WNBA superstar Candace Parker continues to show why she is one of the greatest basketball players ever.
Parker recently has been voted AP Female Athlete of the Year for the second time. She also received 11 first-place votes to cinch her second AP Female Athlete of the Year award.
“There was something about going to where you started playing the game,” said Parker to the AP. “It’s exciting to play in front of the people who first saw me pick up a basketball. To win at home, I’m just now recognizing it a little bit. How special that really is. Something that is top on my list.”
The WNBA has benefitted greatly from Parker’s marketability and innate will to win.
“You couldn’t write a better story than the one of Candace Parker bringing the WNBA championship to her hometown in her first season with the Chicago Sky,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.
“On top of her accomplishments on the court and in the studio, she has continued to be a leader and role model to many, including working moms around the world. The WNBA is proud to have players like Candace who continually raise the bar and elevate the game and our league to the highest level.”
Parker holds the distinction of being the only WNBA player to win the AP Female Athlete of the Year award.
“The more visibility we get as a league, which seems like it is coming, the more we’ll see,” Parker said according to reports. “If you see it, see more and more talented players … that are capable and deserving. This next wave of athletes that are able to have their career followed from the time it starts till the end are going to change the face of the WNBA.”
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Parker grew up in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Parker attended Naperville Central High School, where she landed a trifecta of accolades: Naismith, Gatorade, and USA Today National Prep Player of the Year (2003 and 2004).
She was also a three-time Gatorade Illinois State Player of the Year in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Parker was a 2004 McDonald’s All-American her senior year in high school.
However, Parker’s matriculation to college was nothing short of legendary.
Parker entered the University of Tennessee in the fall of 2004. She was listed as a guard, center and forward, a testament to her athleticism.
After redshirting in early 2005 due to an ankle injury, Parker started for Tennessee in the 2005-2006 season. She eventually led the Lady Volunteers to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2007 and 2008.
Parker’s professional basketball career has always been stellar. Drafted No. 1 overall in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, she set it off as the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Parker became an unrestricted free agent in 2021, leaving the Sparks after 13 seasons and one championship win in 2016. She signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Sky and became a hometown champion in the first year.
She also continues to break ground for women in sports as an NBA analyst and recently got married to her partner Anya Petrakova and they are caring for a baby together.
What a year it’s been for the Kevin Durant of women’s hoops.
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