What Candace Parker Can’t Live Without

This bracelet is my reminder of Coach. She was like a second mom to me, so I always want to carry her with me and remember all the things that she taught me. And I think sometimes when things are hard, I definitely look down at that bracelet and know that I’m representing more than just me and continuing to carry on her legacy.

I use Google Calendar for my family, my work, everything. I have hangouts with friends in Google Calendar. My daughter, Lailaa, has her entire schedule on there. My son’s doctor’s appointments and activities are on there too. I don’t know how I lived before Google Calendar. We have it all color-coordinated. My wife will plan date night, and I’ll get a notification that’s, like,Will you accept?And I’m like, yeah!

My wife gave me this necklace — she has the key to my heart — and I wear it pretty much every day. I have to tell myself to take it off at times. It’s really pretty but simple, and I can dress it up or wear it with any type of outfit.

[Editor’s note: The key necklace that Candace wears is currently unavailable online, so we linked toTiffany & Co.’s key collection.]

I wear these sweats a lot. Whether I’m working out, whether I’m traveling, I’m wearing them. I’m in sweats right now. They’re my go-to for their comfort, and especially now with all the Zooms at home and meetings at home, I’m in them all the time.

I get excited about Christmas, but really I get excited about the Christmas drinks at Starbucks. The gingerbread latte is my go-to, and then I feel just so empty after the holidays are over because I don’t know what my drink at Starbucks will be after that. And then I have to go through this process of trying to find my drink again, and then wait for the fall basically. My go-to order is a (hot) venti oat-milk latte with one pump of pumpkin-spice syrup. I will drink hot coffee when it’s 95 degrees outside. I cannot drink iced coffee.

This is my favorite tequila. Reposado is my go-to, and I just drink it real easy on the rocks with an orange slice. My claim to fame with my friends is that I put all of them on Clase. I feel like I have so many pictures in my phone, when people were first starting to be on Clase, of people sending me pictures of the bottle in bars, and now they’re everywhere. I collect the bottles too. I have all the Halloween bottles; I have the Dia De Los Muertos bottle and the specialty anniversary ones as well.

My mom did my baby hairs when I was younger, and I’ve always had them even through high school and college. I used to get made fun of for having them. And now I guess it’s the in thing? In the morning, I always have my baby hairs done. You will know if I’m sick — that’s the only time I don’t have them done. My makeup artist in Atlanta, who does my makeup for television, doesn’t even touch my baby hairs. Nobody touches them but me. I use this baby-hair brush, and then I use pomade to smooth them down.

I love grilling. I think it’s super-fast and efficient, and there’s not a lot of cleaning up, so I’m kind of the griller in the family. My dad is actually the grill master, and I’m learning from him. I can do all red meat and stuff like that, but I’m working on perfecting my barbecued chicken, my cedar-plank salmon, my beer-battered chicken. I love grilling Hawaiian rib eyes and lamb chops.

I love a big, bold Cab. I’ve kind of gotten more into Burgundies lately. Nothing beats a good bottle of red wine with my steak off the grill. I actually had that last night! My wife and I just went to Santa Barbara, and we learned that Crown Point is trying to be the first hundred-point Cab in Santa Barbara. I like being early on stuff, so I don’t really go with the big vineyards that have more overproduced wine. I kind of go more low-key — not VIP — but exclusive type of stuff.

In Los Angeles, if you’re going to get around, you’re going to have to use Waze. I use it all the time. It’s faster! And it uses back streets and things like that. I don’t use any of the voice guidance, though — I don’t even have the sound on. I have my music up and I’m just looking at the map.