"Worth every penny": Dwyane Wade and $8,000,000 WNBA legend can’t hide true feelings as Candace Parker reaches multi-year extension with TNT Sports

Chicago-born NBA great Dwyane Wade gave props to fellow Illinois native and WNBA legend Candace Parker after she secured a contract extension with TNT Sports as an analyst.

Parker, a three-time WNBA champion and two-time MVP, will remain an analyst for TNT Sports and CBS Sports’ NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship coverage, a role she has held since 2019.

Reacting to the extension news, Wade said:

“Worth every penny."

WNBA icon Lisa Leslie, valued at $7 million per Celebrity Net Worth and a two-time WNBA champion with the LA Sparks, Parker’s former squad, also shared her thoughts:

"Let'ssss gggoooooo! (Love) it!!!"

Candace Parker reaches multi-year extension with TNT Sports

According to TNT Sports, Candace Parker will also expand her college basketball commentary to include analyst duties for TNT Sports’ first seasons of Big East men’s and women’s basketball as well as Big 12 men’s basketball.She will also continue as a lead studio analyst for TNT Sports’ coverage of the offseason women’s league Unrivaled, while also contributing to Bleacher Report and its B/R W platform.

In a statement, Parker expressed her appreciation for the extension:

“I’m grateful to keep doing what I love with my TNT Sports family,” Parker said. “Getting to cover the Big EAST, Big 12, March Madness and now Unrivaled — it all means a lot. These moments are special, and I don’t take any of it for granted.”

Candace Parker was drafted first in 2008 by the LA Sparks after guiding the University of Tennessee to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2007 and 2008. She made history in her rookie season by becoming the first player to win both MVP and Rookie of the Year honors in the same year.

In 2016, she led the Sparks to a WNBA championship as Finals MVP, later adding two more titles in 2021 and 2023. Over her career, she was named to seven All-Star teams before retiring in April 2024.

Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker join Amazon Prime Video as analysts for NBA, WNBA

Both Illinois icons will join Amazon Prime Video’s all-star analyst roster for its inaugural NBA season in 2025-26.

Candace Parker will serve as a studio analyst for both NBA and WNBA broadcasts, while Dwyane will take on a hybrid role, splitting time between game analysis and studio work, according to Front Office Sports.

Turner Sports, home of TNT Sports, was replaced by Amazon Prime Video in the NBA’s new media rights agreement signed in July. Amazon secured an 11-year, $20 billion deal to become an NBA rightsholder, joining ESPN and NBC in the league’s revamped broadcast lineup.