Candace Parker Says Arguments With Shaq Are Just Part of Talking Basketball
“She also looks at her conversations with O’Neal and appreciates that it is not viewed as Shaq talking to a WNBA player and that it is two basketball analysts having a conversation.”
While the NBA on TNT’s postgame show on Tuesday night is not at the level of Inside The NBA, the last couple of weeks have been entertaining to say the least.
This week, Shaquille O’Neal brought up to Adam Lefkoe, Dwyane Wade, and Candace Parker that the WNBA should lower the rim so that they could dunk like the NBA players. Let’s just say Parker, a member of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, wasn’t too thrilled about that comment.
Candace Parker wasn't into Shaq's suggestion that the WNBA should lower the rim so that players could dunk "It's coming…My next child will be drop step dunking" pic.twitter.com/5tVkRJ3Nb4
This isn’t the first time we saw Parker react to a comment from O’Neal on-air recently. Two weeks ago, Parker was telling Shaq about how the pick-and-roll game has changed in the NBA.
Shaq and Candace Parker debate how defense is played in today’s NBA 🍿
Despite all the visual reactions that Parker seems to make to what O’Neal says on the show, she told Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated in an interview earlier this week that she just views it as talking basketball and doesn’t view those debates as anything out of the ordinary.
“I feel so lucky to do my job in the sense that, you know, we’re all players, all discussing different strategies, or different philosophies of the game, and everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Everybody’s confident in themselves that they’re not going to take it the wrong way. And so, just as Shaq comes at me and challenges me, I feel confident in my preparation, and my knowledge.”
She also looks at her conversations with O’Neal and appreciates that it is not viewed as Shaq talking to a WNBA player and that it is two basketball analysts having a conversation.
“I think it goes to the environment and the culture that we have, like, the producer can talk and tell off so and so and tell them how they feel and vice versa and that’s just what it is. It’s not like Shaq, the four-time champion Hall of Famer versus Candace, women’s basketball player.”
While it is not the Charles Barkley vs. Shaquille O’Neal debates you see on Inside The NBA, Shaq debating Parker on anything basketball is becoming can’t miss TV to seeing what he will say next. At the very least, Parker can bring up the clips of her, O’Neal, and Lefkoe shooting threes at halftime (whether the video was edited or not):
Beginning this weekend, Parker will be a part of Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage as she will be an analyst in the Atlanta studios with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith. Parker, who will be playing for the Chicago Sky in 2021, has been an analyst for Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage since 2018.
Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.
The NFL Still Considering Multiple Offers For Sunday Ticket
The NFL has had the respective bids of Disney, Apple and Amazon for weeks now. DirecTV has not bid for the package but has stated it is willing to partner with the new rightsholder for a potential deal.
DirecTV currently has the rights to Sunday Ticket. That deal expires at the end of this upcoming football season. The NFL is expected to make a boatload of cash when they decide which media organization gets the next rights to the package. The only question is… who will that be?
Alex Sherman of CNBC reports that the NFL has had the respective bids of Disney, Apple and Amazon for weeks now. DirecTV has decided not bid for the package. However, they are interested in partnering with the new rightsholder for a potential deal. DirecTV knows that Sunday Ticket is a staple in bars and restaurants and is interested in maintaining those relationships.
Outside of the bar/restaurant industry, success has been limited for the satellite provider with the football package. Fewer than two million subscribers signed up for Sunday Ticket each year which made the package a money-loser for the satellite TV provider.
According to the report, the NFL wants more than $2 billion for the rights and a stake in NFL Media, which is being packaged with Sunday Ticket. Also on the table is the NFL’s mobile rights. The league’s previous mobile agreement with Verizon has ended.
An interesting piece of the negotiations is Sunday Ticket price. According to the report, a buyer would have limited flexibility on pricing. The NFL signed contracts with CBS and Fox and within the framework of those deals, language mandates Sunday Ticket have a premium price. That’s to prevent loss of viewers from the networks that feature local market Sunday afternoon games. So essentially, the price is the price for the consumer.
ESPN was reportedly in a three-way bidding battle with Amazon and Comcast. According to the report, F1 told both Amazon and Comcast on Friday that they had decline to accept either one’s offer.
The racing series F1 has decided to stick with ESPN through 2025.
ESPN was reportedly in a three-way bidding battle with Amazon and Comcast. According to the report, F1 told both Amazon and Comcast on Friday that they had decline to accept either one’s offer.
The reported value of the three-year contract is set to pay F1 $75-90M per year for the U.S. media rights. Amazon had offered to pay roughly $100M per year, with the right to sublicense to a linear broadcast network. Comcast’s offer was similar to ESPN’s in terms of value and the structure. They also wanted to put select races on it’s streaming service, Peacock.
Netflix was in on the negotiations, as well. The makers of Drive to Survive, the streaming series that many credit with the sport’s explosion in popularity in recent years, wasn’t close on on their financial offer. Also, it seems F1 executives were not ready to put all of its races on a streaming service just yet.
Currently, F1 receives $5M per year for ESPN to broadcast it’s races. ESPN has grabbed about 1.0 million viewers per race. That makes F1 a more than viable option for the network to invest into again. ESPN will be able to put a small number of races on its ESPN+ streaming service exclusively. The vast majority being on ABC or ESPN.
The origins of their partnership were discussed and Bayless admitted he did not like the way Smith characterized the state of First Take before he arrived on set. Smith insisted that Bayless simply misunderstood what he meant by saying that he was told the show needed him.
Over the weekend, Skip Bayless says he and Stephen A. Smith got together at the Bayless home in California to talk things out in private.
“He was in LA, he came over, we sat by the pool,” he said on the latest episode of The Skip Bayless Show. “It wasn’t the easiest conversation for a while, but we slowly but surely sorted it out. We got through it, and we have been through so much together.”
Bayless reiterated that he considers Smith a brother. They love each other. That doesn’t mean they are always going to remember events the same way or see eye-to-eye all the time.
“Brothers fight. We have fought before. I’m assuming we will fight again.”
Fighting doesn’t mean the relationship is fractured. In fact, Skip Bayless was adamant that he remains closer to Smith than he is to most people in his life.
“I don’t trust easily because of the way I was raised, but I do trust Stephen Anthony Smith. Trust him with my life. Always have and always will. I trust he will always be there for me, and you better believe I will always be there for him.”
