Candace Parker announces her retirement from WNBA after 16 seasons
Two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Candace Parker revealed on social media Sunday that she's retiring after 16 seasons in the league.
Parker, who played last year with the Las Vegas Aces, has been recovering from a foot injury that limited her to just 18 games last season.
She cited the need for yet another surgery as a contributing factor as she made her announcement in an Instagram post.
"I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it," Parker wrote. "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."
Following a stellar college career at the University of Tennessee, Parker made an immediate impact in the WNBA after she was taken first overall in the 2008 draft by the Los Angeles Sparks.
She won Rookie of the Year and MVP honors that year, then won another MVP in 2013 before leading the Sparks to a WNBA title in 2016.
After 13 seasons in Los Angeles, Parker jumped to her hometown Chicago Sky in 2021 and won her second championship ring.
And last season, she won another title after joining the Aces in what turned out to be her final season.
In retirement, Parker won't be leaving the game of basketball − or sports in general − behind. In her Instagram post, Parker said she'll be "attacking business, private equity, ownership (I will own both a NBA & WNBA team), broadcasting ... with the same intensity & focus I did basketball."
Parker, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists over her 16-year career.
She was also a two-time Olympic gold medalist as part of the U.S. squad at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.