Parker Van Dyke on why being a disciple of Jesus Christ comes before basketball
Church News
Church News
4.8 • 873 Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Summary
Although professional basketball player Parker Van Dyke has worn jerseys for the Salt Lake City Stars and Austin Spurs, he sees his first identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Parker currently plays for the NBA G League and broadcasts high school games. He has also played professionally in Europe, after starting for the University of Utah Utes and serving a full-time mission in the Alabama Birmingham Mission.
Through all this, Van Dyke’s advice to others is to be builders — both on a team and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He joins Church News reporter Mary Richards in the church meetinghouse gym where he grew up playing in Salt Lake City.
The Church News Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners to make a journey of connection with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the globe. Hosts Jon Ryan Jensen, editor of the Church News, and Church News reporter Mary Richards share unique views of the stories, events, and people who form this international faith. With each episode, listeners are asked to embark on a journey to learn from one another and ponder, “What do I know now?” because of the experience.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your identity as an athlete should be like fifth or six on your list. |
| 0:04.0 | And so my advice to a lot of athletes is, yeah, don't lose sight of your true identity. |
| 0:08.0 | And so, like President Russell and Nelson brought up, Disciple of Christ, child of God, child of the covenant. |
| 0:14.0 | Those will lead and guide you to a fulfilled life, and it will enhance your life as an athlete. |
| 0:20.0 | And so that's one of my things that I've always strived to be is I want to be a disciple of Jesus |
| 0:24.9 | Christ first. |
| 0:26.6 | If I strive to do that first, then the other things in my career will tend to fall in place. |
| 0:35.5 | This is Mary Richards, reporter at the Church News. Welcome to the Church News podcast. Today we are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
| 0:53.1 | Parker Van Dyke is a collegiate and professional basketball player, a broadcaster and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
| 1:01.9 | He grew up in Salt Lake City and his career has taken him around the country and around the world. |
| 1:08.0 | He joins me now on this episode of the Church News podcast to discuss his |
| 1:12.1 | life and his faith. Welcome, Parker, to the Church News podcast. Thank you for having me on. |
| 1:16.9 | It's an honor, honor to be here and honor to be on the Church News podcast. So we're recording |
| 1:22.2 | in a very familiar place to you. This is the gym. Can I say where it all began, really? Yeah, this is, |
| 1:28.6 | this is my home ward building and the court where pretty much my whole basketball journey |
| 1:34.6 | began. I spent so much time in this gym working on my game and I don't think anyone has taken |
| 1:41.6 | more shots in this gym than me. And so it's a humble gym, but it's beautiful to me because, yeah, this is where I grew up coming and working on my skills. |
| 1:53.0 | And it's also a place where I grew up coming to church and rubbed shoulders with my neighborhood and my community. |
| 1:59.0 | And really was the foundation of my basketball, |
| 2:02.3 | but the foundation of my testimony as well as in this building. I've met some of the members of |
| 2:06.1 | your ward and they all told me, he is such a nice guy. I'm so excited you're talking to him. |
| 2:10.8 | You have fans, not just of your basketball career, but of you as a person of your life, |
... |
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