How Candace Parker paid tribute to family, Pat Summitt at hall of fame induction

Candace Parker stood center stage at the Tennessee Theatre, captivating the crowd in the final speech of the evening at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction.She talked for 20 minutes, the audience hanging on every word the Lady Vols legend spoke to commemorate her career on June 27. Parker's outfit for the special night was a reference to one of legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt's iconic suits she donned on the sidelines, with orange pants and a white jacket with orange trim.

Parker's version was immediately recognizable to anyone who had seen Summitt's, and it was the perfect touch to her induction speech, which began with a Voltaire quote: "Originality is nothing but judicious imitation.""Nobody actually becomes or creates in a vacuum, right?" Parker said.

"Every great athlete, musician, business person, or artist – they have influences ... It's not blind copying, it's discerning imitation. You study your influences closely enough to know what it takes and what you want to take from that."

Parker herself is a product of the role models she chased. First it was her older brothers, Anthony and Marcus, who she refused to not be part of everything with, despite eight and 11 years separating her from them. Anthony had a 10-year NBA career while Marcus went to Johns Hopkins and became a doctor.

Learning from their example is part of what led Parker to redefine what was possible for women's basketball players off the court. Parker got into broadcasting long before she retired from playing, owns a production company with two documentaries already, wrote a book and immediately transitioned into president of women's basketball at Adidas after she retired in 2024."It just allowed me to understand that I can take my basketball career and I can do other things with it and capitalize on other opportunities," Parker told Knox News on June 26.

"I was always huge into reading and studying and getting to know people and things like that. And so I think all of those things