One of the legends of the game and two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker revealed on her social media platform Sunday afternoon that she is retiring after 16 seasons in the league.
Parker, who spent last season with the Las Vegas Aces, has been recovering from a foot injury that required surgery and limited her to just 18 games in 2023. She played her last game July 7.
“This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating,” Parker posted. “It’s no fun playing in pain (10 surgeries in my career) it’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only…it’s no fun hearing ”she isn’t the same” when I know why, it’s no fun accepting the fact you need surgery AGAIN.”
She cited the need for yet another surgery as a contributing factor as she made her announcement in an Instagram post.
“I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it,” Parker wrote. “The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it’s time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it.”
Following a stellar college career at the University of Tennessee under the late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, Parker did not waste any time making an immediate impact in the WNBA after she was taken first overall in the 2008 draft by the Los Angeles Sparks.
Embed from Getty ImagesShe took home Rookie of the Year and MVP honors that year, then won another MVP in 2013 before engineering the Sparks to a WNBA title in 2016.
After 13 seasons in ‘Tinsel Town’, Los Angeles, Parker came home to the ‘Windy City’, to play for the Chicago Sky in 2021 and won her second championship ring over the Phoenix Mercury.
And last season, she won another title after joining the Aces in what turned out to be her swan song campaign.
“The Las Vegas Aces family is thankful for the role Candace played in the 2023 WNBA championship season,” the team said in a statement, “and for giving all of us the opportunity to watch one of the GOATs of the game over the past two decades.”
In retirement, Parker will not be leaving the game of basketball by any stretch of the imagination, or sports in general behind. In her post, Parker said she will be “attacking business, private equity, ownership (I will own both a NBA & WNBA team), broadcasting … with the same intensity & focus I did basketball.”
Parker, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists over her 16-year career.
She was also a two-time Olympic gold medalist with Team U.S. at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
