April 14, 2023
WNBA Star Candace Parker Says Growing Up With Brothers Prepared Her For Personalities Like Shaq’s on ‘NBA on TNT’
If you step into the game, be ready to handle the panel.
NBA on TNT panelist Candace Parker is well-equipped for her role on the show, but it’s not just her credentials that have prepared her for the spot. The two-time championship WNBA star said growing up with two older brothers is a huge reason she can handle the challenge from the rest of the panel.
According to an interview with Insider, Parker discussed what it was like growing up in the Parker household outside of Chicago in Naperville, Illinois. Having her older brothers, Marcus and Anthony, was the best preparation for panelists like former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who she often has to dunk her opinion on during the show.
“Take the surprise out your voice, Shaq.” 🗣@Candace_Parker had to let ‘em know. pic.twitter.com/9KwEsHbIUH
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 24, 2021
“I grew up doing that,” Parker said. “All my brothers and I have ever done from the time I was born is make fun of each other.”
“You had to be extremely humble in the Parker household, otherwise, we would humble you,” she added.
Parker’s experience on set with O’Neal and the NBA on TNT family reflects the relationship with her brothers, chopping it up about basketball, poking fun, and not taking things too seriously. The WNBA All-Star enjoys bringing her point of view as she covers the league on TV. She called it “the second-best job in the world.”
“I mean, I’m looking to my left and my right,t and you see Shaq, who there were posters on my wall of Shaq, and Jamal Crawford, [who I remember] watching pla,y and I remember seeing him at Michigan,” Parker said. “Isaiah Thomas, who I was taught to not like, because… he was a Piston and we didn’t like him. But now I’m able to really see that he’s not a bad boy — he’s actually a good guy.”
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“We all have this family-like atmosphere there,” she added. “My agent gets mad at me because I’m like, ‘I can’t believe they paid me to talk about basketball.’ It really is the second-best job — the number one job being playing basketball. But it is the second-best job in the world.”