On Sunday, Candace Parker announced her retirement from professional basketball after 16 years. On Instagram, she wrote:
I’m retiring.
I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it. 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.
I always wanted to walk off the court with no parade or tour, just privately with the ones I love. 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.
In 2008, Parker arrived in the WNBA with loads of expectations. The No. 1 pick in the draft by the Los Angeles Sparks after winning two national titles at Tennessee, she was the avatar of the next generation of women’s basketball, possessing a sport-shaking combination of athleticism, length, skill, savvy and smarts. She was a 6-foot-4 point forward with the ability to swat a shot, corral the ball, run the break and yes…dunk. As a rookie, she accomplished a feat likely never to be replicated in WNBA history, winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. From there, her ascent into the rarest air of basketball iconicity was not as smooth or seamless as imagined—but she still got…
