The end of one’s career is something that arrives for every athlete – even the greatest of the greatest.
It is anything but an easy mental process to go through for even the proudest and most accomplished of competitors – that time when one’s days as a player come to an end.
For all of the talk of where today’s WNBA is, it is more important than ever that we give flowers to those who laid the groundwork for where the W is. Because today’s stars that have catapulted the W to new heights would not be here without those trailblazers who first paved the way.
One of those trailblazers was Candace Parker. Anyone who watched her at Tennessee knew that this was not simply another great baller. Parker was different. Parker was one of one. Parker was transcendent.
One has to made of a different kind of greatness when they get drafted first overall in 2008 and not only win Rookie of the Year that season but also MVP – again – as a rookie.
One has to be made of a different kind of greatness to win championships with three teams – the Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces.
One has to be made of a different kind of greatness to finish one’s WNBA career as top-10 all-time in blocks, points, assists and rebounds.
That is only a microscopic fraction of what Parker managed to accomplish throughout her illustrious basketball career.
Crypto.com Arena has been the site of many a jersey retirement over the years – and the latest occurred this past weekend when, fittingly, the Sky were in town to play the Sparks in Los Angeles. Her No. 3 jersey was raised to the rafters, signifying how no future Spark would even wear said numeral again.
She will also have her No. 3 Sky jersey raised to the rafters of Wintrust Arena on August 25 – when the Sky face off, fittingly against the Aces.
Parker certainly deserves her flowers – and she is receiving them at a time when it was only a few seasons ago when she was on the court, looking like she was still in her prime. Let us remember that Parker was an All-Star Game participant representing the Sky as recently as 2022 – the season following the year when she led Chicago to its first (and only as of today) WNBA championship.
That is another element to Parker that we must not forget – and why she is firmly in the GOAT conversation with Sheryl Swoopes, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore. Wherever she went, wins followed as did championships. When a team had Parker in its locker room, wearing its uniform and on that court, it had a walking, talking, living, breathing definition of a winning culture.
It was only fitting that when that No. 3 was unveiled at the rafters of Crypto.com Arena that “Song Cry” by Jay-Z was playing on the venue’s speakers. That track from Shawn Hov Carter himself perfectly encapsulated what many Sparks, Sky and WNBA fans had to be experiencing seeing said moment either on television or in person.
It was also only fitting that as Parker was giving her speech in Los Angeles that another who has etched herself into Sparks lore was there as well. That someone was Lisa Leslie. She played her final season in the W in 2009 and her entire career was with the Sparks. In many ways once Parker was drafted the year before, Leslie, who won championships in 2001 and 2002 in Tinseltown, passed the Los Angeles torch to Parker who continued that success with a championship in 2016.
And then she continued her winning success in 2021 by bringing a WNBA championship to her native realms of Chicago.
Nowadays, an influx of fans have permeated the WNBA space and it is questionable at best as to if these “new” fans have even the slightest bit of reverence for the game’s history. What they do not understand (yet we as avid W aficionados do) is paying homage to the game’s greats like Parker is more important than ever so it is understood who put the WNBA in position to enjoy the riches it does today.
Congratulations, Ace. We look forward to the Hall of Fame speeches (both Women’s and Naismith). The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame speech will especially be meaningful given it will be in Knoxville in the shadow of the very university where she became a household name.
#ThankYouCandace.
