Aces star Parker announces retirement
Won three WNBA titles, two Olympic gold medals
Candace Parker always said she’d know when it would be time to retire. That day came Sunday.
The three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist announced on social media that her career was over after 16 seasons.
“The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it’s time,” Parker wrote in an Instagram 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 also cautioned that she didn’t want to “cheat the game” or herself, and expressed the same sentiment in announcing her retirement ahead of the Las Vegas Aces’ attempt to win a third title in a row. Parker has had 10 surgeries over her career.
“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 dominance early as a No. 1 pick who won rookie of the year and league MVP in the same 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.
She earned her second MVP 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 Aces last season. She’s the only WNBA player 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 ’08. She left with one year of eligibility remaining and won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 before being left off the 2016 team in a surprise.
“I think obviously Candace has had an amazing career. I’m a little bit sad about it because you love going up against her, the legend that she is,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said. “What she has done on and off the court has been amazing for our league. Appreciate all she’s done to help me get to where I am. We’ll definitely miss her this season.”
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello coached Parker in Russia for a few years during the winter.
“She’s a trailblazer. Just a wonderful human being and what she’s done for this sport,” Brondello said. “Hopefully it’s celebrated. I’ve got a lot of respect for her.”