Video: Candace Parker - 2015 Gatorade Athlete of the Year Awards Interview
See the basketball star's thoughts on Stuart Scott and her memories of the trip to the ESPYs when she was in high school
LOS ANGELES — The countless highlight-reel basketball clips of Candace Parker don't do her justice.
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Photo by Scott Hargrove
We had never met one of the game's greatest female players ever, but got five minutes with her following the Gatorade Athlete of the Year ceremony last week at the Los Angeles Hotel Downtown.
She was impressive in all ways.
Her recollections of high school, appearing as a player in the first Gatorade national ceremony with Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix, a chance meeting with David Beckham and memories of the late Stuart Scott were both entertaining and touching.
Scott hosted the first 11 Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year ceremonies in Southern California. His daughters Taelor and Sydni were presented with checks last week from Gatorade for cancer research and each gave short, moving speeches as well.
"Stuart Scott meant a lot to me," Parker said. "It's great to see them here and that his memory is living on through them. He was a fantastic father and he was a father first. … He's definitely missed, but he'll live on for eternity."
Parker, who is planning to return to the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks later this month, also gave very profound advice to current elite high school athletes.
"Live in the moment," she said. "Enjoy the journey and don't focus so much on the destination."
