Achi news desk-
Candice Parker has always said she’ll know when it’s time to retire. That day came Sunday.
The three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist announced on social media that her career was over after 16 seasons.
“The competitor in me always wants one more, but it’s time,” Parker wrote in an Instagram post. “My heart and body knew, but I had to give my brain time to accept it.”
Parker, 38, told The Associated Press in November that she wanted to play another season if she could get over a leg injury that kept her out last season. But she warned she didn’t want to “cheat the game”, or herself, and expressed as much in announcing her retirement ahead of the Aces’ bid for a third straight title. Parker has had 10 surgeries during her career.
“I promised that I would never betray the game and that I would leave it in a better place than I entered it… I always wanted to leave the field without a parade or tour, just privately with those I loved,” she wrote. “In what was to be my last game, I walked off the field with my daughter. I ended the journey exactly as I started it, with her.”
Parker played her first 13 seasons in the league with the Los Angeles Sparks, establishing her dominance early on as the No. 1 overall pick to win the Rookie of the Year and the league’s MVP that season. Parker was the only 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 won her second MVP award in 2013 and won her first title in 2016 with the Sparks. She would go on to win a second title with the Chicago Sky in 2021 and a third with the Las Vegas Aces last season. She is 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 be etched in our collective conscience forever, but she gave so much more to the game beyond her accolades and statistics,” the Aces said in a statement. “As a team member and instructor, mother and wife, beller, broadcaster and businesswoman, she inspired countless young people, both boys and girls, to pursue and fulfill their dreams.”
Parker played on the late Pat Summitt’s last two national championship teams at Tennessee in 2007 and 2008. She then left with one year of eligibility remaining.
She won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 before shockingly being left out of the 2016 team.
“I think obviously Candice has had an amazing career. I’m a little sad about that because you love to go up against her, the legend that she is,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said. “What she has done on and off the field has been amazing for our league. I appreciate everything she has done to help me get to where I am. We will definitely miss her this season.”
Liberty coach Sandy Brundello trained Parker overseas in Russia for several years during the winter.
“She’s a trailblazer. Just a wonderful person and what she’s done for this sport,” Brundello said. “I hope it is celebrated. I have a lot of respect for her. Our children grew up together when I coached in Russia. It’s quite sad. Everyone knows when it’s the right time.”
Parker began working in broadcasting during her acting career. She has worked as an analyst for the NCAA Tournament with CBS Sports and for NBA TV.
She had foot surgery in July 2023 and told the AP it still hurt late last year.
“This season has not been fun on an uncooperative leg,” she wrote in her post on Sunday. “My mission in life, as Pat Summitt always said, is to ‘pursue people and passions and you’ll never fail.’ Being a wife and mother is still a priority.1 and I’ve learned that time flies, so I plan to enjoy my family to the fullest!”
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AP sports reporter Ryan Kriska in Hoboken, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
