WNBA Legend Candace Parker Wants to Be Recognized For More Than Her Gender
*By Michael Teich*
WNBA star Candace Parker may be a female voice in a male-dominated sport, but the two-time MVP wants to be recognized for more than just her gender.
“I think it’s important because, obviously we watch basketball, and I feel like we’re knowledgeable about it as well," Parker said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar. "I don't know if it’s a female voice or just another opinion. I hope at some point in the transition it’s more of that ー a varying opinion as opposed to a different gender.
The Los Angeles Spark is taking her talents to the broadcast booth, signing on with Turner Sports as a NBA and NCAA basketball commentator.
Parker, who is entering her 11th season with the Sparks, will join the Players Only Studio team, dishing out her insights and analysis from an athlete's perspective.
She also weighed in on the future of the WNBA, whose former president Lisa Borders stepped down to take a new position as the first-ever CEO of [Time's Up]([http://www.nba.com/article/2018/10/02/wnba-president-lisa-borders-steps-down-president-times).
“Lisa was great with us," she said. "I’m partial, you know. We won a championship when she was president. I think she did a great job of balancing both players as well as owners and was a great leader, and I wish her the best. It's going to be hard replacing her, but I'm sure the WNBA will do the best they can.”
In 2018 Borders helped the WNBA score its most-watched season in four years, and in 2017 she led the league to its highest regular-season attendance since 2012.
Despite the WNBA's growth over the past few years, revenue and viewership is still dwarfed by that of the men's league. But the NBA had a decades-long head-start, according to Parker.
“I always talk about how young the league is. We’re 23 years young," she said. "The NBA was on tape delay in the 80s for the Finals match-up. So, if you can imagine the progress that they’ve made over the past 20-30 years. I think just give it time."
The six-time All Star is confident social media will help accelerate the WNBA's progress.
"The WNBA is going to be more visible, and you’re going to be able to get to know the players," she said.
"What do you fall in love with with the NBA? You fall in love with story lines and being able to know the players. It’s coming for the WNBA.”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/wnba-legend-candace-parker-wants-to-be-recognized-for-more-than-her-gender).
After two incredibly close games, the Super Bowl matchup is set. On February 13th, at the SoFi stadium in Inglewood, California, the Los Angeles Rams will face off in their home stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals. After 54 Super Bowls where a home team never hosted the game on its field, it will now happen for the second year in a row, after Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs last year. Speaking of Brady, ESPN dropped a bombshell of a headline Saturday that Tom Brady was set to retire after 22 seasons and seven rings. To discuss all the latest NFL news, Anthony Tall, President of Miracle Sports Group, joins Cheddar News.
In January alone, the gaming sector has seen three major acquisitions. Yesterday, Sony added to the flurry of M&A activity in the gaming space, snatching up game developer 'Bungie' for $3.6 billion dollars. Renee Gittins, executive director at the International Gaming Developers Association, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
NFL legend Tom Brady says he is done playing football after 22 seasons. Cheddar News speaks with Trey Wingo, Chief NFL Analyst at Pro Football Network, about Brady announcing his retirement.
Greg Bishop, Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says Tom Brady's legacy is all about 'progress' and expects the future Hall of Famer to bolster his entrepreneurial ventures following his retirement.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has been a driving force for youth mentorship since 1904. The nonprofit organization is launching its annual Big Draft campaign this month in partnership with the NFL, and Artis Stevens, the first Black CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, joined Cheddar to discuss the push for adding more "Bigs" as mentors on his one-year anniversary leading the non-profit organization. "While the NFL is recruiting and drafting more players, they're also helping us to draft more mentors and, particularly, men all the way from across February to all the way to April of this year," Stevens explained.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Jim Riordan, Director of the MBA Sport Management program at Florida Atlantic University, breaks down the successes, failures, and chaos of the first seven months of the Name, Image, Likeness policy in college athletics; Adi Kunalic, President of Opendorse, discusses the first-ever association-wide deal in college athletics between Opendorse and the NAIA, and how Opendorse is marketing and educating student-athletes to make the most of their NIL deal potential; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Predicting a Pro'.
Jim Riordan, Director of the MBA Sport Management program at Florida Atlantic University, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the successes, failures, and chaos of the first seven months of the Name, Image, Likeness policy in college athletics.
Adi Kunalic, President of Opendorse, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the first-ever association-wide deal in college athletics between Opendorse and the NAIA, and how Opendorse is marketing and educating student-athletes to make the most of their NIL deal potential.
With the Beijing Winter Olympics set to get underway on Friday, Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today, joined Cheddar News to break down the big storylines as the pandemic and international conflicts threaten to cast a cloud over the event that is aspirationally seen as a beacon of international cooperation. Wolken noted specific issues over cybersecurity for visiting athletes and disputes over human rights leading to a diplomatic boycott have been making waves even before the opening ceremony. "So you've got sort of these barbs going back and forth already between the Americans and the Chinese, and things haven't even started yet," he said. "We don't even know what's going to happen once the games start and people actually start winning medals."
