The basketball world stands in silence as another great of the sport recently announced her retirement. Candace Parker, a WNBA legend, and one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, has decided to hang it up after playing 16 long years in the WNBA. While the 3-time champion is mostly known for her time with the LA Sparks, her 2021 Championship with her hometown team, ‘the Chicago Sky’, is what fans most fondly remember Parker for.
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Chicago Sky draftee, Angel Reese hopes to replicate Parker’s success, as she was picked 7th by the team in the 2024 WNBA draft. On her mission to get the Sky their second trophy, Reese initially decided to wear the No. 3 jersey for the team. A tribute to Parker, Reese confessed to the media during an interview [per Annie Costabile],
” I’ve always watched Candace Parker. I think she is an amazing player, a big guard. I’ve always admired her. When I came here, since I couldn’t get 10, I wanted to get 3.”
The former LSU star did admit that she dropped the idea of wearing the number soon after because she knew that the Chicago Sky organization had plans to honor Parker by retiring her number, making the #3 unusable.
While it’s not clear when the Chicago-based team will retire Parker’s #3 jersey, the part-time TNT host went forward with a public announcement of her retirement. Taking to Instagram, Parker pend a heartfelt goodbye to the sport of basketball.
“I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it,” Parker said in a social media post. “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.”
In her farewell post, the Sparks legend highlighted how multiple [10, per NY1] surgeries throughout her career had taken a toll on her body, and playing any further would be akin to cheating the game, something fans can’t help but respect.
Even if Parker didn’t leave the game with the most rings, her impact can be found elsewhere, as players who once looked up to her, are now trying to further her legacy, a sign that Parker left the sport in a much better place than when she found it.
The world reacts to Candace Parker announcing her retirement
The last 24 hours have been a bag of mixed emotions for WNBA fans worldwide, as Parker made her retirement known through social media. While some members of the media, WNBA, and NBA flocked to their socials to give the 38-year-old her flowers, some of Parker’s peers were completely clueless about the viral news. Even NY Liberty star, Breanna Stewart was taken aback by the news as NBA Insider Khristina Williams recorded her reaction,
” What?! Wow… I’m a little bit sad about it because you love going up against her and the legend that she is… Will definitely miss her this season.”
NBA legend Isiah Thomas, also partook in celebrating Parker’s illustrious career, as he recognized the 38-year-old as being ” the greatest to ever do it“.
The TNT analyst even got a shout-out from her colleague, Jamal Crawford. Mentioning a line from Parker’s retirement post, Crawford highlighted how Parker had successfully achieved what she set out to do, “pushing the game forward” and leaving it in a better place than when she found it.
With the WNBA season set to start on May 14th, it will be the first time in almost two decades that Parker and her jaw-dropping play won’t feature throughout the season. This is something fans will most certainly have to get used to, as another “GOAT” departs from the sport.
