Candace Parker during Game 4 of the 2021 WNBA Finals between the Sky and the the Phoenix Mercury.
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
On Sunday morning, Candace Parker announced her retirement in a way that only the three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist could.
She subtly broke the news with a post on Instagram littered with Jay-Z references.
“Dear Summer,” Parker wrote. “I know you gon’ miss me.”
The lyric became the intro to Parker’s goodbye to the game that she fell in love with as a 13-year-old.
“I’m retiring,” Parker continued. “I promised I’d never cheat the game and that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it. The competitor in me always wants one more, but it’s time. My heart and body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it.”
Parker, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks with the No. 1 pick in 2008, certainly has left the sport in a better place. Her impact on the game and the WNBA was cited by ex-Sky teammates and Sky rookies, who learned of the news after their first practice of the season.
“She was a big reason why I believed I could go to the WNBA,” guard Dana Evans said.
“Candace, not even arguably, is one of the most impactful players our game has seen,” shooting guard Diamond DeShields said. “Just in terms of growth, visibility and transcendence. She’s one of those generational talents.”
“When I [was drafted], since I couldn’t wear No. 10, I wanted to wear No. 3,” rookie Angel Reese said. “But I was like, wait, Candace is going to get her jersey retired very soon.”
Parker was a dominant force in the WNBA the moment she stepped on the floor as a rookie. She remains the only player in league history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same season. She averaged 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in her first year with the Sparks.
The next 12 seasons for Parker included another MVP nod, multiple All-Star appearances and her first WNBA championship in 2016. Parker solidified her legacy as one of the game’s greatest when, after 13 seasons with the Sparks, she transformed the league’s free-agency culture by signing with the Sky as an unrestricted free agent.
It was, at the time, arguably the most significant free-agent signing in league history.
In her first season with the Sky, she led the franchise to its first and only WNBA title, averaging 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and four assists. She earned her sixth All-Star nod that season.
“I’ll always appreciate the type of leader she was,” DeShields said. “Even then, I didn’t really appreciate it. But as you get older and start to step into your vet role, you understand how nuanced it could be.
“The way she changed this organization from the day she got here is something I’ll never forget.”
Parker’s 16 seasons are filled with highlights and record-breaking moments. The seven-time All-Star finishes her WNBA career ranked ninth all time in points, third in rebounds, second in defensive rebounds, seventh in assists, fifth in blocks and fourth in double-doubles.
She is the only player in league history to win three titles with three franchises.
Last year, Parker injured her left foot and had surgery, which sidelined her for the second half of the season. It was later reported that she had been playing with an 89% fracture in her foot.
Parker told the Associated Press that she would weigh her options with regard to playing this season, and if she felt good, she would play.
“This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating,” Parker wrote. “It’s not fun playing in pain. It’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only. It’s no fun hearing, ‘She isn’t the same.’ ”
After Parker’s first practice with the Sky in 2021, a season many speculated would be her last, she said her plan was to one day go out without a farewell tour and that she never wanted to cheat the game.
In true Parker fashion, she lived up to her word.