Candace Parker, a surefire future Hall of Famer, announced on her Instagram that she will be retiring from the WNBA after playing 16 seasons in the league, citing a difficult recovery from offseason foot surgery as the reason for making the decision now.
“I fell in love with a little orange ball at 13 years old and BECAUSE of it my world goes ’round,” Parker said on her post. “The highs are unmatched & the lows taught me lessons. On & off the court I’m proud l’ve always been true & stayed true to ME, even when it wasn’t popular.
“I’m grateful that for 16 years I PLAYED A GAME for a living & DESPITE all the injuries, I hooped. I’m grateful for family, friends, teammates, coaches, doctors, trainers & fans who made this journey so special.”
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Parker’s illustrious basketball career started in high school at Naperville Central, where she led the team to back-to-back state titles in 2003 and 2004, was named Miss Basketball in her home state three times and won Gatorade National Player of the Year award in her senior year. She also became the first woman to win a slam dunk contest while participating in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Parker played for the Tennessee Lady Vols in her collegiate career under Pat Summitt and won back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008. She also received many accolades, including the Most Outstanding Player award twice, the Naismith College Player of the Year award and the Honda Sports Award twice.
After her success in Tennessee, Parker was drafted at No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2008 WNBA Draft and made an instant impact at the WNBA level, becoming the first player to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.
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Throughout her professional career, Parker became the first player in league history to win three WNBA Championships with three different teams: the Los Angeles Sparks (2016), the Chicago Sky (2021) and the Las Vegas Aces (2023). She won the league MVP award twice in 2008 and 2013, was named to seven All-WNBA First Teams and three All-WNBA Second Teams, league’s 20th and 25 anniversary teams, and participated in the WNBA All-Star seven times.
During her 13-year tenure with the Los Angeles Sparks, Parker led the team to 11 playoff appearances and back-to-back WNBA Finals appearances in 2016-17, which including winning the championship in 2016 — a title she dedicated to Summitt, who passed away the same year.
Sparks managing partner Eric Holoman put out a statement about Parker on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday afternoon: “We are deeply grateful for the remarkable contributions Candace Parker has made to the Los Angeles Sparks and to the sport of basketball as a whole. She will forever be enshrined in Sparks history — from her standout MVP and Rookie of the Year season, to leading us to a 2016 WNBA Championship, and the way she’s revolutionized the game. Her impact in the community and ability to inspire will always be felt here in LA. Through my many conversations with her about life after basketball, I am certain that she’ll be just as successful in the boardroom.”
In 2021, Parker signed with her hometown team, the Chicago Sky, and led the team to its first-ever championship, defeating the Phoenix Mercury in four games. She went on to play with the Sky for a second season before playing her final season with the Las Vegas Aces, winning her third championship in 2023 while missing most of the second half and all of the playoffs with an injury.
The Las Vegas Aces released a statement following Parker’s announcement of retiring from the league, titling it to “one of the GOATs of the game” and expressing their apprecation for Parker’s brief stint in Las Vegas.
“Although the majority of her career was played in opposing uniforms, we were blessed to have her as part of our championship team a year ago,” the Aces’ statement said. “We are saddened that she won’t be a part of our three-peat aspirations, but we look forward to welcoming Candace back to Las Vegas as an Aces alum, and we can’t wait to see what the next chapter in her life has to offer.”