Candace Parker is unlacing her shoes after a 16-season run in the WNBA that included three championships and two MVP awards.
The 38-year-old athlete announced her retirement in a social media post on Sunday.
“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,” she said.
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“My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it,” she added.
The power forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest-ever players in the league, played the final stretch of her career with the Las Vegas Aces.
An injury to her left foot hampered her 2023 season, and though she signed a one-year deal with the Aces earlier this year, her foot “isn’t cooperating,” Parker said on Sunday.
“Forgive me as I mourn a bit, but I’ll be back loving the game differently in a while,” she promised.
After closing out a spectacular college career at the University of Tennessee, Parker was the No. 1 pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft, going to the Los Angeles Sparks, where she would play the next 13 seasons.
She led the Sparks to a title in 2016, and the Chicago Sky to their own in 2021. She won her final championship with the Aces last year.
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