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Candace Parker Reveals Why She Doesn't Like Geno Auriemma

WNBA legend Candace Parker got candid about her sentiment toward UConn's Geno Auriemma.
Grant Young|
Oct 25, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; TNT broadcaster Candace Parker during the Golden State Warriors game against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Oct 25, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; TNT broadcaster Candace Parker during the Golden State Warriors game against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Candace Parker is one of the most respected voices in all of basketball, both men's and women's. While she's now one of the sport's top analysts, those who have followed the game long enough can't forget Parker's incredible WNBA career, where she won three championships, two WNBA MVP awards, one Finals MVP (2016), and was a 7-time WNBA All-Star.

And Parker's greatness was built during her college career under Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee, where she was a two-time NCAA champion.

Parker's Volunteers teams had an iconic rivalry with the UConn Huskies, who had Geno Auriemma as their head coach. This fostered a mutual feeling between Parker and Auriemma that still hasn't relented, which she conveyed during a June 18 TikTok with Complex Magazine.

When Parker was asked whether she and Auriemma have connected at all, she said, "Nah. It's not beef. It's just we don't like each other."

She then added, "We have to be in a place where people understand and respect that, right? Like, there's so many men out there that don't like each other... It's so okay in society for people to not like each other. It's so okay for people to come on social media and talk junk if you're a man. Like, it's fine, we don't like each other.

"I grew up in an era where, if you wronged my brother, I didn't like you. It's just like that. Pat [Summitt] did not mess with Geno. So therefore, I didn't mess with him. It was a rivalry, and then it kind of boiled over into putting on the same USA jersey," she continued.

"The best feeling is knowing you don't like each other. There's not beef, because we moved past it."

Props to Parker for being so honest.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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