Three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Candace Parker introduced 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 sought after to play any other season if she may just get wholesome from a foot injury that stored her off the courtroom remaining season. But she cautioned that she didn’t wish to “cheat the game,” or herself, and expressed the similar in pronouncing her retirement forward of the Aces’ try to win a 3rd name 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 performed her first 13 seasons within the league with the Los Angeles Sparks, organising her dominance early as a No. 1 pick out who received Rookie of the Year and league MVP in the similar season. Parker used to be the primary WNBA participant to do so feat, averaging 18.5 issues, 9.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists whilst serving to the Sparks to a 10-win development in 2008.
Parker earned her 2d MVP award in 2013 and received her first name in 2016 with the Sparks. She’d pass directly to win a 2d name with the Chicago Sky in 2021 and a 3rd with the Las Vegas Aces remaining season. She’s the one participant in league historical past to win a championship with 3 other groups.
“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 stated in a observation. “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 performed for the past due Pat Summitt’s remaining two nationwide championship groups at Tennessee in 2007 and 2008.
She received gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Parker started running in broadcasting all through her enjoying profession. She has labored as an analyst for the NCAA Tournament with CBS Sports and for NBA TV.
She had surgical procedure on her foot in July 2023 and informed the AP it nonetheless pained her on the finish of remaining yr.
“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!”