1057 Candace Parker: Habits & Mindset of Winning, Lessons from Kobe Bryant + Being an Athlete & Mom

“Energy is everything and if you can create and find that energy you’re able to do so much!”Today's guest is WNBA star and two time olympic gold medalist, Candace Parker. As a mother and a Black woman, Candace has developed into a bold, insightful and inspiring thought leader who is passionate about the importance of women’s rights, voters’ rights and Black Lives Matter. With her heart, passion and competitiveness, Candace is already a role model for so many. In this episode Lewis and Candace sit down for a wide-ranging conversation about how to develop a winner's mindset, the lessons that she's learned from Kobe Bryant, being a mom, the adversities she's faced and so much more! For more go to: www.lewishowes.com/1057Check out her podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ledlow-parker/id1484099835 Learn more about the Social Change Fund: https://www.thesocialchangefund.org/ Check out Greatness Coaching: www.lewishowes.com/mycoachKobe Bryant on Mamba Mentality, NBA Titles, and Oscars: https://link.chtbl.com/691-podKevin Hart Breaks Down His Secrets to Success: https://link.chtbl.com/956-podKatherine Schwarzenegger Pratt on the Power of Forgiveness: https://link.chtbl.com/925-pod Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 1,057 with two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA superstar Candace Parker.

• 0:09Speaker 01

  You know, I definitely think your environment shapes your upbringing. I don't think you understand love until you have a child.

• 0:17Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:40Lewis Howes?

  Vince Lombardi once said, winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is. And Terry Goodkind said, if the road is easy, you're likely going the wrong way. My guest today is WNBA superstar and two-time Olympic gold medalist Candace Parker. And Parker is an impressive human being. She has won a WNBA championship, two WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards, WNBA Finals MVP Award, WNBA All-Star Game MVP, two Olympic gold medals, and the WNBA Rookie of the Year. She has also been selected to six All WNBA teams and five All-Star

• 1:23Lewis Howes?

  teams, and was the first player to win the Rookie of the Year and the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. She is the definition of a winner. As a mother and a black woman, Candace has developed into a bold, insightful, and inspiring thought leader who is passionate about the importance of women's rights, voters' rights, and Black Lives Matter. With her heart, passion, and competitiveness, Candace is an inspiring role model for so many, and it was such a treat to have her on this show. And in this episode, we discuss how Candace developed a winner's mindset, if there's any way to have success

• 2:04Lewis Howes?

  without adversity in our lives, how she deals with negative emotions. We also talk about the lessons that Kobe Bryant taught her and the most impactful moment she had with him, what it was like being a mom early in her WNBA career. What athletes can do moving forward to support racial equality, what she's learned from motherhood, and the biggest lessons her daughter has taught her about life, why she would not participate in another Olympics, and so much more. But before we get into this, I want to let you know that I just launched my greatness coaching program, and I'm so excited about this. We built this for the successful entrepreneur in mind to

• 2:44Lewis Howes?

  be your high-performance system for 2021 and beyond. It includes coaching, and accountability, community, and my new greatness playbook, where you'll reflect, plan, and create short-term and long-term visions for your life and business. This program is not for everyone, so if you join greatness coaching or not, creating high-performance systems will be the biggest thing you do to set yourself up for success in 2021 and beyond. And if you want to see if you are the right fit, then go to lewishouse.com/mycoach to apply. And while you're listening to this episode with Candace, make sure to share this with someone you think would be inspired by her message and her story as well. You can just copy and paste the link

• 3:28Lewis Howes?

  wherever you're listening to this episode, or go to lewishouse.com/1057 and share that link out with your friends right now. Also, post this on social media, and make sure to tag Candace as well, so she can know that you're listening to her, and send her some love over on social media. Okay, in just a moment, the one and only Candace Parker. Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest, Candace Parker, in the house. So glad that you're here. I've been a big fan of you, what you represent, your dedication and commitment over the years of excellence and greatness.

• 4:08Lewis Howes?

  And I want to start with the winner's mentality, because I think you, obviously you have it, you've been a winner your whole life. And I'm curious, what does it take, in your mind, to develop a winner's mentality, even when you're not winning?

• 4:23Speaker 01

  I honestly think it's like the obstacles and the barriers. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an amazing environment at home. My parents, both my parents were there. Every game, every play, every, everything. And honestly, I, I feel like I was really lucky from that standpoint. But when I got to college, I think in some ways, in some areas, because things were so quote unquote, "perfect" in a way, that might have hindered my tenacity and my, you know, ability to know if I could get over obstacles. And so, you know, when I got-

• 5:00Lewis Howes?

  You had too much love from your parents.

• 5:02Speaker 01

  I think I had a little bit, too much love, too much everything.

• 5:04Lewis Howes?

  There was not enough adversity.

• 5:05Speaker 01

  There was just not enough adversity. And, you know, honestly, it's a way of evening things out. I get to college and, you know, I wake up from surgery. I tore my ACL the year before, wake up from surgery and they're like, "You might not play basketball ever again." And I just remember, you know, at that point in time, my dad, he let me have my pity party. And then he was like, you know, "You can, you can either have a pity party, or you can get this done. So you need to decide, you need to look yourself in the mirror and you need to make a promise." And like, at that point, it was like, I think I developed that mentality. Like, I decided to have that winning mentality of overcoming adversity and obstacles.

• 5:43Lewis Howes?

  Do you think all champions need adversity in order to become a champion? Or can they get there without some surgery, breakdown, letdown, parent breakup, you know, some type of extreme adversity? Do you think it's possible?

• 5:57Speaker 01

  I'd be interested to know if there's anybody that has just had it. Because, I mean, even if you think about like, Michael Jordan, you think about the greats of Phil Jackson, you think about, you know, just everybody that's amazing in their field. Serena Williams, Dominique Dawes, Dominique Mochiano. Like, you think about those amazing athletes. They've faced adversity. I mean, there's always been a time where you have to decide whether you're going to get up or you're gonna quit. And- I think it's because they get up, that's the reason why they're equipped to be able to face those challenges. I mean, everybody thinks that like when you win a championship, everything's so easy. But you go back, what if Jordan didn't make that steal against Karl Malone? Like, there are certain plays that you have to make.

• 6:40Speaker 01

  One play completely defines who somebody is or isn't.

• 6:44Lewis Howes?

  Crazy.

• 6:44Speaker 01

  And I think those moments of adversity kind of prepare you for that moment, so you're not scared of it.

• 6:49Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. How is it, I mean, you were in the WNBA, number one pick, 2008, is that right?

• 6:56Speaker 01

  You're dating me, but yes.

• 6:57Lewis Howes?

  The same year, same year.

• 6:58Speaker 01

  I'm getting old.

• 6:59Lewis Howes?

  You went to the Olympics that year, right? And, um, which must have been amazing. I've wanted to go to the Olympics since I was a kid.

• 7:07Lewis Howes?

  But you didn't win a WNBA championship for eight more years, is that right?

• 7:10Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 7:11Lewis Howes?

  How do you handle that mentally? When you're number one, you're, I think, two-time, uh, Player of the Year in college, is that right? Or in high school, two-time Player of the Year in high school or college? How do you win for so long and then not win for eight years? How do you stay motivated, disciplined, excited, having fun when you're not winning the championship?

• 7:33Speaker 01

  I think that's the challenge. You know, it's weird because I can remember every single moment, every loss, like after every... Like, we, we had this discussion after we won, because after we won, I was like, man, there's a joy, but I just want to do it again.

• 7:49Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  You know what I mean? It's almost like that, like...

• 7:53Speaker 01

  It's like the disease. You just, you, you, you taste the cake, you want, you know, you want to eat the cake again. You don't want just one slice. So that's how it was with winning, and like, I almost felt like the feeling of winning was less of a feeling than the, like, heartache of defeat. And so honestly, I feel like what kept me going is just like, I got it. I gotta get a piece of the cake, you know what I mean? And so every day I would just wake up. I think the hardest thing is when you do achieve success, to me. Because there's everybody that's climbing the wall, like, wants to win and is coming after you. And so it goes back to like the hunter versus the hunted.

• 8:35Speaker 01

  You know, what is, what's harder, and honestly, it is harder to be hunted every year. And so for me, that's the biggest thing, is just to come back and do it again.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  You know, it's so hard going that long without a championship. Or you wake up with so much motivation every single day. So much doubt every day from other people as to whether you can do it or not.

• 8:57Lewis Howes?

  How much doubt do you have with your with yourself? Do you live with doubt or insecurity? Or do you feel like you are unstoppable every moment of the day?

• 9:06Speaker 01

  It has taken a while for me. I don't know if it's doubt or just learning to be in the moment. Because everybody has insecurities. Everybody has doubt. Everybody has fear, a what if type of thing. But when you're truly like in the moment, like that that stuff doesn't matter. And I would get so, you know, if I scored thirty or if I scored thirty five and had an amazing game, I was on to the next play. It was the next game, next whatever. But I found when I scored ten or five and didn't play well and just what I hung on to it. And so I learned that I play better when I just in the moment and I prepare, do the best I can. And then I live with it.

• 9:52Speaker 01

  And it wasn't always like that.

• 9:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 9:55Speaker 01

  Wasn't always like that.

• 9:56Lewis Howes?

  Did you ever used to beat yourself up for many days and weeks or months in a poor performance?

• 10:00Speaker 01

  A thousand percent.

• 10:01Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 10:01Speaker 01

  And you can see it. My brother, my oldest brother played basketball for ten years in the NBA. He's been my hero for for life. I talked to him after almost every game and Anthony would always tell me, you're you should take the shots you are norm you should you should take regardless of what the previous play is. And he would see my hesitation if I missed a couple.

• 10:23Speaker 01

  And then obviously Kobe, I asked him because he would be the king of going five for twenty six and then hitting the game winner. And I remember asking him.

• 10:37Lewis Howes?

  Missing over and over.

• 10:38Speaker 01

  He'd miss over and over and over again, but then get the ball in the crunch time, do his move, go to his spot, right shoulder turnaround, bam, like left dribble, bam. And I remember asking him like, how do you have the courage to take those shots? And him saying, because I've put in too much time and so much effort and so much repetition, the next shot has to go in. Like percentage wise, when you miss three or four, you should really be taking that next shot because it has to go in.

• 11:03Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 11:03Speaker 01

  And so he's like, when you prepare, that's when it takes all that out of there. So I just kind of listened to that and you know, it's taken some time.

• 11:13Speaker 01

  It's very interesting. I had a conversation. I'm a big believer in like asking people what they consume. Like people that are, you know, successful or whatever. And I remember talking to Kobe and him saying that he really enjoyed this.

• 11:27Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  And so I just want to say like, yeah, so that was powerful to me. And that was when my agent reached out. I was like, hell, yeah, like this is.

• 11:34Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's cool.

• 11:35Speaker 01

  So that's cool.

• 11:37Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 11:38Speaker 01

  And even like other episodes. So I'm a big like, and I'll ask you after the show, like, what do you, what is your favorite books? What are you reading right now? What are your podcasts that you listen to? Everybody gets tired because I send the same texts every year. I'm like, so are you listening to anything else? Like, I'm big into that. And I was annoying with Kobe, like, what are you reading right now? What are you reading right now? Like, what are you doing? And he would always be like, I'm doing this, I'm reading this. And so this was one of, yeah, this was one of the things that he mentioned.

• 12:05Lewis Howes?

  Did he say he was listening or did he say he just enjoyed being on the show?

• 12:07Speaker 01

  Said he enjoyed being on the show, but he also listened. And this is, you know, a good podcast to listen to.

• 12:14Lewis Howes?

  That's great. Awesome. It's good to know.

• 12:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:16Lewis Howes?

  Good to know.

• 12:17Speaker 01

  I think you already kind of knew, but.

• 12:19Lewis Howes?

  It's good to know coming from Kobe, though. It's great. I mean, we had a great connection. I mean, I didn't meet him before then. Three minutes before I connected with him, right when he came out and his publicist and the whole team was there and they were like, he's got 20 minutes and he was like, take as much time as you want. He was really cool about it.

• 12:36Speaker 01

  He's.

• 12:37Lewis Howes?

  Super cool.

• 12:37Speaker 01

  He was our first guest on our podcast, Level of Parker. And, you know, I was, I'm, I'm friends with him, but I didn't want to like, ask to, you know how it's kind of like that line where you're like, I don't really want to ask because it, people ask you 50 million times.

• 12:52Lewis Howes?

  For everything. Yeah.

• 12:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. So I was like, I don't want to be that person. He actually saw the promo for the New York game that we were doing and was like, do you have a guest? And I was just like.

• 13:02Lewis Howes?

  Hey, come on.

• 13:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, we would love, been wanting to ask you. He was like, yo, don't even go through. I was like, we were trying to go through your publicist. We were trying to go through. He's like, skip all that, like.

• 13:11Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 13:11Speaker 01

  Whatever.

• 13:12Lewis Howes?

  That's pretty cool. So you've been pretty close with him for a while?

• 13:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, like 2008 was when.

• 13:17Lewis Howes?

  When you came into the league.

• 13:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, he became kind of like my little mentor. And yeah, like we, we went through waves of like, super connected to, you know, fall off to text every whatever. But he's, he's always been like in the playoffs is when we're like, super.

• 13:30Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. I mean, he was such a big fan of the WNBA. What's been the biggest insecurity you've had to overcome?

• 13:37Speaker 01

  I feel as though when you're able to do a number of things, when you can dribble, when you can pass, when you can shoot, people expect you to always constantly make the play that you should make, or the best play. And because you can do so much, I find it harder because you don't know if that's a good shot because you can make a nice pass. And so I think the struggle I've had has been making sure that I'm listening to my voice and what I know is right and doing the best I can, and not necessarily focusing on the other stuff. Because when you become a leader, when you become a star on a team, and you're dependent on night in and night out, you're gonna make more mistakes than

• 14:19Speaker 01

  people on the team. That's, I mean, that's the reality of it. But you have to be confident in your decisions.

• 14:26Lewis Howes?

  How do you handle your emotions when you know you've made a mistake and you're being criticized for that mistake? Whether it be by a few people, or by the online world, or whatever it may be?

• 14:37Speaker 01

  It's really funny, because this last two or three years, my mantra has been calm is a superpower. I always struggle because I feel as though in women's sports, and women in general, in business, wherever, politics, if you lose your composure, you're considered crazy, irrational, out of control. Whereas with a man, you're considered passionate, competitive, and all these things. And so I just determined, like, it's better to be calm anyway. Like, you look back on things, and usually, it's when you go crazy. You're like, no, I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have thrown that. You know, you're apologizing for action, usually not in action. And so, that's kind

• 15:22Speaker 01

  of been my place of trying to reach that calm, and be calculated. And the people I respect the most, they think before they say. That's kind of what I've tried to develop. I'm not perfect at all. I'm probably nowhere near where I need to be. But that's kind of been my mantra.

• 15:44Lewis Howes?

  Do you think you're, you think the greatest athletes are more calm than they are reactive and passionate, let's say? Or?

• 15:53Lewis Howes?

  Muhammad Ali was very passionate, very outspoken, you know Conor McGregor, like these people are very outspoken and passionate. Do you think you can be greater by being more calm?

• 16:04Speaker 01

  I think our society likes to put in label individuals. Like you meet people that are loud and you know, say all these words, but what's the action that backs it up? And to me, it's the action. It's not necessarily what you do all before that.

• 16:18Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 16:20Speaker 01

  Dame Lillard to me is one of the most.

• 16:23Lewis Howes?

  The guy's a machine.

• 16:24Speaker 01

  He's a machine, but he's one of those leaders that just, you can't tell on his face. And unfortunately for me, I was born with this problem that everything I think comes across my face.

• 16:34Lewis Howes?

  I'm the same way.

• 16:35Speaker 01

  To the point where now my daughter, 11 years old, will be like, "Mom, what's wrong?" Like when something comes on the television or something like that, like you think this. And I'm like, "No, I don't think that, but I do, but I don't," you know, so it's trying to get under control, having composure. And I've learned throughout that when the team or whatever organization you're a part of, as a leader, if they're hyped and their level is 10, it's your job to kind of bring the team down to an even keel level. And when everybody is down, it is your job to be...

• 17:09Lewis Howes?

  Bring them up.

• 17:10Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 17:11Lewis Howes?

  A little bit, yeah.

• 17:11Speaker 01

  It is your job. And so I feel as though like as I'm getting older and as I'm maturing, I try to do that in whatever situation, whether it's the team, whether it's my family. I'm trying. Now, it's not always...

• 17:25Lewis Howes?

  I know, right?

• 17:26Speaker 01

  It's not always, you know, it doesn't always work out, but at the same time, I think that's what I'm attempting to do.

• 17:31Lewis Howes?

  Are you a student of sports psychology any chance, or have you worked with sports psychology?

• 17:36Speaker 01

  It's my minor. It's my minor in college, yeah.

• 17:38Lewis Howes?

  Do you work with any mindset coaches today, or have you recently?

• 17:43Speaker 01

  So I am huge into reading and then reaching out to those that I read. Yeah, those authors. Joshua Metcalf wrote a book, Chop Wood Carry Water, which I read right before in 2016, before we won our championship. And what struck me about that book, and you know, not spoiler, but... In the book, it was talking about um golf balls and how initially golf balls were smooth. And when people would hit them, you couldn't control the direction that they were going. But they noticed that the more dented the golf balls were, as you hit them, they actually traveled better. So he used that as a metaphor of like humans and people in life and individuals and like

• 18:28Speaker 01

  getting beat up and getting bruised, you actually will travel farther and better. And that just hit me in a way. Um, you know, the whole book is just do the best you can and then, you know, live in the moment. And that's kinda, that, that kinda reached me. And so I'm huge into psychology. I read a million books, like I'm really into it. Um, I love panels, I love podcasts. So that's kinda where I go for my sports psychology.

• 18:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I read a book, I think it was called Champions Mindset, or maybe it's called Train to Win. I forget, I'll have to check it out again. But um, this sports psychologist said that you should always practice like it's a game and bring your energy to the game level. And then at game time, actually like calm down and just be more relaxed and calm and be in the flow. So I thought that was interesting. It's like raise it up in practice, bring it down before the game. Cause usually before I learned that, I would get so hyped before a game.

• 19:21Speaker 01

  In the game?

• 19:23Lewis Howes?

  Man, I'm tired. You know, it's like you got no energy because you've just exhausted it and warmups and you're not relaxed. So.

• 19:29Speaker 01

  It's so true.

• 19:30Lewis Howes?

  Have you ever done that where you're just like, ah, we're going to the championship? And then, whoo, I can't even lift my knees today.

• 19:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, that, we call that the like first two minutes, you know, when you get out of breath in the first two minutes of the game.

• 19:40Lewis Howes?

  You've never done anything.

• 19:41Speaker 01

  You know, the, the playoffs is, I remember we were in the WNBA finals and I walked out there and it was a game five against Minnesota, two thousand and sixteen. This is my first elimination winner take all game. And I remember looking around and my heart was beating. Taking deep breaths, the first two minutes, and then you get lost in your craft. So it's like, literally, it's just getting past those first two minutes of anxiousness. And that's when you have the turnovers and the problems or whatever. And then you just settle in.

• 20:10Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 20:11Speaker 01

  And you try to, you know, do what you've always done.

• 20:13Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Who is the most influential person in your life growing up?

• 20:17Speaker 01

  Well, growing up, I idolized my brothers. My two older brothers, Anthony and Marcus, they're eight and 11 years older than me. So I was the baby, baby sister. And Anthony actually went on, played in the NBA, played for Toronto, played for the Cleveland Cavaliers for a while. And then my middle brother is actually a radiologist. He wanted to be a doctor since he was five. And he was, uh, went to medical school, went to Johns Hopkins, so we're really proud of him. So I had two amazing role models, just in not what their like craft was, but just as people. Like even to this day, anything I go through, any problem, obstacle, any choice I'm trying to make,

• 20:58Speaker 01

  I always reach out and talk to them. I mean, that's, you know, they really are my foundation.

• 21:03Lewis Howes?

  What was the greatest lesson each one of them taught you?

• 21:05Speaker 01

  My goodness, that's such a great, uh, great question. Anthony is Mr. Devil's Advocate. So whether he is for it, or whether he is against it, he is going to ask you the other side. That is my brother. So now, when I'm thinking, and you know, I think I watched like an old Full House episode where it talked about your conscience and how eventually it becomes your own voice, as opposed to your parents telling you not supposed to do stuff.

• 21:34Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 21:34Speaker 01

  That's my conscience now. Like I hear Anthony, and now it's my voice where I'm like, okay, so what if this, you know, what is the other side? And so Anthony kind of, I joke with him that like he would be the one that would, you know, play devil's advocate to like winning the lottery or something like that, you know?

• 21:52Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 21:53Speaker 01

  He's that type.

• 21:55Speaker 01

  But I would say that that's the lesson from Anthony. And then from Marcus, he is one of those guys that is just so certain on what he wants. And he will do and work for anything. And he said he wanted to be a doctor at five years old. And he worked and stayed motivated and long hours, you know, pushed through adversity, everything to become a doctor. And so I think just watching them operate the way, the way their fathers, their husbands, it really is inspirational for me.

• 22:29Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's cool.

• 22:32Lewis Howes?

  I love that you are a TikTok star through your daughter. And I love the relationship you guys have together where you're having jokes and playing around a lot on your social media. I think everyone should follow you guys there. What was that like being a mom in a career that I guess most women don't have kids at that age? When they're trying to become great as an athlete in the WNBA that early? What was that like for you being a young mom while being the face of the WNBA? How did you manage that? And how do you manage?

• 23:04Speaker 01

  I remember it was coming off of 2008. We won the national championship, won Olympic gold medal. We lost in the WNBA semifinals, Western Conference Finals on the last second shot. Anyway, I can still see it.

• 23:18Speaker 01

  And I remember I had just won Rookie of the Year and MVP. And I was in San Antonio. And I remember I started feeling a little sick. I was like, hmm, okay. And my best friend was the first to find out. Like I told her that I was expecting. We were all excited. I was supposed to go to Russia that year to play overseas. But obviously, we wanted to wait to tell everybody or whatever. The first reactions I got were so disappointing to me. Like, it was almost more of like, how could you do this to us as fans? Not within the organization, but just the reaction that I got from others of like, oh, she's done. Like, she's washed up. She's not gonna be able to come back. Like, you know, she's not-

• 23:59Lewis Howes?

  After your first year in the league?

• 24:01Speaker 01

  This is after my first year. I, you know, I became a young mom. And I, let me give you some history. I've always wanted to be a mother. That has been what I feel as though I was born to be. I was playing dolls till I was like dang near 14. Like, I just loved the idea of having a little you running around. And so I always wanted to be a young mom. So although I was surprised, I was extremely excited to have a daughter.

• 24:28Speaker 01

  But that wasn't the way it was accepted. And at the time, you know, I set my mind where I was like, I'm gonna come back and play. On this date, so she was born May 13th. I played on July 5th in a game.

• 24:41Lewis Howes?

  Two months later?

• 24:42Speaker 01

  Played two months later. I was working out two weeks after I had her. I worked out my whole pregnancy.

• 24:47Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 24:47Speaker 01

  Young and dumb, you don't know. You're young and dumb.

• 24:49Lewis Howes?

  I got this, I'll be back in two weeks.

• 24:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, back locked up, everything, it was crazy.

• 24:53Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh, two months later, playing.

• 24:55Speaker 01

  Yes, and she honestly has been my entire inspiration, motivation, every single thing. Every day I wake up, I want her to know that I'm working for her. I want her to know that, you know, I love her and I want to set a great example. And honestly, the biggest thing that I would like to, message I would like to get across is, within parenting, within sports, we've got to change and shift the perception of athletes in parenting and being there. Because, you know, a number of times, I would go, go places and Leila wouldn't be with me and they would be like, "Oh, well, who's watching Leila? Like, who's taking care of Leila? Like, who's whatever?" But they're not asking LeBron or Steph or anybody, or Dame Lillard or whatever.

• 25:37Speaker 01

  And I think it's so important for fathers to be there as well and to be present. And we're seeing now, paternity leave and we're seeing guys like Jimmy Butler miss his Miami Heat debut to be there for the birth of his daughter. We're seeing how hands-on Steph Curry is. And so, I think for me, it's, you know, the amount of support that I've had from LA Sparks, the amount of support I've had for my family. I'm lucky because as a working mom, my organization allows me to bring my daughter along.

• 26:06Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 26:07Speaker 01

  I was nursing at halftime of games.

• 26:09Lewis Howes?

  No way!

• 26:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was just kind of the way it is. And so, we just, we've grown up. Me and Leila have grown up together.

• 26:15Lewis Howes?

  So you were nursing and halftime in the locker room?

• 26:18Speaker 01

  (laughing)

• 26:19Lewis Howes?

  Are there other moms that do this too?

• 26:21Speaker 01

  You know, um...

• 26:23Lewis Howes?

  I mean, at halftime?

• 26:24Speaker 01

  I don't, I don't know, but I was just so stubborn in that I never wanted to sacrifice my career for my family and I didn't want to sacrifice my family for my career. So the best thing is just do both. And honestly, I was adamant that I was going to nurse my daughter. We were gonna go in crazy amount of countries and we're traveling all the time, like, I want to nurse her.

• 26:41Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 26:42Speaker 01

  So she nursed for 13 months. We didn't spend a night away from each other for two years. Like, she went everywhere with me.

• 26:48Lewis Howes?

  That's crazy.

• 26:49Speaker 01

  And that's, you know, that's, that's what worked for me. Other mothers can figure out what works for them and that's fine. But, and fathers as well, but for me, that's what I needed.

• 27:01Lewis Howes?

  Do you think other moms in the WNBA would have the same opportunities to do that? Or do you think because you were the number one pick, the star, the face, they were like, "Okay, if she wants to do this, you can have your kid in halftime while we're doing that. We're trying to focus on the game."

• 27:16Speaker 01

  That's what I struggle with because everybody commends my effort of being a working mom and I have to kind of take a time out because I'm like, you know, there are women that can't bring their kids to their job.

• 27:28Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 27:28Speaker 01

  That can't travel with them, that need to find childcare and I didn't have those issues and those obstacles. And you're right, I don't know if I was a second round pick and trying to make it in the league, if I would even still be playing basketball with a child. And fortunately, we did re-sign a CBA because at the time in 2008, my daughter was traveling with me, I paid for my mom to fly, I paid for my half of the hotel because we were sharing rooms. You know, all the extra costs that go into having a child, there was no child stipend. You're moving to a city, you know, for six months, who's going to watch them, you know, type of thing.

• 28:10Speaker 01

  And now with this new CBA, there's maternity leave, you get full pay if you are expecting. So there are things that were moving in the right direction.

• 28:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's cool. What's been the biggest challenge you've had to overcome in the last 12 years since entering the league?

• 28:27Lewis Howes?

  Biggest, most challenging phase of life?

• 28:31Speaker 01

  I would say when I went through just the injury after injury after injury in the WNBA after having Leila. But I also would say it's tough going overseas for the other six months of the year. And there are so many times as I'm yanking my child out of school to take her overseas that I'm questioning whether I'm doing the right thing for her. And honestly, looking back, it couldn't have been better.

• 28:57Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 28:57Speaker 01

  I think at the time, that's the hardest thing that I've had to do is, you know, take her out of school and go overseas and put her in these schools overseas. And she's looking at me like, I don't know what the heck they're saying.

• 29:07Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 29:08Speaker 01

  And it's really served us well because she really is such a resilient, adaptable kid. Like you can put her in whatever room and she's, you know, she's gonna, she's gonna shine.

• 29:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Where do you think she would be if she stayed in LA for the last 12 or 11 years? As opposed to exploring the world and being a global citizen?

• 29:28Speaker 01

  It's interesting because, you know, I definitely think your environment shapes your upbringing. But I think the most proud moment I've ever had was, you know, and you're in LA. So there's, there's elaborate birthday parties. There's, we've gone to people's house where I'm like, my jaw is hitting the ground, like looking at this. And, you know, Leila is riding the camel at the birthday party. And I'm like, we're not gonna have a birthday party like this. But, you know, whatever, but we go overseas to Russia and she has a classmate in her, in her class. And the family invited us over to dinner. And so my translator came with us and we were going to their house. And so we opened the door and we opened the door and it's a one-room place with a stove in the middle with no floor.

• 30:13Speaker 01

  And I'm trying to get to Leila.

• 30:14Lewis Howes?

  No floor?

• 30:15Speaker 01

  There's no floor. It's dirt and wood. So it's just literally, you know, so we get there and I'm trying to get to Leila. Cause I kinda like, she walks in first and so I'm trying to get to her so that she doesn't say anything or whatever. And she looks around and she's like, a dollhouse. And they just run over and start playing with dollhouse. And so that to me was just like, we're doing something right, you know, with her. And that to me was so special. So I feel as though, you know, having those experiences of knowing a lot of different people from a lot of different areas that look different, has really helped in like who, who Leila is.

• 30:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What has being a mom taught you about yourself the most?

• 30:58Speaker 01

  Everything. Every single thing. Everything you're great at is amplified. Everything you're terrible at is amplified.

• 31:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 31:07Speaker 01

  I didn't know as much as I thought I did.

• 31:11Lewis Howes?

  Well, you were what, twenty three, twenty four?

• 31:14Speaker 01

  I was twenty three when I had my daughter. But she really has taught me probably the same amount as I've taught. Like, it's just, it's crazy how much she teaches me every day.

• 31:23Lewis Howes?

  What's the three biggest lessons she's taught you?

• 31:25Speaker 01

  She has definitely taught me that our actions speak way louder than words. I always used to tell her all the time, we don't cry when we lose. Like, we do the best we can, we do this, do this. And so I walked in and one of her cousins beat her at a board game and she's crying in the corner. And I go over there and I'm like, Leila, you know, I'm giving her a lesson, like, you don't cry. And like, this isn't a time for crying. Like, you pick the pieces up and you go back over there and play. And she's like, but you did, you cried. And I was just like, but that's different, but it's really not, you know? And so it's just she, she really teaches me that she's watching every single thing that I'm doing.

• 32:04Lewis Howes?

  Every move you make?

• 32:05Speaker 01

  Every move I make. She checks me on, you know, a big thing now is pronouns with her school. And they're learning about that in her community connections class. And so, you know, they address when they get on, they say she, her, or her, you know, him, whatever, they, however you want to be addressed. And so there was an Uber driver that was coming and I said, he, you know, he, I didn't know if it was a he, but I said, he. And she's like, well, how do you know it's a he? You're assuming, you shouldn't assume, you know? So it's, it's really interesting to see how this generation is being brought up. And it really makes me happy that they are very concerned about the next person, others, the environment, things like that. And so she's, yeah, she's taught me so many lessons.

• 32:49Lewis Howes?

  Where do you think you'd be if you didn't have her at that age? And you had five, seven, eight years in the WNBA and on your career only and that? Do you think you would have accomplished more, won more championships? Or do you think being a mom actually helped you become a better athlete?

• 33:06Speaker 01

  I think being a mom helped me become a better person. And I say this all the time, like, without the injuries, without having my daughter, I might have had more championships.

• 33:18Lewis Howes?

  Without injuries in your daughter?

• 33:20Speaker 01

  Without, yeah, honestly. But where I am now in terms of realizing like I am so happy. I'm trying to get better every single day. Trying to acknowledge my faults and look myself in the mirror and see where I need to improve and get better and a lot of that is because of her, because of my daughter, because I wanna, I wanna be somebody that she is proud of when she is older, that she wants to come home, that she is proud of who her mom is and not what, you know, what I've accomplished.

• 33:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's cool. I want to throw in the stuff you were talking about with Kobe because you've known Kobe for a lot longer than me. I knew him once in an interview and we stayed in touch over messaging each other, which was, which was nice of him.

• 34:06Lewis Howes?

  But he was very impactful in my life, watching him as an athlete and also as a human, how he dealt with adversity from early in his career to how he transitioned almost seamlessly from athlete to entrepreneur, leader, creator, storyteller. What was the biggest lesson that he taught you? And what was the most impactful moment you remember spending with him?

• 34:32Speaker 01

  Well Kobe is, Kobe is one of the best dads and I, I truly believe that the love that, you know, he, he has for his family and I think the biggest thing for me is just being able to kinda, like right now, even when I'm in the gym with my daughter and we're working on something like, he took the time and the energy and as kids, he was just dad to them, you know? It didn't matter if you won or scored 81 the night before, like you're picking up. I think the, the best story that he told, he was on our podcast, the Ledlow and Parker

• 35:16Speaker 01

  podcast that I do during the NBA season.

• 35:20Speaker 01

  He said that he was late to pick up his, his daughter one time. And he was, he wasn't on time and they ripped him. And so every time after that, wife, daughters, everybody ripped him.

• 35:33Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 35:33Speaker 01

  He was on time, one of the first people to be there in pickup line, to pick him up after that. Because that was what he had to do. And so, um, to me, I think you tell me who somebody is, but you tell what their family is going to say about them. And how much time they spend and energy they spend. So for me, that, that was a huge role model and, um, just in the way that he spoke about them and how much pride and joy. He, I remember running into him in China. And it was the first time I met his daughters and.

• 36:05Lewis Howes?

  The Olympics?

• 36:06Speaker 01

  He was like, you see, in the Olympics in 08. And he's like, you see them? You see them? They're gonna break all your records one day. That's the first thing. I'm like, oh, nice to meet you. Like.

• 36:14Lewis Howes?

  That was the first time you met him?

• 36:15Speaker 01

  The first time I met his daughters.

• 36:17Lewis Howes?

  Okay, not him.

• 36:18Speaker 01

  Not him. But the first time I met his daughters, that's the first thing he said to me. And, um, I just remember laughing over the years about that. And, you know, it's just one of those things where you could see how much love and energy and effort that he put into his family and how much joy, um, that brought him. And to be honest with you, I think the biggest thing is, is just overcoming adversity. People are, you know, they think it's easy to get to five championships or they, it's easy to just come out and score or whatever. But to see, like, working out with him and seeing the amount of detail and energy that he put into. I remember doing a jab step. You know, we've done jabs since we were like five. Jab step, jab step. He was like, no, I'm not biting. Your, your left leg doesn't move the same when you're going that direction.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  So why would I bite that you're actually gonna go that direction? Like, that attention to detail that he has, like, it's an obsession. And I'm a firm believer in kids can get it. If you ta- talk to them and teach them and spend time with them and, and, and. Tell them and teach them how to how to work to get something, they can get it. So we don't need to dumb down stuff. We don't need to baby them. And he didn't do that. Like, the basketball team he coached, they were running sets that we ran in college.

• 37:32Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 37:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, so it's just, I really loved that about him.

• 37:38Lewis Howes?

  Was there one moment that stands out? That was really memorable and impactful for you?

• 37:43Speaker 01

  I think the amount of confidence that he has, and he's always had, is the thing that sticks out to me the most.

• 37:50Lewis Howes?

  How global, yeah.

• 37:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, the amount of ways that he can just say things in just a Kobe-only mentality. There was a time in 2012 at the Olympics where we would always go play cards. And so it was like a-

• 38:06Lewis Howes?

  London.

• 38:06Speaker 01

  Yes, in London. And it was, you know, the players lounge where everybody would show up and we'd play cards and whatever.

• 38:14Speaker 01

  Literally, you could not leave if he lost. Like-

• 38:19Lewis Howes?

  He had to keep playing until he won.

• 38:20Speaker 01

  First of all, I'm looking over somebody's shoulder because the pot was ridiculous. I'm not playing with D Wade and Kobe and all that. But, um, but yeah, it's, you can't leave. And he's sitting there like, no, oh, so you're scared? You're not gonna play again? Like, dude, I've just beat you four straight times. How am I scared? Oh, you don't want to play again? So that, that's just his mentality. Like, he's always been like that. He's cocky, but he puts, you know, he puts in the time.

• 38:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Who was the athlete on the men's side that you respected the most growing up?

• 38:50Speaker 01

  I am a Chicagoan, so obviously I grew up watching the Bulls. I was a huge Bulls fan to the point where it was like, wait, we didn't win the championship this year? We're trash, you know? Because it was like, the expectation was like, Grant Park, every single year, that's where the championship celebration was. Like, everybody knew. So I would say as a whole, just the Bulls franchise.

• 39:15Lewis Howes?

  Were there any players when you were in high school and college that you watched and respected a lot?

• 39:19Speaker 01

  I was the biggest Allen Iverson fan.

• 39:21Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 39:21Speaker 01

  The biggest Allen Iverson fan. My brother got drafted and he played with Philly his first two years and- Allen Iverson, when I saw him in person, my mouth like dropped. I was the biggest Allen Iverson fan to the point where it's like, I was trying to get the braids. I had the finger band. My brother got a finger band from him, so I was wearing that. I was wearing the, you know, the AI, the Reebok shoes. I was doing all that. Like, I was trying to be like AI.

• 39:48Lewis Howes?

  Who is the athlete you respect the most?

• 39:50Speaker 01

  It's a really good question. Um, honestly, Reggie Miller.

• 39:58Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 39:58Speaker 01

  I really.

• 39:58Lewis Howes?

  Why?

• 39:59Speaker 01

  Because I feel as though people don't understand that they were like, it was this.

• 40:04Lewis Howes?

  So close.

• 40:05Speaker 01

  And the way that we say and talk and the way people talk about championships, it comes down to like, an inch, a centimeter. And that's how, that dude is bad. Like, he is unbelievable. And just realizing, after working with him at TNT and NBA TV and things like that, realizing that it's not just like you can't turn it on and off. Like, you're not just a basketball player that is, you know, attention to detail, whatever. Like, he's like that with broadcasting.

• 40:35Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 40:36Speaker 01

  He's always on, he's always early, like, super early to everything. He's always knows exactly what the rundown of the show is. Like, some analysts, it's like, just ask me the question, whatever. He knows everything. His attention to detail, he just puts in the time. He gets up every morning and works out at the butt crack of dawn. Like, he just, being around him more, it's just so much respect for him.

• 40:57Lewis Howes?

  Wow. And what about the, uh, the female athlete not in basketball that you admire and respect the most?

• 41:04Speaker 01

  Female athlete not in basketball? I mean, Serena Williams is.

• 41:08Lewis Howes?

  She's a beast.

• 41:10Speaker 01

  She's a beast. I mean, I grew up, my mom was trying to get me to play tennis, like, late in life. And I was just like, I wanna play basketball, but Serena had that impact.

• 41:18Lewis Howes?

  You got that wingspan over there.

• 41:20Speaker 01

  I was trying to get my daughter and that, you know, that didn't work out too well. Maybe, maybe, uh, my nieces or something, but yeah, Serena Williams, I think, for me, it's, you know, we connect on her being a mom as well.

• 41:33Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 41:36Speaker 01

  I think it's so important in stepping into places and rooms that aren't used to having people that look and are like you.

• 41:46Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 41:46Speaker 01

  And she's done that and basically broken down every single barrier for those that follow and to be able to see like the fruit of your labor while you're actually still playing. Like to me, for her to be playing against some of these kids that the reason why they're playing tennis is because of her.

• 42:01Lewis Howes?

  It's crazy.

• 42:02Speaker 01

  To be able to see the fruit of your labor while you're still playing and you're still killing, like killing on the court.

• 42:10Speaker 01

  I mean, I idolize her for sure.

• 42:12Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Cause she had a child and then started playing within months, I think afterwards too, right?

• 42:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:18Lewis Howes?

  Two, three, four months, maybe?

• 42:19Speaker 01

  It's crazy.

• 42:20Lewis Howes?

  Super fast and still winning and unbelievable. Do you have a mantra that you live by on a daily basis or when you're in practice or you're at a game when things aren't going well or when you're tired, when you're wanna stop, when you'd rather go relax? Do you say something to yourself?

• 42:38Speaker 01

  Well, I, I have two things. One, so I played for the late, great Pat Summitt at Tennessee.

• 42:44Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. I saw her speak once when I was 16 and I was so impressed with her leadership. What was that like?

• 42:53Speaker 01

  Coach Summitt is one of those people that people try to emulate and be like her. There's nobody that can ever touch what she, who she, anything. It's just Pat is Pat. She transcended women's sports.

• 43:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 43:09Speaker 01

  She transcended the ability of a lot of her student athletes to even have confidence in going forward and, and being who they are and walking into rooms and when you talk about women, women equality, gender equality, she spearheaded all of that.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  So I would say my mantra when things get tough, because I think I learned so much more about her when things got tough than when she's winning championships. To me, it's like, let's look when things aren't going right. Let's look when stuff isn't going well, when you're not hanging banners, when you're not cutting down nets. Like, how are you as an individual? What are you really doing day to day? And she almost did it more so when things are tough. And I asked her, I remember, you know, when she first got sick, I asked her, like, "How do you get through day to day when things get tough?" And she's like, "Left foot, right foot, breathe, repeat." And honestly, that is, I promise you, what I say sometimes. Even when I'm like wanting to explode, I'm like, "Left foot, right foot, breathe, repeat."

• 44:13Speaker 01

  Like, that's my mantra. And then, secondly, I heard, I cannot remember, it was in gym class when I was in like 8th or 9th grade. They had somebody come in and speak to us. And they said that the power of humans is our ability to have compassion and think of others' needs. And think of what others would want to do. And sometimes we end up putting others, you know, before ourselves. And so on those days where you don't want to do something, on those days where you're struggling, who are you doing it for? And so for me, when I like don't want to work out, when I don't want to hop on the Peloton and do my 45-minute workout, I like Leila, like I'm doing it for her.

• 44:53Lewis Howes?

  You think of someone, yeah.

• 44:54Speaker 01

  I'm like, "I'm doing it for you." And sometimes I'll tell her, "Leila, I worked out for you today." Like, "Leila, I got on that plane to go to Atlanta today for you." Like, that's who I got on the plane for. And so it kind of helps, you know, when you want to do that extra, you don't want to do that extra set, or you don't want to do that extra line drill, or whatever. Just say who I'm doing it for.

• 45:12Lewis Howes?

  Isn't that true? When I'm running long distance, I don't want to run long distance.

• 45:17Speaker 01

  Gosh, bless you.

• 45:18Lewis Howes?

  I just committed to doing the marathon in March in LA, because I've been putting it off for my whole life.

• 45:24Speaker 01

  You're a saint.

• 45:24Lewis Howes?

  Because I'm a sprinter. You know, I'm a basketball, football player. I don't run one or three miles, and that's a lot. And I've been starting to, every mile, think of someone. When it gets hard.

• 45:37Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 45:37Lewis Howes?

  And put my attention towards that person. And my focus is, I don't want to let this person down. And me stopping this mile is letting this person down in my life. And so I use that as a technique and a tool to just put my attention elsewhere as opposed to my own pain. Or tiredness.

• 45:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:54Lewis Howes?

  And it really helps.

• 45:55Speaker 01

  That's amazing.

• 45:56Lewis Howes?

  And then I have the marathon, when I run the marathon, I'm gonna have a wristband and I'll put a name, 26 names.

• 46:01Speaker 01

  That would be...

• 46:02Lewis Howes?

  And just look down every mile and put my attention towards those individuals.

• 46:05Speaker 01

  That, first of all, I want to commend you because I started doing distance training last offseason.

• 46:11Lewis Howes?

  Oh man.

• 46:12Speaker 01

  And when I tell you, it's just like not what I do. Like I see

• 46:14Lewis Howes?

  Misery.

• 46:15Speaker 01

  Regular people that aren't athletes out, running miles on the beach. And I'm just like, how?

• 46:20Lewis Howes?

  I know.

• 46:20Speaker 01

  I don't get it. So first of all, I want to commend you for doing a marathon, because that's commitment.

• 46:24Lewis Howes?

  Well, I haven't done it yet, but I'm committed to it, yes.

• 46:26Speaker 01

  But I mean, at least committing to preparing for a marathon. But secondly, like, you're right. Because then you turn that attention and that energy, like, I think so much is energy. Like, if you think about it, when you walk in, I was, I can't remember who I was listening to, what podcast it was, but they were talking about how like, you know, you can turn on a television and you can tell teams that play with energy? It's just something that you can't touch, you can't feel, it's not, it's, you know, it's the intangibles. And I feel like that with working out, with the way you do things, like, energy is everything. And if you can create and find that energy, like, you're able to do so much.

• 47:00Lewis Howes?

  How do you find it, when you don't have it?

• 47:03Speaker 01

  I think it's thinking of, yeah, it's thinking of your why, thinking of your reason. I also feel as though, like, when you do something, the look back feeling, like, the feeling of gratitude. Like, there's so many times where I wake up and I don't want to work out. And then after I'm done, I'm like, huh. There's never a time where I'm like, I wish I wouldn't have done that.

• 47:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:20Speaker 01

  It doesn't really happen.

• 47:21Lewis Howes?

  Unless maybe you injured yourself or something.

• 47:22Speaker 01

  Exactly. But usually, you're like, I, you know, I feel so much better. I did it, I accomplished this. I'm so goal-oriented. So I have the microscopic goals for day to day, and I have the telescopic goals. And...

• 47:39Speaker 01

  Those are so important to me because you kind of lose sight when you're looking out into the future, you lose sight of how you're going to accomplish it. So those microscopic goals, those daily goals of like, okay, I'm gonna do this. At least I've done this task. Like, I accomplished something today.

• 47:54Lewis Howes?

  Right. Where do you think it'd be without goals?

• 47:56Speaker 01

  Oh my goodness. I am so goal oriented, like to the point where when I, when I tore my ACL, you know, the degrees that they try to get your knee to bend. And I remember them telling me, because the first thing, don't tell me I can't do something. I'm the one that's like, my dad was like trying to get rid of me on a Saturday and was like, run around the house 80 times. My brother's like, yeah, I bet you can't do it. I'll give you five bucks. And on the 100th lap, I was like, you said 80, like I did it a hundred times, you know? So don't tell me I can't do something. And, um, and so that's kind of my goals. Like I set them, you know, with that in mind of trying to push myself and trying to see what I can achieve, you know? Make it a competition even within my head.

• 48:40Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Do you think anyone can achieve great accomplishments without setting clearly defined big goals and incremental goals along the way? Do you think it just happens? I have this idea, it's just gonna happen? Or?

• 48:56Speaker 01

  I mean, you can call it discipline, you can call it organization, you can call it goal oriented, but I think you have to have some sort of plan. I don't know. And maybe there are people that just fall upon stuff, but to me, I think it has to be clear, calculated. You have to have a purpose. Otherwise, for me, I lose motivation. If I don't know what I'm trying to accomplish, what it's going to get, that type of thing, then, like, if you get on a treadmill and you're just running and you don't know how long you're running for, you don't know the distance you're running, you don't know the speed, I don't know many people, maybe there's some like Marines out there that would just get on there and run until it's time. But I was like the one at practice, like, okay,

• 49:38Speaker 01

  so, just tell me at least the first five minutes so I can get through that and then we can make it work.

• 49:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's funny. Um, literally like Forrest Gump, maybe. Just felt like running. I love that movie.

• 49:57Lewis Howes?

  Where do you think you'd be without coaches in your life? Do you think you'd be able to be as great as of an athlete, champion, All-American, Player of the Year, without a coaches? Could you do it on your own, you think?

• 50:09Speaker 01

  No, absolutely not. And I think the biggest, um, maybe on the court, you know, for some people. But for me personally, it's like, sports is like a metaphor for life. There's so many things within life that I wouldn't have been able to get over or accomplish or persevere through without having those failures in sport. And I always loved the coach that kind of like tests people to see how they react. Yeah, no, I definitely wouldn't be able to accomplish any of this stuff just because I think the mental toughness. When you're young, you don't understand why, but, you know, soon you you realize later in life, you're like, huh. That's what allowed me to have the mental toughness.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  Because you know, when you're younger, everybody kind of micromanages your time. You're in study hall to make sure that you do it. You're they're checking every grade. Then you get to the pros and they're like, yeah, so the bus is at this time. We play at this time. You gotta eat by yourself.

• 51:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 51:08Speaker 01

  You gotta figure out your workout plan. You have to do all these things. And so it's like, coaches before taught me how to have discipline.

• 51:16Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 51:17Speaker 01

  And sometimes people don't do what they need to do. They need other people to tell them. And, you know, once you get to a point where you're kind of like your own disciplinarian, I think it it's really special.

• 51:28Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 51:28Speaker 01

  You know what you need, you know?

• 51:30Lewis Howes?

  Of course, yeah. I've always been very disciplined. I wouldn't say always, but I'd say when I got to high school and on, I got very disciplined because I got clear on my goals.

• 51:40Lewis Howes?

  But having a coach could always push me a little harder than I would push myself. Just a little bit even. I could push myself hard. You know, I can work out with the best of them alone in the gym. But it's like you've got someone on your shoulder, helping you, correcting you, just watching you. You're gonna push a little harder. When I transitioned from playing arena football, I never made it to NFL, but I was making 250 bucks a week. And I felt like the richest man in the world because I was getting a catch of football and I got paid. Playing arena ball, it was very hard to transition out of not having a team, a coach, an organization. And I quickly, within about a year, was like, I need to make my life a sport. I need to find coaches in fitness and relationships and business and have some type of guides helping me.

• 52:24Lewis Howes?

  And I've always had coaches since then and it's always made me better. So I'm a big believer in coaches in sport, in life, as a mom, as a whatever. For me personally, it's key.

• 52:35Speaker 01

  I think it's key and you hit it right on the head. And Coach Summit used to always say this, when you're chasing something, you should chase people and passion. And if you chase those two things, you'll never fail. And in a way, especially in these last two years, when I've kind of started thinking about what I want to do after basketball, after the ball stops bouncing, I realize it's like your relationships that you're building with people. And you know, my goal, I want to win another championship for sure within basketball. My goal after basketball, like I look at guys like Magic Johnson, and I look at how he's kind of a business, like he's a businessman. He transitioned into that and honestly, I mean, maybe I'm wrong,

• 53:20Speaker 01

  but he was kind of one of the first from the NBA that really became a businessman. And I remember a couple of years ago, I was, I had a meeting with him and I was like, I want to be you. I want to have that transition where we can open up doors for other women in sport. Because honestly, like if you think about it, just training wise, team sports are run like a boardroom.

• 53:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 53:44Speaker 01

  That's how it is. And so you're learning and you're competitive and you learn how to fail. You learn how to get up, you know, we're coachable. And that's the first thing I say anytime I, you know, have a business meeting or anything like, listen, I'm coachable. So you tell me what you want, what you don't like, we talk about it.

• 54:00Speaker 01

  And so that's kind of, you're right, it is about surrounding yourself with great people. And you know, obviously you're going to be passionate in what you do, but it's the people that really make it.

• 54:12Lewis Howes?

  What did Pat mean by chasing people?

• 54:15Speaker 01

  She always surrounded herself with people that had a number of goals that kind of were in the same chapter as her. She said she doesn't want people on the same page. She just needs people in the same chapter.

• 54:29Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 54:30Speaker 01

  Because you can eventually get to the same page. That's what she said. Um, I can, I can remember a number of times is she was always a mentor. She was always for her assistant coaches leaving and getting head coaching jobs.

• 54:45Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's cool.

• 54:46Speaker 01

  And then basically imagine the impact that she had at Tennessee. And then those coaches are taking what she had and what she said and what she taught them. So their programs and so it's almost like that trickle down effect of the amount of kids that she truly has impacted is still going on because there's still head coaches that coached under her. And um, so that to me is what chasing people means. It means, you know, establishing a community. It means um, being a mentor. Like there's so many people in my life that have done things for me with nothing in return.

• 55:19Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 55:19Speaker 01

  Like there's so many times where you really are like, why did they help me? You know, but then you go and do something for somebody that it doesn't benefit you at all. And so I think that's kind of like, that's what being a good human is, you know? It's just like they're paying it forward, you know? You go out to dinner and somebody pays for your dinner and then the next time you pay for somebody else's dinner. And like, kind of trickles down. So that's kind of, yeah, that's what I learned from Pat.

• 55:43Lewis Howes?

  What's missing in your life?

• 55:45Speaker 01

  Ooh, really good. Everything, every question you ask is a good question. What is missing in my life? I am truly fulfilled. Um, truly, truly fulfilled. I'm grateful. I have so much gratitude. I mean, right now, competition, I'm like dying because I'm so competitive. And so I'm getting on my daughter's nerves because like we go out to casually like bump a volleyball. And I'm like, okay, let's see if we can get to 20. And like, it's just the competition aspect. So I would say right now it's the competition because we're not in season. Um, I would say another championship. I believe you can fall upon something once and it can be an accident. It can be lucky. If you do it twice, it's not. Um, so for me, I'm chasing that.

• 56:28Lewis Howes?

  And you won in 2016, right?

• 56:29Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 56:30Lewis Howes?

  But you got two Olympic gold medals?

• 56:32Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 56:32Lewis Howes?

  That's gotta feel good. What's more powerful, the Olympic gold medal or the WNBA championship?

• 56:37Speaker 01

  To me, it's the WNBA championship. Hands down. The Olympics, it's like, not to be like this, but. Americans can field three teams and probably come home with the gold, silver and bronze. Honestly, I really feel like American basketball, women's basketball, and this is no offense to any of the international players, but I just believe that we are head and shoulders above the world. And by saying that, yes, it was competition with Australia, they're amazing. Yes, it was competitions with Russia and Spain and so on. But at the same time, women's, you know, winning a WNBA championship against the best players in the entire world.

• 57:14Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 57:15Speaker 01

  To me, that's...

• 57:16Lewis Howes?

  That's like the Olympics, the way it should be. It's like the best of the best coming together. What? God, I still gotta feel good to win that Olympic gold.

• 57:24Speaker 01

  It was amazing. I'm telling you, like, when I was standing on the podium, because this girl watched the Olympics in 96. When it was in Atlanta, and that was kind of when it transcended the way I thought of women's sports. Like, women were unbelievable in the 96 Olympics.

• 57:37Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, was that Jackie Joyner?

• 57:39Speaker 01

  It was, yes, Lisa Leslie, you talk about, I mean, you talk about Mia Hamm. You talk about Tommy Dawes, Tommy Mochiano. I can name the whole magnificent seven. Everybody, top to bottom, was unbelievable in 96. And then to, in 2008, stand on that stage. You talk about 12 years later.

• 57:58Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 57:59Speaker 01

  To me, I remember being that kid on the couch with my dad telling him, "I'm gonna be on that podium."

• 58:03Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man, that's chills.

• 58:05Speaker 01

  And, uh, and so to hear the national anthem play and to experience the opening ceremony and to see how other athletes react to American athletes, uh, that experience is, you know, one of the best of the best.

• 58:17Lewis Howes?

  Would you do it again?

• 58:19Speaker 01

  No, my time with the Olympics is done.

• 58:22Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 58:23Speaker 01

  Um, yeah, in 2016, after coming off of playing pretty well, uh, didn't think that there was a question of whether I was gonna make the team in 2016.

• 58:34Lewis Howes?

  You won the championship.

• 58:35Speaker 01

  We won the championship and, you know, I got cut from the Olympic team.

• 58:39Lewis Howes?

  How?

• 58:39Speaker 01

  And honestly...

• 58:40Lewis Howes?

  You just won the WNBA championship, how did you get cut?

• 58:43Speaker 01

  Uh, I mean, I guess that's a question for USA Basketball.

• 58:46Lewis Howes?

  Wait a minute, you're the best player in the league, how did they cut you?

• 58:49Speaker 01

  I don't know, you gotta ask Gino. Um, but honestly, it was kind of one of those situations where,

• 58:54Lewis Howes?

  huh.

• 58:55Speaker 01

  Um, I'm big into communication. So if there was no possible way for me to make the team, regardless of how I played, because it wasn't based on playing, then tell me. And I don't waste my time away from my daughter, I don't waste my time away from my family. Training camp, all that, so.

• 59:10Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 59:11Speaker 01

  That, to me, was, um... Was adversity, but honestly, looking back, if that was the situation I was going to walk into, playing would have not been a fun time.

• 59:22Lewis Howes?

  No, it's true.

• 59:23Speaker 01

  So, you know, I got to spend more time with my kid at home.

• 59:30Speaker 01

  And two is I got to experience something twice. You know, this past Olympic Games with Don Staley.

• 59:37Lewis Howes?

  Were you supposed to go?

• 59:38Speaker 01

  They reached out and asked if I wanted to participate and to me, I was like, you know, if it was something that I looked in my mirror and I said I didn't deserve to be on the team, I might come back out for the team, just because I feel as though, you know, I did something. But how in the world am I going to tell my daughter if somebody or something treats you wrong or in an unfair manner to go back? And so that kind of was my ending point of like my time with the Olympics and with USA Basketball is over.

• 1:00:09Lewis Howes?

  Is that person still there?

• 1:00:11Speaker 01

  Um, Gino is not the coach anymore, but this, you know, the committee picks the team, which is, you know, whatever.

• 1:00:18Lewis Howes?

  I get it.

• 1:00:19Speaker 01

  At the same time, it was just kind of one of those situations where it's like, no, I'm good. I'm cool. Like, I'll spend time at home.

• 1:00:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What if all the, what if they all said, we really want you back 2021?

• 1:00:29Speaker 01

  I'm good.

• 1:00:30Lewis Howes?

  You're good. Nothing would change your mind.

• 1:00:32Speaker 01

  I'm good. I'm going to be chilling. I'm working on getting my daughter a passport because she's not playing for USA Basketball. I was playing. No, I'm kidding. No, but uh, yeah, so I, my time is finished. I appreciate the time and the energy I put into it. But yeah, it's, it's done.

• 1:00:50Lewis Howes?

  Wow. How many more years do you want to play? If you could decide, I'm going to play until this year, this season, what would that be?

• 1:00:57Speaker 01

  Here's the thing, I was sitting with Isaiah Thomas in studio because he retired, I think early, like he retired at like 32, 33, Isaiah Thomas, and you know, he, we grew up.

• 1:01:05Lewis Howes?

  Did he want to retire or was it injury or?

• 1:01:08Speaker 01

  I think it was a combination of both, you know? He said he showed up at the gym and he didn't want to play. And he was like, I can't cheat the game.

• 1:01:16Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 1:01:16Speaker 01

  And it was one of those situations where it's like, when you go out on the court and it's fun and you're used to dominating and working people and being able to get to the basket when you want, and then you're looking at people that you would normally cook, and you would normally beat in, you know, beat in a game, and they're like, you know, going past you and you can't score on them. He's like, it just wasn't fun anymore. And for me, I don't ever want to cheat. It's not even cheating the game because there's some people that can play. But I'm not really competing against the game. I want to compete against myself. And if I'm not where I want to be or who I am. Uh, my brother said it best. Anthony said it best. He's like, you know, you have that year and then you have that possible.

• 1:01:57Speaker 01

  And if that possible tells you that that year was true, then you're done. And so honestly, in 2019, that was my year where like this past year was like that, like, let me roll the dice and if it's the same as last year, I might be done.

• 1:02:09Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:02:10Speaker 01

  Um, and so.

• 1:02:11Lewis Howes?

  This might be your last year.

• 1:02:13Speaker 01

  I'm not saying that, you know, this year or the next year or even three years, but I'm saying when I am not able to do the things that I'm used to doing, I have to walk away from the game. Like I cannot cheat myself in the game like that.

• 1:02:26Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Wow. But if you could choose,

• 1:02:32Lewis Howes?

  hypothetically, how many more years would you like to play if you still loved it? If you're still healthy and loved it?

• 1:02:38Speaker 01

  Honestly, it's not even the love. I love basketball.

• 1:02:41Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:41Speaker 01

  Um, I love competing. I love being in the arena. I love all of that. It's when you don't want to prepare, when you don't want to get up in the off season and we don't.

• 1:02:50Lewis Howes?

  You don't want to do the sand runs?

• 1:02:52Speaker 01

  You don't want to do the sand dunes? You don't want to go like, that's the problem because then you need all that stuff.

• 1:02:57Lewis Howes?

  You too.

• 1:02:58Speaker 01

  Everybody wants to play in the playoff games and all that stuff. It's when I stop wanting to prepare is when I'm going to know.

• 1:03:04Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you'll know.

• 1:03:05Speaker 01

  It's there and you know, honestly, who knows? It could be next year. It could be the year after. It could be, you know, three or four more years. But at the same time, I know I have my circle and I've told them, look at me if

• 1:03:18Speaker 01

  I waver and I don't stay true to myself, you guys have to hold me accountable and they all agree.

• 1:03:23Lewis Howes?

  That's good. That's good. It's been an amazing year in terms of, uh, people standing up for their rights and people standing up for what they believe in. And Black Lives Matter and you've been a part of this as well. We've had a lot of great conversations on this show. What are you most proud of in terms of the black community stepping up this year or people or organizations? What are you most proud of or the W M B A? In terms of what has happened, even though there's been a lot of things that are not to be proud of.

• 1:03:56Speaker 01

  Our country right now.

• 1:03:59Speaker 01

  We have a time problem. And by this, I'm gonna explain what I mean, that we think things were like terrible or bad years and years and generations ago. And it wasn't the case. And in the same instance, we think we haven't gotten better. And, you know, we think it's so long that we haven't gotten better. And, and I say that in the sense of, you know, and my parents were born in the 50s. And, you know, in the 60s, looking back, you think about all the things that they've lived through. And then just even within the last four years, you think about 2017, Colin Kaepernick. You think about kneeling. If you kneeled, you were on the wrong side at that point in time.

• 1:04:45Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:04:46Speaker 01

  And then you fast forward now, in this past year, if you didn't kneel, people were asking questions why you didn't. So if something like that can change in a four or five year span, I really am proud of the fact that we haven't even recognized that a generation ago, it was two or three athletes that were standing up for activism and social injustice and gender equality and things like that. Now we have entire leagues.

• 1:05:13Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:05:13Speaker 01

  Within a generation. We have an entire league. Like, being a part of that this past year in the bubble, where 144 players in the WNBA all gathered during the break, the two day break of observance and standing in solidarity with the Milwaukee Bucks after Jacob Blake, the Jacob Blake shooting. To realize the impact that it wasn't just one or two athletes. It was entire sports leagues.

• 1:05:41Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:05:42Speaker 01

  And so to me, if you don't talk about the step forwards you're, you know, the steps you're taking forward and how important it is to understand it's not necessarily about what people think is right or what today's morals and values and things like that. It's what's right. And if you continue to work towards that, like, I am so proud of our league because, you know, even looking at kneeling, it's like... That was unacceptable four years ago, five years ago. And now it's like, if you don't, you're like, oh, so you're not kneeling? You know, like, what are you gonna? We got booed in 2017 for not coming out for the National Anthem. We had so many players from overseas and foreign players on our team that we didn't feel comfortable making that decision. They didn't understand everything that was going into kneeling.

• 1:06:27Speaker 01

  And so just as one of the captains on the team, like, we can't put them in that situation.

• 1:06:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, make them stand and we're kneeling, or make them kneel, it's not their country, yeah.

• 1:06:35Speaker 01

  And whatever we're gonna do, we're gonna do together. And we decided to stay in the locker room. We got booed in Minnesota, booed during the finals game. And so to think now, how that has shifted so much, even in just that practice, and what is accepted. I'm really proud to be a part of that change. And, um, you know, I think that sports leagues definitely have been a catalyst for that.

• 1:06:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What can athletes do moving forward after this year to support in making change? Because there's a lot of, also people talk and say athletes should just be, you know, not saying anything and just playing the game and not trying to get into, I guess, whatever, politics or society's issues, just show up and play. What do you think needs to happen moving forward with athletes? And with leagues of all types?

• 1:07:24Speaker 01

  I can only speak for myself when I feel as though I continually educate myself constantly. I have three different news outlets, you know, top five or six news breakdowns every single morning that's sent to my phone that I read so I can get different opinions and different viewpoints.

• 1:07:43Lewis Howes?

  What are those outlets?

• 1:07:44Speaker 01

  So I am very, I'm into, so I'm a flipboarder.

• 1:07:47Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:49Speaker 01

  Uh, Newsweek, MSNBC, CNN. So those are kind of my four that I have sent to my email that you can get the rundown for the top five, where you can do the Reuters, where it's like the, um, news in three minutes, if you have three minutes. And so I'm big into that. My dad, I get that from him, I'm a huge history buff, I'm reading all the time. So I feel as though like now we're running into a time where it's like, athletes are educated. We're not speaking on something that we don't have knowledge on. Just as your dentist is able and you feel as though that they're, um, they fit the criteria to speak on politics, I want to make sure as athletes, like we are too. I'm, have a college degree, feel as though I keep up with the times. Um, I understand different viewpoints and...

• 1:08:34Speaker 01

  I can listen and hear more, but at the same time, I do feel the things that we're speaking on.

• 1:08:39Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:41Speaker 01

  You have to be knowledgeable about. And so honestly, I believe athletes that are speaking out, they are. And so I would advise them to continue to use their platform. There's no other place in the world that they're told to just shut up and clean teeth. Like, that's not... Am I right? Like, you're never told as a dentist, like, you know what? You just shut up and clean teeth. Like, nobody says that. So to tell athletes to shut up and dribble, when you don't know, you know, what they're doing in their spare time, or if they're speaking about something that makes you uncomfortable, if they're speaking the truth and, you know, knowledgeable about the subject, and opinions are opinions, but at the same time, like, I don't think anybody has the the right to tell anybody to just shut up and do what they do.

• 1:09:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. You were born in St. Louis. I lived in St. Louis for eight years. And then you moved to Naperville.

• 1:09:33Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:09:34Lewis Howes?

  And I had an internship in Naperville in college, actually, and I also Naperville.

• 1:09:38Speaker 01

  Connection.

• 1:09:39Lewis Howes?

  There's a memory where I actually qualified for the national championships at North Central College.

• 1:09:44Speaker 01

  North Central College, yeah.

• 1:09:45Lewis Howes?

  It's a beautiful little campus, small little school, but beautiful. And I played a playoff football game there as well, actually, that we won. So I have some good memories. Good memories in Naperville, yeah. And you grew, I mean, in this community, as a majority of white kids that you went to school with, right? What do you say to white friends that reach out to you during this time? The kids, the types of kids you grew up with or friends now, what do you say to white, white people on how they can be supportive to you personally as an individual and also with, with everything that's happening in the world?

• 1:10:17Speaker 01

  You know what I struggle with? I struggle with, and this is my best friend, we've been friends since we were 11 years old, absolute best friend. She has two beautiful boys. We still, we see each other all the time, especially before COVID. We always made a trip. She stays with us, her and her husband, family. And she was one of the first to like, reach out and basically, you know, ask, you know, what can I do? How can I help? What can I post? What, how can I be an ally?

• 1:10:48Speaker 01

  So honestly, it's really just, I think, listening. But at the same time, I struggle because I don't ever wanna be seen as like the other. Like, but you're different type of thing. And I think some of the rooms that I walk into, especially being a woman of color, a lot of people assume that I'm not like anybody else. Because you haven't really seen people like that sit at the table. You know, at TNT, the same thing. You know, I go back and forth with the guys all the time. And they're like, man, like, it's so awesome how you go back and forth with them. Like, there's 20 million other people like that that can do this. It's just they gotta get a chance.

• 1:11:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:24Speaker 01

  And, you know, I think we allow people to fit, you know, okay, we have one at the table. But we're scared to bring two or three. And it's like, that's my biggest thing is, is like, open your eyes to understand that it doesn't just have to be one puzzle piece. There can be a couple more. And so I think that's what I challenge my white friends and my white allies to do within their own organizations, corporations, friends. I don't know, everything is to understand it's not just one place that can fit. You know, like, you can fit a couple more puzzle pieces in there. Eventually, I hope to get to a point where it's like the person that fits, you know, fits the job.

• 1:12:07Speaker 01

  You know, and we talk a lot about just in terms of hiring. What if they did an experiment in the book Blink? And they were talking about the orchestra has always been all male because males just play the orchestra better. And so for one year, the orchestra had family members that were trying out. So they had to use a screen. And it was 50/50 picked, women and men.

• 1:12:29Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:12:30Speaker 01

  So for me, I think the unconscious bias. Like, you look at yourself every day in the mirror and you ask yourself, you're only gonna know that much. But if you go out and you seek, you try to find your blind spots. That's when we're really gonna accomplish, like, what we all hope to have is, you know, equality and judging it based on the person.

• 1:12:47Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's great. I got a couple of final questions for you. This has been great, but I am curious. If you had to get a tattoo on your forehead, permanent for the rest of your life, that had a word or a phrase that you would always be reminded of when you're in the mirror and other people would be reminded of when they look at you, what would that word or phrase be?

• 1:13:09Speaker 01

  Word or phrase?

• 1:13:13Speaker 01

  Intention.

• 1:13:16Speaker 01

  Like if everybody goes forward with pure intention, whether you're right or whether you're wrong, like if, I don't believe just solely judging people on intention because you've got to have some action behind it as well. But I think if you, if people would like purify their intention and ask themselves, what's your actual intention? And then maybe like at least be, you know, cognizant of their intention going into a situation, I think the world would be a lot better, honestly. You know, I sometimes call my grandma and I tell her, I intended to send you a card. This is me telling you I intended to send you a card. And I know it's not based on intended, but I did think about you and you know, whatever. And then also just, when you go in situations of problems or chaos

• 1:14:01Speaker 01

  or being uncomfortable, you ask yourself like, what is the intention? What am I going into this to do? Am I trying to solve the problem? Or am I trying to, you know, make it worse? And so I think that would be something that I always talk about.

• 1:14:14Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. The power of intention. Oprah talks about that a lot. Power of intention. I asked this question to Kobe towards the end of our interview. I asked him his definition of love. I'm curious, what's your definition of love? And when do you feel the most loved?

• 1:14:32Speaker 01

  My definition of love is, I mean, I, I think the definition in my dictionary for love would have a picture of my daughter next to it. Because I think I would do be, have, give, sacrifice, accomplish, whatever for her, honestly. And to me, I don't think you understand love until you have a child. That's just from my perception. She honestly has changed every single thing about me. And, you know, I try to be better for her. I try to look at situations in a different way for her. And yeah, so that would be my definition of it.

• 1:15:15Lewis Howes?

  And when do you feel the most loved?

• 1:15:17Speaker 01

  I feel the most loved when...

• 1:15:22Speaker 01

  I see some of like the qualities in my daughter.

• 1:15:29Speaker 01

  I see them come to life. For instance,

• 1:15:33Speaker 01

  you know, when she just randomly will do something super sweet or you know, she knows I drink tea every night. And so her and her friend had a sleepover one night and I got back and totally didn't expect her to make me tea or anything. And so she had a note on the, on the table, on the counter like, "Mom, here's your tea. Make sure you stir it before you drink it." And it was just like, it's like those little acts of service and little things that make people know that you're thinking about them and that they're thinking about you, uh, to me is when I feel the most loved.

• 1:16:04Lewis Howes?

  And I've watched some videos of you talk about legacy and how important that is for you. What do you want people to say about you when you're gone?

• 1:16:13Speaker 01

  I believe legacy, you know, can be two ways. You can take or you can leave. And there's a lot of people that within their legacy, they're taking, they're taking, you know, people's time, they're taking, you know, they're taking things and it can still be a positive legacy. But for me, I want to leave, you know, I want to leave, um, impact. And I really believe that you are, you know, your children are your legacy. You know, you're hopefully leaving them behind when you leave this earth. And so the way that they speak of you, the way they talk about you, uh, the lessons that you taught them, for me, I am a legacy of Coach Summit.

• 1:16:55Speaker 01

  You know, every day when I'm parenting, whatever I'm doing, there's some of Coach that are, that's, you know, in there. And so just to have that impact in my life and to know that like when I do leave this earth, you know, I want to impact individuals with their passion.

• 1:17:14Speaker 01

  In their everyday lives.

• 1:17:15Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:17:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:17:16Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. This question is called the three truths. I ask everyone at the end.

• 1:17:20Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:17:21Lewis Howes?

  So hypothetical question, imagine it's your last day on earth. And you've achieved and accomplished everything you want to accomplish. But for whatever reason, you've got to take all of your accomplishments with you. All the content, this interview, anything you ever create, videos of you from the past, they all go with you. But you get to leave behind three things you know to be true to the world. And this is all they would have access to, are these three lessons you would share? Or what I like to call three truths.

• 1:17:48Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 1:17:49Lewis Howes?

  What would you say are yours?

• 1:17:52Speaker 01

  My three truths that I would leave behind would be, um, it can be a lesson.

• 1:18:00Lewis Howes?

  Lesson, yeah, a lesson, yeah, a lesson that you share with the world.

• 1:18:04Speaker 01

  I know the cliche, you are your biggest competition, but growing up, my dad used to always tell me, like the measuring stick for others, you might be head and shoulders above. But what you're truly able to accomplish and what you're truly able to do, if you base yourself all the time on what other people are doing, you're going to sell yourself short sometimes. And so I think for me, it would be like you truly are your biggest competition.

• 1:18:30Lewis Howes?

  I like that. That's one.

• 1:18:32Speaker 01

  Another competition type of thing, because I'm driven by that, is, you know, I posted a couple of days ago about how when you compete against how undisciplined you are, when you compete against, you know, looking in the mirror and knowing your blind spots and the things that you struggle at, compete against everything within yourself that you know you need to work on. You start competing against that, instead of competing against somebody that should have, that got the job that you wanted, you're going to be so much better.

• 1:19:02Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:03Speaker 01

  And so I think that that's, um, those are two things. And then...

• 1:19:09Speaker 01

  Um, the last thing would be just enjoying the process. Like enjoying the everydiness, enjoying, I mean, we look up and it's fricking December already.

• 1:19:21Lewis Howes?

  Crazy, the year's over.

• 1:19:23Speaker 01

  It's gone fast. I mean, what do they say? The, the days are long and the years are short. Like, that's how it is. So if there's anything, I really believe in, um, enjoying the moment and enjoying the process.

• 1:19:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:35Speaker 01

  And, you know, living with the results.

• 1:19:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. I want to acknowledge you for a moment, Candace, in your childlike spirit and energy. I feel like even though you're a mom and you're an adult and you're this professional athlete, you have this childlike curiosity and energy. You're a lifelong learner, which I love about you and I appreciate about you. Uh, and just your joy. I really acknowledge your joy because I think the world needs more of that. And I think we as individuals need more joy in times of stress and anxiety.

• 1:20:05Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:20:05Lewis Howes?

  And, uh, your wisdom. I acknowledge your wisdom as well.

• 1:20:09Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:20:09Lewis Howes?

  And your ability to be coachable. Because a lot of people, when they achieve something, they think they've got it figured out. And you continue to say, "I'm here to learn. I'm here to grow. I'm here to look myself in the mirror and see what are my blind spots." And I really acknowledge you for that. And it's no reason, uh, there's no, uh, doubt in my mind why you're such a great athlete and great human being because of these qualities, so.

• 1:20:30Speaker 01

  That means so much. Uh, you know, I, I think just in the people that I've met, it's been, um, it's the, it's the versatility aspect. When you meet somebody that it's like doing other things.

• 1:20:42Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, range.

• 1:20:43Speaker 01

  You find your passion and you find your energy day to day because you have this, or you have this, or you have this. Like, you're running a marathon. You're like doing, you know, you played football. You're doing basketball. You're doing a number of things. And so for me, it's like, if we run the same play, I'm not that person. I'm going to have, struggle with it. I'll just tell you, no, honestly, if I, if I just have one thing I have to have, I'm so much better when I have, you know, so much. And so that's kind of where the passion comes from, for sure.

• 1:21:12Lewis Howes?

  Uh, have you read the book Range yet?

• 1:21:14Speaker 01

  No, I need to.

• 1:21:15Lewis Howes?

  Read this. I think David Epstein is the guy's name.

• 1:21:18Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:21:18Lewis Howes?

  An author. I had him on the show. I'm, hopefully that's his name. I can't remember if that's, gets the authors mixed up. But Range, he talks about. Talks about athletes actually become better when they have a range of sports they play as kids. Because you can tie in these different things and aspects from baseball to football as opposed to just playing baseball year round. If you play football and baseball, you'll learn more from each sport that you can apply to that final sport.

• 1:21:42Speaker 01

  So true.

• 1:21:43Lewis Howes?

  Same thing in life. When you learn, you know, I'm a big salsa dancer.

• 1:21:46Speaker 01

  That's awesome.

• 1:21:47Lewis Howes?

  I've been dancing for about 15 years.

• 1:21:49Speaker 01

  That's so cool.

• 1:21:49Lewis Howes?

  I love it. And I feel like it helps me in other areas of my life. I'm learning Spanish now. It's very challenging, but I feel like it's helping me in other areas of my life. So I'm doing the marathon. It's like I'm learning patience and

• 1:22:01Speaker 01

  I love that.

• 1:22:02Lewis Howes?

  sticking it out longer. And I like to do things quick. So all these things develop range and make us more interesting.

• 1:22:07Speaker 01

  I love that. I'm gonna read that book.

• 1:22:09Lewis Howes?

  Check it out, Range.

• 1:22:10Speaker 01

  Yes, my parents were so, like, I played soccer, I played volleyball, I played basketball, I did try, like, I did a bunch of sports before I was able to settle on basketball because they were like, no, we want you to try out.

• 1:22:22Lewis Howes?

  That's great.

• 1:22:22Speaker 01

  You know, a lot of stuff. And so that definitely helped me.

• 1:22:25Lewis Howes?

  If you didn't play basketball, what would you have gone pro in?

• 1:22:28Speaker 01

  Pro? You know, honestly, and to this day, I want to be a historian. Like, my goal is that one interview, kind of similar, no comparison, but like how, remember in the TNT, they had Barack Obama and it was like, Chicagoan, under his name, like, not president, but Chicagoan.

• 1:22:45Lewis Howes?

  You want to be historian.

• 1:22:46Speaker 01

  I want to be historian, under just one documentary, just where I'm on there, just like talking about JFK or something, and then they're just like, Candace Parker, historian. That's like my goal. So I would have been, yeah, a history teacher or some type of professor if I wouldn't have played basketball.

• 1:23:00Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. That's cool. Well, people can follow you and they should follow you, Candace underscore Parker on Twitter, Candace Parker on Instagram and Facebook. And follow your daughter, TikToks. You guys do amazing TikToks together, but great content over there. You got a podcast, but it's only during the season, is that right?

• 1:23:18Speaker 01

  It's during the NBA season, yes. Ledlow and Parker and we talk, not just focused on basketball, we kind of like to. Explore the versatility of our guests a little bit. We actually have had some amazing guests. We had Kobe on, we had Jimmy Butler, we've had Snoop Dogg.

• 1:23:37Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:23:38Speaker 01

  We try to

• 1:23:39Lewis Howes?

  Mix it up.

• 1:23:39Speaker 01

  Spread it out.

• 1:23:40Lewis Howes?

  Get some range.

• 1:23:40Speaker 01

  Get some range with our guests. Yes.

• 1:23:43Lewis Howes?

  How else can we support you and serve you?

• 1:23:46Speaker 01

  Well, I recently teamed up with D Wade, CP3, and Carmelo Anthony to be a part of the Social Change Fund, which is basically trying to level the playing field and to reach equality with, whether it's in social justice, whether it's voting. This past election season, we teamed up with the HBCUs to allow Uber or allow Lyft to have codes to, you know, give people rides to the polls. So we're just trying to, you know, do as much as we can in the community to support, you know, different types of businesses.

• 1:24:26Speaker 01

  Hopefully allow more people more opportunities.

• 1:24:29Lewis Howes?

  How can people get involved in that or support that?

• 1:24:32Speaker 01

  Well, you can go to Social Change Fund. You can either donate. We have, you have the ability to do that on the website. Or, you know, honestly, we would love to have, you know, different communities, different initiatives. I know education is a huge thing now that we're trying to figure out how we can impact. And so that's kind of, yeah.

• 1:24:50Lewis Howes?

  That's great. That's cool. Well, I'm gonna be making a donation right after you leave. I encourage you guys to make a donation as well. This has been a pleasure, Candace. I'm very glad that we got to connect. Hopefully we can do more stuff in the future. Final question for you. What's your definition of greatness?

• 1:25:06Speaker 01

  My definition of greatness is repeatedly getting up and doing something because you know that that's going to get you where you want to go, even when you don't feel like it. I feel like it's kind of greatness is the definition of commitment, where it says, what is it, doing what you say you're gonna do even when the moment passed that you set it in. And I feel like that's greatness, honestly, is continuing, whether it's when the lights are on, when the lights are off, when the gym is empty, when the gym is full, continuing to do what you know you've prepared and what you should do.

• 1:25:37Lewis Howes?

  Candace, thank you so much.

• 1:25:38Speaker 01

  You're awesome.

• 1:25:39Lewis Howes?

  Appreciate it. Thank you.

• 1:25:39Speaker 01

  Thank you. I appreciate it.

• 1:25:43Lewis Howes?

  My friend, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this episode. If you enjoyed it, then you know what to do. Make sure to share this with a friend that you think would be inspired by Candace's story as well. If you know people that want to improve their life, that want to become champions, that want to become better with mindset, better habits, and learn the habits of winners, then I don't know anyone better to learn from than Candace Parker. So make sure to copy and paste this link wherever you're listening to this over on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or any podcast app you're listening to. Or just copy and paste the link, lewishowes.com/1057, and text a few friends, post it on social media, put it in a WhatsApp group chat, whatever you gotta do, get the message out there, because when you share this, you're empowering someone else to improve their life as well.

• 1:26:26Lewis Howes?

  Make sure to click the subscribe button over on Apple Podcasts also, and leave us a review and rating. Anytime that new people subscribe, and they rate and review the show over on Apple Podcasts, it really helps us impact more lives together. So if you subscribe right now and leave a rating and review, you're making an impact by helping reach more people with this powerful message right now. So please do that. And if you want inspirational messages from me, sent to your phone every single week, then text the word PODCAST right now to 614-350-3960, and get on my texting list, where I send you some behind the scenes messages to inspire you every single week. A big thank you to Candace, she's an inspiration, and just a great human being. So make sure you follow her and check out her stuff.

• 1:27:10Lewis Howes?

  She's an inspiration, and I'm excited to be friends and to connect with her more in the future and support her journey. And I want to leave you with this quote from Roy T. Bennett, who said, "When things do not go your way, remember that every challenge, every adversity contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth." I know we've been through a lot of challenges over the last year, and some people are still in the middle of those challenges. But look at these challenges as opportunities for growth, as feedback, information that you need to improve something that's not working. And I want to remind you, if you haven't been told lately, I am telling you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. I'm so grateful for you, and you know what time it is.

• 1:27:55Lewis Howes?

  It's time to go out there and do something great.