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Former WNBA star Candace Parker had no empathy for UConn Huskies women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma after he blew up at South Carolina’s Dawn Staley on Friday night.
Auriemma was upset that Staley couldn’t meet him for a customary pregame handshake before the Final Four game began. His frustrations with Staley led him to confront her at midcourt when the game ended. Staley yelled at Auriemma as coaches and other staff members stood between the two.
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Candace Parker, a member of the Amazon Prime NBA streaming team, stands courtside at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, during the game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers on January 22, 2026. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images)
Parker, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, spoke about the incident Saturday night.
“Over time, you see people’s colors over and over again,” he said. “And there may be a time separation with that, but the colors always come out. I think colors were shown on both sides yesterday, right? However you want to take it.”
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South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma argue after a semifinal game of the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
Auriemma apologized for his outburst.
“There is no excuse for how I handled the end of the game against South Carolina. It is different than what I do and our standard here in Connecticut,” the Hall of Fame coach said in a statement Saturday. “I want to apologize to the South Carolina staff and team. How I reacted wasn’t necessary. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
Staley avoided a question about the interaction and said she was focused on South Carolina’s national championship game against the UCLA Bruins.
NBA on Prime analyst Candace Parker stands courtside during the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on October 24, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Image Images)
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“For me, there are no distractions right now. I’m focusing on winning a national championship, that’s all,” Staley said. “That’s a little discouraging. This is sports, sometimes things like this happen. I continue to focus on my team and my ability to advance in this tournament and hopefully win another national championship.”
