Candace Parker didn’t get a chance to have a farewell tour before she retired from professional basketball in 2024. Parker made the announcement in a social media post, ending her career without stepping on the court again.
Fans, former teammates and coaches are getting a second chance of sorts to honor Parker this summer. She is having her jersey retired by two WNBA organizations. The former Tennessee star saw her No. 3 jersey raised to the rafters at Crypto.com Arena by the Los Angeles Sparks June 29. The Chicago Sky will be retiring her jersey later this summer in her hometown.
Parker is the second WNBA player to have her number retired by two different teams, joining Lindsay Whalen (Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx).
“They say athletes have two deaths, one being when your career ends. I look at it as two lives,” Parker said during the halftime ceremony in L.A. “It’s never easy to put the ball down and move on from your first love. But to simplify what I learned throughout my career here in L.A., through basketball, through it all, is what I’m gonna carry to the next phase of life: joy.”
Parker played for the last two national championship teams at Tennessee under the late Pat Summitt in 2007 and 2008. She was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Sparks in 2008. She is the only player to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
The two-time MVP played 13 seasons for the Sparks, two for the Sky and one for the Las Vegas Aces. She won titles with the Sparks in 2016, the Sky in 2021 and the Aces in 2023, her final season.
“Candace Parker’s impact on the WNBA is immeasurable. From the moment she stepped onto the court as a rookie, winning both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, she has continually redefined greatness,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “A three-time champion with three different teams, her career has been marked by excellence, adaptability, and an unwavering commitment to winning.”
Leaving a lasting impact
After she retired, Parker was named the president of women’s basketball for Adidas and continued her broadcasting career. Her book, “The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart and Fight for Your Passions,” was published in June.
Although she was born and raised in Chicago, Parker says she was hoping the Sparks would select her in the draft once she left Tennessee.
“I wanted to be out West. I wanted to be here with all the eyeballs and the lights, where there’s ginormous shoes to fill,” she says. “When I landed here, (Sparks head coach) Michael Cooper said to me, ‘If you win here, you’re a champion forever.’ So there was one thing on my mind and we got that. We got that championship.”
Former Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who is part of the ownership group of the Sparks, congratulated Parker on social media on the morning of her jersey retirement in L.A.
“Candace Parker has left an indelible mark on the Los Angeles Sparks, not only as one of the greatest players to ever grace the court, but as a true ambassador of our franchise and women’s basketball as a whole,” he said. “Beginning with her arrival to the City of Angels in 2008, she not only lived up to the expectations placed on her as a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year and NCAA National Champion, she far exceeded them. Her unparalleled skill, relentless drive, and leadership elevated the Sparks to new heights and set a new standard for greatness. Candace is the best all-around player that has ever played in the WNBA.”
The day after Parker was honored in L.A., the WNBA announced it was expanding to 18 teams by adding franchises in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia by 2030. Many of the future players on those teams will have grown up watching Parker in her prime.
“Beyond her accolades, Candace has been a leader, mentor and a trailblazer–inspiring the next generation of athletes with her skill, resilience and passion for the game,” Engelbert says. “She has used her platform to elevate women’s sports, leaving a lasting legacy that transcends the court.”
Parker, a mother of three, hopes to continue growing the women’s game through her work with Adidas, broadcasting and potentially working with a WNBA franchise in some capacity. Having jerseys in the rafters in Tennessee, L.A. and eventually Chicago is a testament to her unflinching determination to reach her potential.
“I represent coming from a family that told me I could do and be anything. I’m really proud of that kid,” Parker says. “I think I’d do things exactly the same way because it’s why I’m sitting here. I made mistakes and took two steps forward and one back, but I was always moving forward.”