Candace Parker Reveals How Kobe Bryant Brought Up His Daughters While Trash Talking

The unexpected death of Kobe Bryant sent a shock wave of grief throughout the sports world, prompting those who knew him to share their best stories of the Mamba. Just days after his passing in 2020, Candace Parker took the opportunity to talk about her first time meeting Kobe and getting her first taste of his trash talk.

Parker shared that she first met the Lakers legend at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where she was also introduced to his young daughters, Natalia and Gianna. Instead of a normal “hello” and handshake, though, Bryant took the chance to turn his daughters’ introduction to a WNBA great into a competition.

After recalling where she first met Bryant, Parker immediately reminisced on what the basketball icon said to her about his daughters’ potential. “[Kobe] walked up to me and was like, ‘You see these two girls? They’re gonna break all your records one day,'” Parker said with a laugh.

“That was just the competitive spirit that he always had,” the former Sparks star said of Bryant. “Guaranteed every single time before we practice, [Kobe] was on the court, getting up shots in a full sweat. I mean, that was just a testament to his work ethic.”

Parker was just a rookie in the W when she helped lead the United States to a Gold Medal in Beijing, but she still remembered Bryant’s passionate testimony and habits more than a decade later. Throughout her career in which she played for the Sparks, Chicago Sky, and Las Vegas Aces, she would be a 3-time WNBA champion, a WNBA Finals MVP, a 2-time WNBA MVP, and a 7-time WNBA All-Star. She averaged 16.0 points in the regular season across her career, with a 17.4 PPG in the postseason.

Parker has a special relationship with the Bryant family. She recalled that she would often see Kobe courtside at Sparks games following his retirement, and how supportive he was of women’s basketball as a whole. Now, Parker has taken on an even closer role with the family.

Candace Parker has been working with one of Bryant’s daughters

Kobe’s prediction came full circle as Parker began training with the Bryants’ third daughter, Bianca. She shared a snippet of their workout together, posting a picture of the eight-year-old’s form at the free throw line on her Instagram story.

“Look at the wrist loaded under the ball… On her toes… Basketball in her blood!” Parker began her caption to the story. Now retired from her own professional basketball career, the two-time WNBA MVP has taken it upon herself to help inspire the next generation of women’s hoopers.

It’s been a team effort in supporting the Bryant family since Kobe’s passing. His former teammate, Pau Gasol, has often looked after Kobe’s daughters as if they were his own, and now Parker has, as well.