The legend Candace Parker announced her retirement from the sport of figure skating at the age of 38 through a post on her official personal page. Instagram.
Parker, who coached at the University of Tennessee between 2004 and 2008, leaves behind a successful athletic career that has worn the colors of the Los Angeles Sparks, Team USA, Turkey's Fenerbahce, and most recently the Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces, among others. .
“Dear Summer, I know you'll miss me… I'm leaving. I promised that I would never cheat in this sport and that I would leave it in a better place than where I started. The competitive gene in me always wants more, but it's time. My heart and body knew it, but I needed to give my head some time to process it.
I always wanted to leave the track without any show or tour. Just alone with the ones I love. What was now going to be my last game, I was with my daughter. “I ended the journey where I started with her,” he said in his post.
She was selected with the first pick in the 2008 draft by the aforementioned Sparks, and among her many accolades are:
- 3 WNBA Championship rings (2016, 2021 and 2023).
- 2016 WNBA Finals MVP.
- Two-time regular season MVP (2008 and 2013).
- 7-time WNBA Best Quintet.
- Inexperienced Overall and best quintet Juniors 2008.
- With Team USA, he won two gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
During his 16-year professional career, he played in 410 competitive games (406 as a starter) and averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game.
He was with the Sparks from 2008 to 2020 later playing in Chicago for two years, one year with the Becky Hammon Aces.
(Cover photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)