Candace Parker, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft who played 16 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces, retired last Sunday. There was no sentimental press conference, just a simple Instagram post.
In part, it read “I’m retiring.”
“I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it. The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it’s time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it.”
At every level of basketball – high school, college and professionally, she was a consensus pick to be the best of all players – even before she played a single game. Few players have faced that scrutiny and then surpassed the highest of expectations.
Parker led Naperville (Ill.) High School to Class AA state titles in 2003 and 2004, and became the only two-time winner of the USA Today High School Player of the Year Award. She was Gatorade Female Basketball Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, she was named Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year.
Parker led Tennessee to consecutive national championships in 2007 and 2008, respectively, was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player both years and was a two-time consensus National Player of the Year.
Next came the WNBA, and Parker helped solidify the future of the league. During her career, Parker was a 10-time All-WNBA honoree and seven-time WNBA All-Star. She won an elusive WNBA title in 2016 with Los Angeles.
Parker was also a splendid role model for girls and young women playing not only basketball, but any sport.
WNBA star Aliyah Boston said she always considered Parker a special part of her high school, college and pro careers.
“I think she’s the reason I’ve just loved basketball so much because at her side, being able to do what she does, handle the ball the way that she does, shoot the ball the way she does,” Boston said.
“[As] someone tall growing up that wanted to continue in the sport, she was just a major piece to me.”
New York Liberty guard Breanna Stewart praised Parker for her philanthropic endeavors, promotion of equity in sports, and support for youth sports and athletic organizations.
“What (Candace has] done on and off the court has been amazing for our league and I really appreciate everything that she’s done to help me to get where I am,” Stewart said.
As for the lack of fanfare surrounding her retirement, Parker wrote, “I always wanted to walk off the court with no parade or tour, just privately with the ones I love.”
“What now was to be my last game, I walked off the court with my daughter. I ended the journey just as I started it, with her,” she shared on Instagram.
The Reid Roundup
When it comes to fate (and time travel), I believe the adage ‘If you change one thing, you change everything.” Candace Parker was born in St. Louis on April 19, 1986. Her family, which included brother Anthony Parker who would play in the NBA, moved to Naperville, Illinois when she was two. Does her story turn out the same if she had remained in St. Louis?…Bradley Beal’s first, and possibly last, season with the Phoenix Suns ended when they Suns swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a first-round NBA playoff series. Beal fouled out of game four, scored just nine points and committed six turnovers with five coming in the fourth quarter…C.J. Abrams of the Washington Nationals is an exciting young Black player making a bid for an All-Star Game appearance in his second full Major League season. Abrams, 23, is hitting a robust .297 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs and 21 runs scored… Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are nowhere to be found as the NBA Playoffs reach the second round. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver can’t be happy with that outcome…Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics were heavily favored to dispatch Miami in Game 5 of their series on Wednesday night. With the Heat’s Jimmy Butler out with a knee injury, this series was not a fair fight.
