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04/28 14:06 CDT Candace Parker, a 3-time WNBA champion and 2-time Olympic gold
medalist, announces retirement
Candace Parker, a 3-time WNBA champion and 2-time Olympic gold medalist,
announces retirement
By The Associated Press
Three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Candace Parker
announced Sunday she's retiring after 16 seasons.
"The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it's time," Parker wrote in a
social media post. "My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to
accept it."
Parker, 38, had told The Associated Press in November she wanted to play
another season if she could get healthy from a foot injury that kept her off
the court last season. But she cautioned that she didn't want to "cheat the
game," or herself, and expressed the same in announcing her retirement ahead of
the Aces' attempt to win a third title in a row.
"I promised I'd never cheat the game & that I'd leave it in a better place than
I came into it. ... I always wanted to walk off the court with no parade or
tour, just privately with the ones I love," she wrote. "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."
Parker played her first 13 seasons in the league with the Los Angeles Sparks,
establishing her dominance early as a No. 1 pick who won Rookie of the Year and
league MVP in the same season. Parker was the first WNBA player to accomplish
that feat, averaging 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists while helping
the Sparks to a 10-win improvement in 2008.
Parker earned her second MVP award in 2013 and won her first title in 2016 with
the Sparks. She'd go on to win a second title with the Chicago Sky in 2021 and
a third with the Las Vegas Aces last season. She's the only player in league
history to win a championship with three different teams.
"The memories Candace Parker created for a generation of women's basketball
fans will remain ingrained in our collective conscience forever, but she has
given so much more to the game beyond her accolades and statistics," The Aces
said in a statement. "As a teammate and mentor, a mother and wife, a baller,
broadcaster, and businesswoman she has inspired countless young people, both
boys and girls, to chase and achieve their dreams."
Parker played for the late Pat Summitt's last two national championship teams
at Tennessee in 2007 and 2008.
She won gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Parker began working in broadcasting during her playing career. She has worked
as an analyst for the NCAA Tournament with CBS Sports and for NBA TV.
She had surgery on her foot in July 2023 and told the AP it still pained her at
the end of last year.
"This offseason hasn't been fun on a foot that isn't cooperating," she wrote in
her post Sunday. "My mission in life, like Pat Summitt always said, is to
?chase people and passions and you will never fail.' Being a wife & mom still
remains priority #1 & I've learned that time flies, so I plan to enjoy my
family to the fullest!"
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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