The Rush: Sue Bird returning to WNBA for 21st season,’ Candace Parker on second career
Hoops legend Sue Bird is returning for a 21st WNBA season, in search of a fifth Championship at 41-years-old. Fellow basketball great Candace Parker joins The Rush, dishing on Chuck, Shaq and all things broadcasting.
Video Transcript
SUE BIRD: For a long time, I think I talked about legacy in terms of like how many championships that I win. And now, I have embraced the idea of the lasting impact that I can leave, that I can leave, that I can leave. But I still want to win championships.
JARED QUAY: Basketball legend Sue Bird announced she's returning to the WNBA for one more season.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
That's going to be the 21st season for Bird, who will be lacing them up at 41 years old.
- Age is a visual construct.
JARED QUAY: Camino because if Tom Brady can win his seventh Super Bowl at age 43, no reason why Sue can't play the Brady homer fifth ship at the tender age of 41.
- Yeah, still got it.
JARED QUAY: We recently caught up with another huge GOAT Candace Parker. She's still playing but already has her second career in the works. Take a look. You used to play overseas when it was a WNBA offseason. And now you spend your offseason doing something else like a full time NBA analyst. So which is more fun, playing the game of basketball or Chuck and Shaq onlive TV?
CANDACE PARKER: I love playing, to be honest with you, there's nothing like it. And especially playing in big games, that's my favorite. But I do believe the second best job is being on television talking about it. It's a whole lot easier, I'll tell you that. I tell Chuck and Shaq that all the time. Like, "Listen, it's so much easier to say what needs to be done than to actually do it."
So I think it's cool for me to now have that balance, because I become a better basketball player because I'm an analyst, and then also vise versa. There's so many times where I'm like, "No. I'm not going to talk about this dude because he's on the third back-to-back in two weeks and he's tired, and I understand that."
JARED QUAY: But the new relevance of him, you got the best two jobs in the world. What's the third one? What can you-- what else could you do after you're done talking about basketball and playing it?
CANDACE PARKER: Chilling on a beach.
[LAUGHTER]
No. You know, honestly, I think I always want to be around the game of basketball. So I always want to be tied to it, whether I'm teaching it, whether I'm talking about it, whether I'm playing it. Like, whatever capacity that I can be involved with this game, it's special.
I'm telling you, this round, orange ball has given me so many opportunities, so many relationships, and allowed me to be travel to different countries. And so I'm really grateful for it.