- Women's basketball superstar and analyst Candace Parker has become a fan favorite on "NBA on TNT."
- The two-time WNBA MVP regularly holds her own in squabbles against Shaq and other panelists.
Candace Parker has thrived in her role as a panelist for "NBA on TNT."
She's insightful, of course; two WNBA championships, a pair of MVP awards, and seven All-Star nods don't come to players who don't know basketball. She's also fantastic at meeting the viewer on their level, explaining complex plays and strategies in a way that's accessible for the audience.
But perhaps most important of all is Parker's ability to challenge the biggest personalities on the show. She'll waste no time proving Shaq wrong or going toe-to-toe with the rest of the panelists.
—NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 24, 2021
Turns out, she comes by it naturally.
"I grew up doing that," Parker told Insider. "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.
Raised outside of Chicago in Naperville, Illinois, Parker constantly had to contend with her two older brothers, Marcus and Anthony, the latter of whom played in the NBA. She had to have thick skin, and it's paid off both on the basketball court and in the studio.
She says her experience on set with Shaq and the "NBA on TNT" crew has been "similar in terms of poking fun, not taking yourself too serious, and talking about basketball."
And Parker has loved every minute of becoming "a part of the NBA," calling her role covering the league on TV "the second-best job in the world."
"I mean, I'm looking to my left and my right and you see Shaq, who there were posters on my wall of Shaq, and Jamal Crawford, [who I remember] watching play 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.
"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."