I had the green and the red one.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
And then the next year they sponsored my team.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
My high school team, no kidding, and so they sent
us a whole box of things.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
I got like exclusive stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:12):
And then I went to the University of Tennessee, which
was also Adidas at the time, and so it was
this relationship and I knew everyone there and I felt comfortable.
And I think when I did sign with them, when
I became a pro, like we knew each other very well.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
So we worked through the kinks.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
We worked through me going overseas, we worked through obviously
my pregnancy, my injuries, and I stuck with them through
some things as well. And so I think it became
when it becomes a partnership and a collaboration where you
feel heard, you're trying to really genuinely enjoy the brand.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like everybody knows in my house, don't come in my
house with Nikes.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
I don't come in my house like I leave the
Nikes at the door, and it's a joke.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Yeah, it's a joke in my house.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
And it's been amazing to have a partnership with them
and to grow through all phases of life. And I
think now sitting as Adidas Women's Basketball as president, I
feel like a responsibility. Likes it's an ownership, it's a
part of me. I feel part of the brand, and
I'm just growing it trying to grow it from a
different vantage point.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Tell us about that moment where they call and say,
we want you to take this role, like this is
a not just we want you to wear a shoe,
not just a signature shoe. But talk about that moment
where they say we want you to have a different job.
Speaker 5 (19:33):
It was so interesting because again I'm planning for the
next phase of life, but I really want to know
what goes into building a brand, building a collection. So
as we were doing my collections that were coming out,
the eight Collections, and it was, you know, a clothing line,
I wanted to be in the meetings. I wanted to
be in the planning. I wanted to talk to Dick's
(19:54):
Sporting Goods where it would be carried. I wanted to
be in the design. I gave feedback, real feedback about shoes.
I didn't just come in to check a box like
I came into office. And so I think through those
conversations again, developed a lot of relationships. Nobody is at
Adidas now that was with me when I first signed,
so it's all new people. It's just new relationships that
(20:15):
were developed and the trust and all of that.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
And so this was kind of in the making.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
I felt I didn't know it was going to be
like this, but I'm always super passionate about growing the
brand and especially growing it for women's basketball. And so
when when they kind of made the pitch to me,
it was a random meeting, I went down to la
their office here and it was a video and they
had like this briefcase what's going on and on? You know,
(20:42):
they pull out the jacket and on it it's like
Adida's you know, women's basketball president.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
And I was like, wait, what you know? And they
were like, we would love for you to be a
part of the brand.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
It made me a jacket, a letterman's jacket, and it
was really cool because they were like, we want you
to continue to grow the game, but just differently.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
So Candice, I've been in those meetings too, but with
the rival company up in the same way up there
in the Pacific Northwest in Portland. So you go through
the presentation, walk us through how do you go from
that presentation to actually putting some type of term sheet
in front of you and your agent and does it
go back and forth a couple of times? Do you
(21:20):
redline it? Walk us through that?
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Yeah, I think there are questions all the time about
you know, filling in defining a role, and I think
that's the biggest thing. But at the end of the day, yes,
we did go back and forth, but I think having
trust in somebody to fulfill promises and having a reputation
and having experience with them, you trust that even if
(21:43):
everything isn't you know, boldline or whatever, that they're going
to deliver on what they're going to say.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
And so I think that was the thing.
Speaker 5 (21:50):
I mean, you know, we agreed in principle pretty quickly,
but it was just the underlying things of what you know,
I wanted to do with this role and what was
expected of me and you know what I would need
to be able to succeed and to really continue to
grow it from that perspective, and honestly, I can say
from day one, the first meeting we've had, it's been amazing.
(22:12):
My imprint won't be on it until twenty twenty five,
because you know how the brand works, it's a year ahead.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
But already, like just.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
The conversations that we've had and you know our focus
and you know what our intentions are.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
I think grassroots.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
You see a kid like me at fourteen years old
put on some Tmax.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
It had a lasting impact.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Yeah, and so I think we're realizing not to give
away secrets to the you know, to the other brand.
We're realizing, like it's super important to find that fourteen
year old kid.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, and so I don't want to get too far
away from this signature shoe conversation. Swap some notes here.
What was it like when that happened, you know, when
when you put on your own shoe, It.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
Was nothing like it.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
I think I love the design process because I was
a sneakerhead back in the day.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
You know, I wore the kg's when.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
He was there, wore the you know this, you know,
the pro models, the Tmax, the.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
AIS, I mean all that.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
So I was always into like, okay, so you're able
to start from the ground up. There's no design and
you can design whatever you want. And at the time,
it's so funny. The first thing I said, I was like,
I like skittles. I want to have like smash skittles
on the bottom of the shoe.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
And they came in.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Like fifteen designs of like smash skittles, Like what would
that look like? And spark colors and all this stuff.
So I just I had the coolest experience creating the shoe,
and then when it finally came to life and I
actually put it on, I think I was more excited
because I had replica shoes for all my nieces and
nephews and my daughter, and so it was really cool
(23:46):
to see like my shoe and what came about from
that on other people's feet.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
What was it like for you.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
I remember one of the kind of meetings of creative
where they were asking me, what's your favorite car, what's
your favorite watch, what do you order a Starbucks? And
like all these questions, but they asked me like fifty
questions and then they came up with this awesome killer shoe.
And then that led to my first commercial with Nike,
where I took the shoe and put it in a
blender and then I drank the drink and it was
a dream come trure. I mean, I'm a kid from Miami.
(24:14):
I collected my mom collected food stamps, and here I
am wearing my own Nike sneakers with my teammate Griffy,
And in many ways I felt like, you know, Jordan
and Pippin, because they both had their sneakers and he
and I had our own sneakers, so I thought it
was awesome.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
Let me ask you this, what was that feeling like
the first time you saw somebody else wear it like
when you just were driving to your car and you
just looked and you saw somebody or whatever, Like, what
was that feeling?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
I wish I had an iPhone so I could take
a picture, but I told a bunch of people. I
don't think they believed me, but the first time was like,
it's a surreal moment. You like, how are they wearing
my sneakers? That's pretty cool? And it just gives your
sense of pride for sure, and a real connection to
the company that they believe so much in you. I mean,
think about it. They just can pick anybody in the world,
(25:00):
and they picked Candice Parkering to be the president of
women's basketball. You have a fiduciary duty to that company.
And the fact you've been with them for sixteen years,
it's amazing. I've been with nik for twenty five years, right,
that's all I've worn and Lawyersy's a big thing to me.
So it's been a great relationship for me as well.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So when you think about kind of this next chapter.
It's something you've been working on for a while. But
I want to read a paragraph that jumped out at
me and I read it to Alex earlier. I'm going
to read it back to you. So this is a
paragraph from your retirement announcement on Instagram. I'm quoting here.
In the meantime, know all caps, I'm a businessman, not
(25:39):
a businessman. This is the beginning. I'm attacking business, private
equity ownership. I will own both an NBA and WNBA team,
broadcasting production, boardrooms, beach volleyball, Domino's. This is apparently in
the side. I think to your wife, Sorry, baby, it's
going to get more real with the same intensity and
focus I did basketball. Wow, break that down for us.
(26:03):
That's like a mission statement, I think unpacking.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
I always believe in speaking things into existence, and that
is a goal of mine and I'm not going to
shy away from it. I think everybody assumes, you know
WBA players own a WBA team, but I'm a huge
fan of the NBA as well, and I think that
that's a possibility as well. And I think just taking
(26:29):
that mindset of being an athlete on the court, you
set all of those microscopic and telescopic goals, but really
the work comes behind figuring out how I'm going to
do that, and every single day putting yourself in a
position to be better than you were the day before.
I really, I really think it's just recreating the blueprint
of what you had as an athlete. I mean, you
look at seasons, you figure out what your goals are.
(26:51):
Obviously the championship would be owning a team. And we
know some people, we know a couple, we know a
couple of people, people that have and people that will hopefully.
But I think it's it's the relationships, it's learning. It's
so crazy because you know, I'm a huge Malcolm Glawell,
like I read all his books.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
Yeah, and you.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Talk about outlier and it talks about ten thousand hours.
You talk about the time, and I think you know
you've experienced this with with your kids as well, where
you're trying to teach them that if you put the
time in, you can have these God given abilities. But
if you put the time in, then you're going to
be better. Right, you can turn into greatness just from
putting the time. And I think athletes when they endo career,
(27:31):
you forget how much time you put in to be
really good at your sport. And I have to remind
myself that I need to put the time and the
energy and the effort. And sometimes that's goal setting, and
sometimes that's like like now my Google calendar, it's it's
for real, like I have to stay you know, I
have to stay on top of that because that's what
I want to do.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
And so that's going to give me there So can
does this talk about that? You talk about the reps
and I'm a big believer of that. I've always said,
I'm not going to be the smartest. I'm not going
to be like obviously, I didn't go to any ivy
leave college.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I didn't go to college.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
So I'm going to be the hardest work and first
one there, last one to leave, and I'm going to
grind and I'm going to study. But talk about studying
for you, how do you make up the time because
you were playing basketball to compete in the world of
the Mark lazwis that David Blitzers, what kind of studying
do you do? And walk me through your mindset of
how do you fill that gap?
Speaker 5 (28:24):
I love asking people for twenty minutes of your time
bi monthly. I just need twenty minutes of your time,
and can we go over this deck and you teach
me what you saw or past decks that have been
successful or companies that you've passed on. What did you
look at? What did you see? What did the margins
(28:45):
look like? What made you lean towards this? What are
the qualities? Because here's the thing you can probably I
always say this when I'm scouting somebody in basketball, there's
that like intangible that your brain's putting together, but it's
all things that you've learned over time.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
How do they move?
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Like, how are they handling? Are they looking up? Are
they seeing the floor? Are they making their teammates better?
Speaker 4 (29:08):
All those things?
Speaker 5 (29:09):
And I think in business it's like that as well,
especially when you're picking between you know, apples to apples
and you're picking between people because honestly, that's what it is.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
It's all relationships.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Right.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
You can have an amazing idea in the wrong person
running it, and you can have an uh okay idea
and the right person's running it. And I think that's
what I'm learning the most from mentors like Mark Lazari
and from you know, I've involved with other individuals. You
talk about Andy Spellman, you talk about Mark Roberts, I
mean down the line. But the thing that I'm noticing
(29:41):
the most is how important it is for me to
also get in rooms with women and learn and listen
and be a part of that network and growth as well.
So I think just picking their brain, asking questions and
not being afraid to ask for time.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah. Love that. Let's talk about Mark Lazarie for a second,
because off camera I got a little intel which your
business relationship with him began, I believe with you giving
him a black eye.
Speaker 4 (30:11):
I crossed him first, then I gave him a black guy.
And now I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
We were playing in a celebrity game at NBA All
Star and Mark was playing and I did a fake.
I did my like patent over the head fake, and
he turned and looked, and by the time he reacted,
I had already gone, and so we bumped heads.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
And his daughter's thought.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
That you were a professional basketball player, the only professional
basketball team owner.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, he was an owner.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
He was an owner on that team, and it was hilarious,
and so his daughters thought it was the funniest thing.
And so ever since then, every NBA All Star We'd
always seek each other out. We would always find each other.
I'd see his daughters, we'd talk, we'd hang out, go
to dinner, all those things.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
And then about.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
What was it twenty twenty two, twenty one when the
Bucks were, you know about on the CUSPA winning a championship.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
He's like, we got to you your bulls fan.
Speaker 5 (31:01):
I'm a Bulls fan. It was great in the nineties,
Now not so much. We got to get you out
here to a game, and I'm like, there's I'm never coming.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
To a Bucks name.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
I can't do it. Well, he convinced me.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
I drove from Chicago to the Bucks and just seeing
the environment, being able to see dear district, all the
things that he's done, it was unbelievable. And just to
continue to talk to him and catch up with him
and do all that it was amazing. And then you know,
he started, you know, Avenue Capital Sports, and then he
(31:33):
called me one day and was like, I would love
for you to be involved in it. And Mark is
one of those people that it's super special. I think
we have an amazing friendship. But also everything he says
he does, and I think that's the thing that I
respect most about Mark Lazarie.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
He's a great mentor. I got to get share one
Mark Glazery store just to tell you what an incredible
guy he is. Back like in eleven, a couple of
years after we won the title with the Yankees, we
had a date where he was going to mentor me
and we're gonna go over my real estate deck, right
And I said, I'll probably be there on eleven I said,
Yankee rest Sox games usually go a little longer, or
maybe eleven thirty. Well, of course we're going to extra endings.
(32:10):
It's like one am. I'm texting him. I said, hey,
rain check, I'm sure you're sleeping. He goes, no, come over.
I'm like, well, first of all, you're up, So I
get I knock in his house. He's got his pajamas on,
and we spend the next hour and a half on
his couch, one in one and he's going red marking
my deck. And then he's been a long time investor
of mine. We've been partners with several other things, and
(32:32):
I'm sure we'll do other things. But when you have
mentors like that that are really special, that's just an example.
Nobody knows that story. But you know stories like that,
and I've experienced stories like that, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
That's what separates it if you think about it, Like
everybody wonders why Steph can shoot like he shoots. Yes,
it's god given talent some of it. But like, who's
the one that's in the gym getting the most shots
of mm hm, And it's it's guys like Mark that
put the time in, put the energy in, do the
extra I think that I'm learning that are successful.
Speaker 4 (33:01):
But he's a nice guy.
Speaker 5 (33:03):
I think that's what separates him is he actually genuinely
cares about you as a human and what you do
and the decisions that you make.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Talk to us about women's sports, you know, it's something
you started this conversation talking about being committed to women's
basketball and women's sports. What needs to happen next for
women's sports. From a business perspective.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
We've always talked about properly investing in a product. I mean,
we've been screaming from the rooftop that scared money doesn't
make money, that you actually have to properly invest in
not only the sport and the business plan, but also
the athletes. The thing I respect most about the NBA
is Adam Silver. He calls me, I'm just like, I
don't even I mean, he asks questions to me, and
(33:58):
I'm not part of the NBA. The stars of the
NBA questions, Yeah, yeah, hopefully Lebron is on speed dial.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
He talks to me as a relationship with them.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
And I think that within women's sports for so long,
it's been a separation of investment and product for a
very long time. And I think the first conversation I
had with Mark was what are you dedicating? What percentage
of the fund are you dedicating to women's sports? Because
this isn't something that I want to come into and
just not make an impact on something that I'm passionate about.
(34:33):
And he's like, we're going to invest in women's sports
and we're going to do it. And this was before
this last year year and a half, which was unique timing.
And I said, okay, but I need more than an
investment of money. I need time as well, because you
can't just invest in a product that you've never seen.
So I was like, come to the final four. I
have a suite, Come sit with me at the women's
(34:53):
Final four and let's watch Iowa and South Carolina go
at it, and he came, you know, and he was
there and you know, met everybody saw the environment. And
I think that within women's sports, what we need is
people that are knowledgeable.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
About the growth of it.
Speaker 5 (35:11):
But also we need the billionaire owners that are going
to come in and actually make an impact and grow
the game again.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
And so what's your role in that.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
I think my role in that is understanding through past growth.
And that's why everybody was yelling from the rooftop. Wheah dah,
it's twenty eight years young. There were a lot of
leagues that it took took year thirty to really make
a growth. So it's coming, whether it comes at twenty eight,
twenty nine, thirty one, and we've seen it. The crazy
(35:45):
thing that I think it's little fixes And this is
where my role is is to question and to push
and to encourage.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
ABC. It was the first time they put the women's
NCAA game on on ABC.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Was the first year that Kaylen Clark made the championship game.
Are you surprised that the viewership was up? Are you
surprised that people actually saw the product?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
It was buried for so long on ESPN.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
There's so many times during the INCA game and even
WNBA playoffs, I turn on the NBA doesn't want to
clash with NFL playoffs or NFL Opening Week, So why
would we then put the WNBA. I don't care if
that's the time slot that they're giving you. Let's fight
for another one or let's find something else. And I
think with streaming, with social media, now it's more front
(36:33):
and center. You're seeing the leaders of and I'm sorry,
I'm passionate about this. So now within you look at
statistics within social media and following and it's page Becker's.
She had more followings than Suggs, who was a top
four pick. She had more following than Anthony Edwards when
(36:54):
he was coming into the league. So now you're able
to look at social media and see what the following is,
the clicks, the like, the what they're selling. You know
what people are looking for, and you're now able to
see that, Okay, we women can sell things, and I
think that that is my role is to continue to
(37:14):
push the envelope of what that looks like, of visibility,
but also like having relationships to be able to build
what you're trying to build.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
So one of the relationships that we have watched you
develop because you've done it on television, is with some
of the biggest personalities in NBA history. So I want
to talk a little bit about broadcasting. You've had some experience.
I want you guys to talk about this a little bit.
A lot of people maybe who didn't know you when
you were playing, now know you from giving it to check.
(37:48):
We know you guys are good friends. We've seen the
video of you hugging him after the championship game. Tell
us how all that came about. Because it's not traditionally
natural progression to be like a star women's basketball player
and then be chopping it up on the best watched
studio television show in sports.
Speaker 5 (38:10):
I have to pinch myself sometimes because those guys were
on my wall and coming into a situation like that.
Speaker 4 (38:17):
I'm a basketball hoop head.
Speaker 5 (38:19):
Like I watch the game, and then I watch all
the highlights and the analysis after. Then the next morning
I wake up and I watch the analysis of the
analysis of the game previous. Like I drive my family
crazy with sports just being on television every type of sort,
and to be able to sit at that desk and
(38:39):
talk basketball and talk basketball with people that were on
your wall, but also basketball with people that played it
differently than you. And I don't mean just NBAWNBA. The
battle I have with Shack all the time is He's like,
just get the ball and score, and I'm like, check,
not everybody is seven footless three hundred pounds. Like, it's
not barbecue chicken for me. I got to do a
couple moves, you know, And so to be able to
(39:02):
sit at a desk like that and to chop it
up with them on a nightly basis, it's super special.
And I think early on I was a little like starstruck,
but as time went on, I realized, like, I'm not
trying to be one of the guys.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
I'm trying to be one of the players.
Speaker 5 (39:16):
And once we kind of like understood that and their perspective,
they don't take anything I say to heart. We go
back and forth and again, my brothers prepared me for
it because I can take a lot of jokes and
they're making fun of my outfits or making fun of
how I walk. They say I walk like Kenny Smith
because my knees are you know, I'm bow legged.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
So I can take all of.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
That talk to me a little bit about your preparation.
Are you watching games, are you taking notes?
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Do you have a coach?
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Walk us through that a little bit.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
It's so interesting because I think it's changed over time.
Speaker 5 (39:44):
There's a lot of broadcasters that go by feel, and
I think that that's a skill that's a skill set.
Like you think about Reggie Miller, He's able to paint
a picture of what the game is, of what this
person is thinking or whatever. And you think about stan
Van Gundy, who's more of like stats and like all
all of these things. And you know, I'll be honest,
I think Shaq would come out and tell you he
doesn't prepare when he comes to show.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
Half the time he doesn't know who's playing, you.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (40:08):
And that's a skill set in itself.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
So I think for me, I just had to develop
over time my way of preparation and I always have
basketball on. I like knowing backstories. Scouting report is huge
for me, so I know what your go to move
is and so I'm going to bring it up.
Speaker 4 (40:22):
Kenny Smith told me something really cool.
Speaker 5 (40:24):
He said, when you're preparing, make sure that you're preparing
to speak to the grandma, that you're prepared to speak
to the person that is a basketball head, and you're
prepared to speak to the novice. And so if you
can say one thing and be able to speak in
touch to all of those people, then you've done a
good job. And so I've tried to continue to prepare
so that I'm ready for that on television.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
So what do you do next in broadcast? I mean,
do you have as your goal setting, as your Google calendaring? Like,
what do you think about when it comes to the
media world.
Speaker 5 (40:55):
Baby Hair Productions is a production company I started. First
passion project was Title nine documentary that we were able
to complete and do with Turner. I think it's growing
that and kind of being behind the camera and being
able to develop stories and storytelling, because I think that's
that's where you really impact people and change, is being
(41:16):
able to tell stories of what's come before, and whether
it's in women in sports, whether it's women in business,
whether it's whatever it is. You know, I would love
to continue to tell those stories and to be able
to you know, produce and to do things like that well.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
And it's interesting too when you think about and we
talk about this all the time, that it feels like
One of the next big steps forward for women's sports
is the so called shoulder programming, right, you know, the
stuff that goes you know, you guys are talking about
for baseball, for the NBA, there is all the pregame
and post game and the storytelling that goes around it.
Some of that has been I would argue missing with
(41:54):
women's sports. So it feels like a big business opportunity.
Speaker 5 (41:57):
If I dare say something, I just think it's so
funny because you talk about, you know, like the pre
and postgame shows. I tuned in the week that Russell
Westbrook and Kevin Durant we're gonna play each other, because
all week all I heard was they didn't like each other.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
It was all these stories.
Speaker 5 (42:16):
And it's so funny because we turn women's sports into
these like the Caddy Da Da da and all this stuff,
and it's like, no, men's sports is just called something different.
Speaker 4 (42:24):
It's the same. It's a synonym of whatever it.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Is, and.
Speaker 5 (42:28):
I'm like, it's a synonym of what you're calling women's sports.
It's all the storylines behind the story. And so now
for women's sports to be able to get pre and
postgame shows, I think we're still kind of figuring out
what that looks like.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
And I think we're still a little sensitive of.
Speaker 5 (42:43):
Actually saying what needs to be said because we're so
protective of women's sports. Were sometimes it is hard to
watch because that wasn't a good pass, It wasn't a
nice move, you know. So I think we're still figuring
out our lane to grow the sport but also be
honest and critique in a way that the viewers would
love to watch.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Which is a corollary to the whole argument around women's sports,
right that you know, you had a lot of I mean,
you see this in your work. We've seen it in
the w We've seen it INWSL where a lot of
people are like, oh, we're just really rooting for these girls,
and like we're going to put some money in from
the foundation and hope for the best versus private equity
coming in a Mark Lasry, A Joe and Clara Si,
(43:24):
you know, coming in and being like no, no, no, no,
we're going to make some money here. We're going to
get butts in the seats, We're going to sell the
media rights for a bunch of money, and this is
going to be a real business going for I mean
that's your interest.
Speaker 5 (43:37):
It sounds like the thing that irks me the most
is if you go to an NWSL game, it'll say, look,
he's supporting the NWSL, But if you go to a
Chicago Fire MLS game, it's look, he's front and center
watching these guys work, you know. So it's all in
the conversation and how we are able to.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
Figure out what our.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Fans want and need. They want to see superstars, you
want to see people courtside. But it's also like the
verbiage that we're using in social media posts and how
we look at women's sports as a business.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
It's not support.
Speaker 5 (44:10):
This isn't a charity. I loved when Claire Lusai said,
I'm trying to make money. Yeah, this isn't something that
I'm coming in and I'm in a blow. I'm just
gonna use my money to further the cause. No, this
isn't a cause. This is a business opportunity. And now
that mindset, I think is shifting. It's shifting in volleyball
with the amount of people, I mean, ninety seven thousand
(44:32):
people went and watched a volleyball game. Put that in perspective,
and I'm just watching, like my daughter played front and
center at homecoming. Their volleyball team was out under the
lights playing and it was young boys. I mean I
could almost cry looking at young boys scream for the team.
So it's like, now we're having a generation of men
that have grown up with women as role models and
(44:53):
in leadership positions, and now from a business mindset, we
have to take all of that information the blueprints say
and just not be stupid.
Speaker 4 (45:02):
Honestly, like, let's just not let's just not be stupid.
And I think we we could get this.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
All right, Let's not be stupid. That's the.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
Stupid.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Let's wrap all right. Now we're gonna move to rapid fire,
which hopefully won't be stupid. But we'll see. All right,
I'll start and the will bounce it back and forth
and just you know, we'll keep it tight. What's one
word to describe your deal making style?
Speaker 5 (45:32):
Intuitive? Inquisitive? There you go, inquisitive in a deal. What's
more important your instincts or data instincts? Who's your dream
deal making partner with them?
Speaker 3 (45:43):
Mark Lazari, who's your dream co host on the NBA broadcast?
Speaker 4 (45:49):
Allen Iverson.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
That's a good one. What's the best piece of advice
you've received on deal making or business.
Speaker 4 (45:55):
Listen to all the facts, but then ultimately you make
your decision.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
What's the worst business advice you've ever received?
Speaker 4 (46:03):
Listen to everyone else and do what they want and
do what they want you to do.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
What's your hype song before you go into a big
meeting or negotiation?
Speaker 5 (46:12):
I spray some angel perfume an honor at coach summit
and I play What more can I say? By Jay
z Okay?
Speaker 3 (46:19):
You can only watch one sport for the rest of
your life. Which one is it?
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Basketball?
Speaker 2 (46:23):
What team do you want to see win a championship
more than any?
Speaker 4 (46:27):
Chicago Bulls?
Speaker 2 (46:29):
What's a fun fact about yourself that your teammates would
be surprised to hear? Teammates, business associates, whoever?
Speaker 4 (46:35):
I can juggle?
Speaker 2 (46:36):
Oh that's a good one. All right, Cannice, this was
so fun.
Speaker 5 (46:41):
I appreciate you all, I really do, and I hope
that we can sit down at some point chat and
do this.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Chop it up.
Speaker 4 (46:49):
Be great?
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Thanks so much for listening to the deal. If you
never want to miss the story, become a Bloomberg dot
Com subscriber today. Check out our special intro offer right
now at Bloomberg dot Com Slash podcast offer or click
the link in the show notes. You'll also unlike Deep reporting,
data and analysis from Bloomberg reporters all around the world.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
The Deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly.
Our producers are Anamazarakis, Stacey Wong, and Lizzie Phillip. Original
music and engineering by Blake Maples. Our managing editor is
David E.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Ravella.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Our executive producers are Jason Kelly, Brendan Francis Newnham, Jordan Opplinger,
Trey Shallowhorn, Kyle Kramer, Andrew Barden, Kelly Laferrier and Ashley Hoenig.
Sage Bauman is our head of podcasts, additional support from
Rachel Scaramazino and Elena Los Angeles. Joshua Devaux is Our
(47:57):
director of photography, Rubob Shakir our creative director. Art direction
is from Jacqueline Kessler. Casting by Julia Manns. Our associate
producer is Natasha Abelard, Camera operation by Stephen Neil and
Lynnea Jolson. Our gaffer is Kelly Porterfield, and our grip
is Justin Birch. Katia Vanoy is our video editor. Listen
(48:21):
to the Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
get your podcasts. You can also tune into the video
Companion on Bloomberg Originals and on Bloomberg TV.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com