Parker talks motherhood, Summitt, documentary
Not even 24 hours after celebrating at the Las Vegas Aces championship parade, Lady Vols legend Candace Parker flew to Ojai, California, to preview her new documentary at the espnW Women + Sports Summit.
Parker, now a three-time WNBA champion, talked with ESPN's Elle Duncan about the Aces' historic repeat championship, her time at Tennessee playing for Pat Summitt, motherhood and more.
Her upcoming documentary, which is titled "Candace Parker: Unapologetic," goes all the way back to her childhood in Naperville, Illinois, and follows her career through winning the 2021 WNBA championship with the Chicago Sky. The documentary premieres on ESPN on Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. ET.
Parker, 37, named the documentary unapologetic because it's something she had to learn to be as an athlete and as a mother.
"I can't tell my daughter to be her, or to be who she is, or to follow her dreams, or to love who she loves, or to go and study what makes her happy if I'm not doing that," Parker told Duncan. "I think so many times, not just athletes, but women especially, you have to say, 'Sorry, sorry.' ... No, you don't have to be sorry about being you and and doing what you love."
Through the documentary, Parker wants to show the part of her life people don't see from the outside. Like how Lailaa grew up traveling the world as Parker played in the WNBA, overseas and at the Olympics. Or when Lailaa tried to take her 2012 Olympic gold medal to preschool for show and tell.
"Yes, it is about stats, it is about records and championships and things like that. That's super important," Parker said. "But it's also, I'm a mom first. I really, really, really mean that, and I think that's what I hope this doc shows."
What Candace Parker said about her relationship with Pat Summitt
Parker got close to Summitt when she had to redshirt her freshman year after her knee surgery.
At Summitt's request, Parker went to her office every Wednesday. She ate lunch or did homework on the couch, but little by little, she started talking.
"We just clicked, and she just became like a second mom to me," Parker said.
The documentary gives perspective on a lot of pivotal moments of Parker's career, like winning back-to-back NCAA championships, or how her life changed after she dunked as a sophomore at Naperville Central. She didn't think her dunk was anything more than bragging rights at the dinner table, but the next morning there were TV cameras at her house.
The documentary also doesn't shy away from moments like when Parker got benched for missing curfew when Tennessee played DePaul her senior year, which was scheduled as a homecoming game for her.
Summitt's example still guides Parker
as a mother, from her definite dozen principles to the work ethic she showed her entire career. Parker said she always thinks back to the time Summitt kicked her out of practice one day because she wasn't "busting my butt the way I was supposed to."
Parker decided she was going to get up early and get to the gym at 4 a.m. the next morning and show up to 6 a.m. practice already in a full sweat.
When Parker pulled up to the gym, the light in Summitt's office was already on. Eight NCAA titles didn't stop her from doing all the little things that got her there.
"Every time I'm tired, I feel like I can hear, 'You've never arrived,'" Parker said. "You're always going to something, you're always working to something. So what got you there isn't going to be what keeps you there. So with Coach Summitt, that story has more in how I operate, how I am as a teammate, how I am as a wife, as a mother. That's the story that I always remember about her."