Podcast Summary: Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston

Episode Title: Candace & Aliyah Play "Sleigh or Nay" & Best Moments ft Syd Colson, Sue Bird, Leslie Jones & MORE!

Date: December 24, 2025
Hosts: Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston
Notable Guests: Dawn Staley, Sydney Colson, Becky Hammond, Blake Griffin, Sue Bird, Leslie Jones, Brittney Griner

Episode Overview

This special holiday edition of "Post Moves" delivers a festive blend of playful banter, generation-gap jokes, and a celebratory “best of” collection featuring memorable moments with some of women’s basketball’s biggest stars and personalities. Candace and Aliyah kick off the episode with lighthearted takes on holiday traditions, then transition to insightful discussions with icons and friends who reflect on their journeys, rivalries, and locker room stories—sprinkled with laughter and signature unfiltered candor. The hosts also invite listeners to participate in their interactive “Sleigh or Nay” holiday game.

Main Segments & Timestamps

• Opening Holiday Banter & Plans (00:00–07:37)
• "Sleigh or Nay" Holiday Game (07:38–12:05)
• Best Of: Guest Interviews & Stories (12:06–61:41)
  • Dawn Staley on South Carolina and Leadership (13:06–24:47)
  • Sydney Colson, Becky Hammond & Team Culture (24:47–39:35)
  • Blake Griffin, Candace the McDonald’s Dunk, Generational Roasting (40:05–45:15)
  • Brittney Griner on Dunking and NBA Inspiration (45:15–49:14)
  • Sue Bird: Playing Overseas & Euroleague Tales (49:28–58:19)
  • Leslie Jones Joins for Locker Room Shenanigans & Game Footage Reactions (58:44–62:41)
• Closing & Holiday Wishes (62:53–end)

Detailed Breakdown

1. Holiday Banter: Traditions, Gifts & Family Roles (00:00–07:37)

• Adult Santa Photo Debate:
  • Candace: "Adults taking photos with Santa. That's weird." (00:03)
  • Aliyah: Disagrees on ever having taken a solo Santa pic at her "grown, grown age."
• Family Roles & Holiday Gifts:
  • Candace calls out Aliyah for not bringing gifts or Thanksgiving dishes, to which Aliyah boasts her “rich auntie” status:
    • Aliyah: "I am the rich aunt. All they do is call me for the money. The rich auntie gonna stay rich." (02:35–02:49)
  • Both share funny stories of giving kids gifts they personally wanted as kids—Easy Bake Ovens, American Girl dolls, etc.
  • Notable Quotes:
    • Candace: "I enjoy getting my kids what they ask for. But really, I think our best play comes from, like, when I get them things that I had as a kid." (04:01)
  • New Year’s resolutions:
    • Aliyah aims to be a world-renowned chef ("I'm saying, like, I need to be able to cook some, like, oxtail or something.") (06:47)
    • Candace: "To carve out more time for myself. Moms know that you don't get a lot of time ... and then you're just like, point past the point ... I'd like to say no as a complete sentence." (07:01–07:37)

2. Holiday Game—"Sleigh or Nay" (07:38–12:05)

Candace and Aliyah play a rapid-fire holiday edition game, rating traditions as "sleigh" (yes!) or "nay" (no thanks!), with guest interjections:

• Eggnog:
  • Candace & Aliyah: Both "Nay." ("I never get it. I don't get it." – Candace, 08:06)
• Matching Family Pajamas:
  • Dawn Staley: "Slay." (08:19)
• Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You":
  • Candace: "She is literally the diva. So, yes." (08:37)
• Christmas music in November:
  • Aliyah: "Nay... It's just too much. Like, hold on. Give it its time." (09:02)
• Popcorn Garlands:
  • Aliyah: "Y'all like it? I love it."
  • Candace: "I'm not sitting there putting popcorn on a string." (09:20)
• Christmas Caroling:
  • Brittney Griner: "Hell, no."
  • Candace: "If somebody came and knocked on my door and just started singing... it's awkward." (09:29)
• Gifting Cash:
  • Aliyah: "Sleigh." Candace agrees; practicality wins! (09:54)
• Fake Trees:
  • Candace: "As soon as I became an adult, I was like, I want to go get a real tree. Nay." (10:33)
• Candy Canes:
  • Neither is a big fan.
• Adults Taking Photos with Santa (redux):
  • Candace: "That's weird. But my favorite pictures are of kids screaming at Santa." (11:21)

3. Best Moments—Guest Conversations

A. Dawn Staley: Coaching, Adversity & Culture (13:06–24:47)

• Candace to Dawn:
  • Reflects on Dawn’s journey from early South Carolina days with empty arenas to leading the nation in attendance:
    • "Your career as a coach has kind of mirrored that as a player. What does that say about your personality, your growth, and your ability to kind of just continue to grind?" (12:55)
• Dawn:
  • "It's my passion. It's the very thing I never cheat on. Like, it is. It guides me." (13:06)
  • Emphasizes always doing what's best for women's basketball, sometimes even at her own team's expense (discusses painful SEC tourney loss to Kentucky).
  • Explains the “fams not fans” philosophy at South Carolina:
    • "They're like family to us." (16:09)
• Aaliyah’s Perspective:
  • Shares the story of Dawn’s honest, tough, team-centric leadership after the Kentucky loss—and how that adversity built the edge for their eventual national title:
    • "She just starts going off one by one of what we did wrong in that game... And then we won the Natty that year." (16:13–17:47)
• Dawn:
  • On loss and growth: "I thought the loss was a win for us, even though we lost that game. It was a wake up call...I would trade SEC tournament championships for national championships any day." (17:56–18:48)

B. The Art of Bouncing Back & Player Growth

• Candace and Dawn reflect on the value of hard losses and comebacks, with Candace recalling Tennessee’s own heartbreaks and eventual national title under Pat Summitt.
  • Candace: "I think we'd run any amount of line drills if it promised us a new mindset." (18:48)
• Dawn on Aaliyah:
  • Describes Aaliyah’s soul-searching after the 2021 heartbreak and her transformation:
    • "There wasn't going to be any denying us the championship in 22, and we were going to do it because of Aaliyah’s sacrifice...It’s not often that you see great players get better." (22:09)

C. Las Vegas Aces & Team Chemistry: Sydney Colson & Becky Hammond (24:47–39:35)

• Candace to Sydney: On her leadership and work ethic:
  • "The thing that I've respected about you the most has been your ability to do your job...A team that has you on it, it's automatically going to be closer." (29:33)
• Sydney Colson:
  • On adapting roles: "Every year has been different. Every team has to come in, reestablish who you're going to be..." (35:08)
  • "This year's championship was the hardest by far...Indiana actually was probably the hardest series I’ve been through." (38:59)
• Becky Hammond & Locker Room Dynamics:
  • Reflects on moving from Vegas to Indiana, team chemistry, and supporting rookies:
    • "You realize, like, it's okay. It's okay for things to change."
• Becky Hammond:
  • "Being out of the league for a while made me a more compassionate teammate...My competitive spirit was tested and grew because I had to come back so many times." (32:13)
• Aaliyah Boston and team culture:
  • Highlights how off-court chemistry translates to on-court success.

D. Generation Crossroads and The Iconic McDonald's Dunk—With Blake Griffin (40:05–45:15)

• Aliyah: Teasing Candace about her "vintage" McDonald's All American experience.
• Candace: Tells her trademark story about dunking with covered eyes.
• Blake Griffin & Others: Reminisce about the moment—mixing reverence and gentle roasting.
  • Candace: "That was many, many moons ago, as Aaliyah is trying to allude to." (41:15)

E. Brittney Griner: The Art of Dunking (45:15–49:14)

• Candace: Asks what goes into Brittney’s show-stopping dunks and training.
  • Brittney: "I feel like I could always kind of jump...I always felt like I was just an in-game [dunker]." (47:36)
  • NBA inspiration: "Honestly, Dwight [Howard]."
• Memorable moment:
  • Candace: "That's how I was. I threw you a lob. No pun intended." (49:14)

F. Sue Bird on Life Overseas (49:28–58:19)

• Candace and Sue reminisce about their “otherworldly” Russian Euroleague experience:
  • "We had drivers and chefs...were paid pretty well...almost to the point where it’s like another party. We got black diamonds." (49:28)
• Sue Bird:
  • Contrasts WNBA's growth with previous generations heading abroad:
    • "Would I prefer to be in today's game where you don't have to go? Probably, yeah. But...I wouldn't trade it. The experiences off the court, living in another country—impacted who I am." (51:04)
• On Black women's hair abroad:
  • Sue: "Anytime we saw another black person on the street...It'd be like, do you know where to get your hair braided?" (57:00)
• Cultural contrast:
  • Debates over travel etiquette—racing off airplanes, endless clapping vs. American airline culture.

G. Leslie Jones: Locker Room Energy & Reacting to College Game Highlights (58:44–62:41)

• Clip reaction segment: The crew, with Leslie Jones and Dawn Staley, watches and jokes about old highlights of Candace and Aaliyah.
  • Leslie: "You just gonna come in here and keep dunking on me? I’ll fight you and your family." (59:28)
  • Candace: "Not the little headband, though." (59:27)
• On Aaliyah’s toughness:
  • Leslie: "I'm so motivated by you right now. I need you to start flipping them over your back, though."
  • Aaliyah: "I can't. They'll kick me out."
• Hilarious faux-competitive banter about fouling out, old school vs. new school hoops, and aggressive post play.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Candace on boundary-setting: "I'd like to say no as a complete sentence. No, no, no, no, no, no, no." (07:37)
• Dawn Staley on passion: "I only want us to win. Like, I only want women's basketball and women's basketball players to win." (13:23)
• Aaliyah on Coach Staley’s impact: "She just started going off one by one of what we did wrong in that game...and then we won the Natty that year." (16:13)
• Sydney Colson on team reinvention: "Every team has to come in, reestablish who you're going to be that year, because as we all know, the minutes don't carry over, the points don't carry over..." (35:08)
• Sue Bird on Euroleague: "All the Final Fours in Euroleague...greatest games you never saw." (52:22)
• Leslie Jones (joking, on Candace as an opponent): "I would have just tackled you. I will fight you and your family." (59:28)

Tone & Vibe

The episode is festive, funny, and celebratory, mixing candid, insider hoops talk with pure comedic energy and genuine warmth between generations and guests. Candace and Aliyah’s chemistry shines as they bridge eras, poke fun at each other's quirks, and create a welcoming space for teammate stories and fan questions.

Closing (62:53–end)

Candace and Aliyah wrap up by wishing listeners happy holidays, teasing next season’s excitement, and urging fans to keep following and subscribing:

• Candace: "We are so excited that you're part of our squad."
• Aliyah: "Bow, bow, bow. See y’all soon."

For listeners craving memories, hoops history, relatable holiday chaos, and a real peek inside women’s basketball, this episode delivers heart, humor, and a whole lot of highlight-worthy moments.