Candace Parker retired after 16 WNBA seasons and three championships in April, and before the start of WNBA All-Star weekend she revealed what led to her decision. At a dinner filled with WNBA legends in Phoenix, Parker explained that when her most trusted confidantes — her brother Anthony and her daughter Lailaa — said they noticed her skills declining, she knew it was time to retire.
“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,” Parker wrote in her goodbye post in April.
Since retiring, Parker said she couldn’t even watch basketball for the month following her announcement. As fate would have it, the TNT broadcaster also had no NBA assignments during this time, and although the transition from active to retired WNBA player was abrupt, it was much needed.
“I went through a month of mourning,” Parker said Thursday night.
She spent the time with her family and one day while sitting and watching her daughter’s volleyball game it hit Parker: “I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Lailaa was born after Parker won the 2008 Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards while playing for the Los Angeles Sparks….
