Candace Parker left the game quietly. Her legacy never will.
Parker retired from basketball on April 28, 2024; there was no fanfare. Instead, an Instagram post confirmed the ending of one of the sport's greatest stories.
"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," Parker wrote.
"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."
A WNBA career built for the Hall 🌟 🏆 3x WNBA Champion 🏆 2x WNBA MVP
🏆 2016 Finals MVP 🏆 2020 Defensive Player of the Year 🏆 2008 Rookie of the Year 🏆 7x WNBA All-Star 🏆 10x All-WNBA 🏆 ONLY player to win ROY and MVP in the SAME year Celebrating the iconic career of 2026… pic.twitter.com/FvNtO3vtYC
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 14, 2026
Parker played 16 seasons in the league, owning the court from the moment she stepped on it. The former Tennessee Volunteer, who led the program to back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008, was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. In her league debut, she finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block. Unsurprisingly, the 34 points were a WNBA record for most points in a game by a rookie. The record has yet to be broken.Parker ended her first year in the league with Rookie of the Year and MVP honors, an achievement she still holds as the only player in WNBA history to earn both in the same season. The new Hall of Famer later won three WNBA championships (2016, 2021, 2023), two WNBA MVPs (2008, 2013) and a Finals MVP (2016).
Parker also earned Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, 10 All-WNBA selections and seven All-Star nods as she spent time with three franchises: the Sparks (2008-2020), the Chicago Sky (2021-2022) and the Las Vegas Aces (2023). Additionally, the 6-foot-4 forward was a critical part of Team USA Basketball. In 2008, she helped the team win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, and again in 2012 during the London Games.
Remarkably, Parker achieved a number of her milestones while publicly and privately managing the pregnancy of her daughter, Lailaa, in 2009, along with multiple injuries throughout her career, including knees, a shoulder, and a foot injury that ended her final season early.
"I'll weigh my options. If I feel really, really good, then I'll play,"she said in the fall of 2023. "That's a big if. I've got to get my foot right. My foot was really bad last year. I don't want to cheat the game or cheat myself."
"I can't play in pain. It makes the game not fun. I realized on Halloween that I want to take my kids trick-or-treating. I don't want to be sitting in the car because I can't walk. I want to be able to go out to the beach. I love playing beach volleyball. I don't know if one more season is worth risking that," Parker added.
Parker ultimately chose to walk away from the court in 2024, but her impact has been felt well beyond her years in the league. On Saturday, she'll be recognized as a basketball immortal for her countless contributions and the indelible mark she left on the game.
Parker will don the Hall of Fame's signature orange jacket and wear a ring signifying her acceptance into one of the most prestigious clubs ever. She'll be introduced by Tamika Catchings (‘20), Allen Iverson (‘16), Cheryl Miller (‘95) and Dwyane Wade (‘23), basketball greats who, like so many others, have had the pleasure of watching Parker play. She'll walk out of one chapter and into another.
"When you put the ball down, (it's) kinda like death in a way. You can look at it as a new life, but it is kind of like (death). I think this is a celebration of that life and all the countless hours that you put into it," Parker said this week ahead of her Hall of Fame ceremony.
"I don't think anybody like picks up a ball, like, 'I wanna be a Hall of Famer.' I'll be honest. But as you start winning and you see that your heroes all have that orange jacket. So to be able to get the call ... to be in this group is unbelievable."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Candace Parker's Hall of Fame induction caps one of basketball's greatest careers
