The day that training camp began for WNBA teams ahead of the 2024 season also included a bittersweet ending for one of the league’s legends.
Candace Parker, a former No. 1 overall pick, three-time WNBA champion and two-time MVP, announced her retirement Sunday after 16 seasons.
The 38-year-old forward spent 2023 with the Aces, appearing in 18 games with Las Vegas before dealing with a foot injury that shortened her season.
“I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it,” Parker wrote in a post on Instagram. “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. This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating. 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.”
Parker joined the Los Angeles Sparks as the No. 1 overall pick after her collegiate career at Tennessee, and she spent 13 years with the organization before joining the Chicago Sky for two and spending her final campaign in Las Vegas.
She also won two Olympic gold medals — in 2008 and 2012 — and became one of the most prominent WNBA players throughout her career.
“Today’s players: ENJOY IT,” Parker wrote later in her Instagram post. “No matter how you prepare for it, you won’t be ready for the gap it leaves in your soul. Forgive me as I mourn a bit, but I’ll be back loving the game differently in a while.”
Even as her career neared its end, Parker’s production didn’t suffer a drastic falloff.
She averaged 13.2 points per game and made a WNBA All-Star appearance in 2022, while also finishing fifth in the league’s MVP voting.
And last year, before the injury surfaced, Parker averaged 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a regular starter for the Aces.
“I think, obviously, Candace has had an amazing career,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart told reporters after the first day of training camp, according to The Athletic. “I don’t know, I’m a little bit sad about it, because you love going up against her and the legend that she is. But what she’s done on this court and off the court has been amazing for our league, and really appreciate everything that she’s done to kinda help me get to where I am.”
