Candace Parker is an American professional basketball player. She is currently playing for the Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her playing position is forward and center. Initially, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Additionally, she has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg, Guangdong Dolphins, Fenerbahçe Istanbul, Xinjiang Tianshan Deers. Parker has won two WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards (2008, 2013), a WNBA Finals MVP Award (2016), a WNBA All-Star Game MVP Award (2013), two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012), and the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2008). She has also been selected to six All-WNBA teams and five All-Star teams and was the first player to win the Rookie of the Year and the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. Furthermore, she became the second player to dunk in a WNBA game on 22nd June 2008. She also won the 2003 and 2004 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year awards during her high school becoming just the second junior and the only woman to receive the award twice. She led the team two consecutive national championships (2007, 2008), was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player on both occasions and was a two-time consensus national player of the year during her college years. She also became an analyst for NBA games on TNT and NBA TV in 2019, having started covering Tuesday games during the 2019-20 NBA season. Her jersey number is 3.
Candace Parker will be the first woman on the cover of ‘NBA 2K’
Candace Parker, of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, will be on the cover of a special edition of “NBA 2K22.” Her appearance marks the first time a female athlete will be on one of the covers for the game, “NBA 2K” announced Wednesday. “The cover of NBA 2K is such a pivotal platform to inspire young ballers, and I wanted future WNBA stars to know that they can be cover athletes too,” Parker said in a statement. “Representation matters, so this is a special moment of progress for the sport and the series.” She will be featured on the North American GameStop Exclusive Edition of the game celebrating the WNBA’s 25th anniversary, while the NBA’s Luka Dončić will be featured on the Standard Edition. Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be featured in another edition recognizing the 75th anniversary of the NBA. “To be part of this historic cover is a testament to the growth and rising popularity of the women’s game,” Parker said in her statement. “I’m proud to be the first female cover athlete to be the face of NBA 2K.”
Source: @instagram.com/candaceparker
Famous For
- Being a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
- For helping the Sparks to win their first WNBA Finals title in 2016.
Who are the Parents of Candace Parker?
Candace Parker was born with the real name of Candace Nicole Parker on 19th April 1986. Her birthplace is in St. Louis, Missouri, the USA. She holds American nationality and her ethnic background is Mixed. Her race is Black. About her parents, her mother’s name is Sara and her father’s name is Larry Parker. When she was 2 years old, her parents relocated from S. Louis, Missouri to Naperville, Illinois where she spent her childhood. Her dad, Larry Parker is also a former professional basketball player who played for the University of Iowa in the 1970s. She also has two siblings; older brothers: Anthony Parker, a former NBA basketball player, and Marcus Parker, a professional medical doctor. Aries is her Zodiac sign and her religion is Christian.
Concerning her education, Candace attended Naperville Central High school in Naperville, Illinois where she led her high school basketball team to Class AA state titles in 2003 and 2004 and compiled a school-record 2,768 points (22.9 points per game) and 1,592 rebounds (13.2 rebounds per game) while starting 119 of the 121 games in which she played. Later, she attended the University of Tennessee. She became the fastest player in Lady Vol history to score 1,000 career points, reaching the record in a January 28, 2007, away game against Alabama in her sophomore year. She graduated with her incoming class in May 2008. As of December 2007, she was named University Division I Academic All-American of the Year in women’s basketball for 2008 by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She compiled a record of 100 wins and 10 losses and averaged 19.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game at Tennessee.
Source: @instagram.com/candaceparker
How was the Professional Basketball Career of Candace Parker?
- Candace Parker was selected as the first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks on 9th April 2008.
- She played her debut game against the Phoenix Mercury on 17th May 2008 where she scored 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists.
- She became the second woman in WNBA history on 22nd June 2008 to dunk during a regulation WNBA game, against the Indiana Fever.
- On 24th June 2008, she became the first player to dunk twice in their WNBA career, during a regulation game against the Seattle Storm.
- Additionally, she was named the Hanns-G ‘Go Beyond’ Rookie of the Month for the month of May and July 2008.
- Furthermore, she scored a career-high 40 points, along with 16 rebounds and 6 assists, in an 82-74 overtime win against the Houston Comets.
- On 3rd October 2008, she became the first WNBA player to win both the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player awards in the same season, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld as the only professional American basketball players to win both ROY and MVP trophies in the same season.
- She missed the first eight games of the 2009 WNBA season after giving birth to her daughter. She played her first game back from maternity leave on July 5, 2009.
- She played only 10 games and was sidelined for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury, she would also miss the playoffs in 2010.
- After getting an MRI on June 27, 2011, she found out she had a torn meniscus in her right knee. The injury would cause her to miss the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game.
- She re-signed with the Sparks to a multi-year deal in 2012 once her rookie contract expired. She also played the full season and helped her team to a 24-10 record, making the playoffs as the second seed in the west.
- She played in her first All-Star game on 27th July 2013 on her sixth season where she scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a come from behind win for the West and was named WNBA All-Star MVP.
- She averaged 19.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game in the regular 2014 season.
- She announced on 9th April 2015 that she would miss an undetermined amount of the season to rest. She then returned to the Sparks after the All-Star break on July 29.
- She set a career-high of 6.3 assists per game, ranking 1st in the league in 16 regular-season games.
- She was named a part of the 2015 All-WNBA Second Team.
- She re-signed with the Sparks as an unrestricted free agent in 2016. She averaged 15.3 points per game, becoming the team’s second option next to Nneka Ogwumike who led the team in scoring and won the MVP award during the season.
- In the WNBA Finals, Sparks faced the championship-defending Minnesota Lynx where Parker put up her best performance of the finals thus far, contributing 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists to help the Sparks take a 2-1 series lead, with a dominant 92-75 win.
- After the game, an emotional Parker uttered the words “this is for Pat,” implying that the championship win was in honor of Pat Summitt. Parker won her first championship and won Finals MVP.
- She signed a multi-year contract extension with Sparks as of February 2017.
- She became the sixth player in league history to record a triple-double in an 85-73 win over the San Antonio Stars as she scored 11 points, tied her career-high of 17 rebounds along with a career-high 11 assists on 28th July 2017.
- She made history with a stat line of 21 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks in a 77-75 overtime victory against the Seattle Storm, making her the first player in WNBA history to achieve such a stat line on 10th July 2018. She finished off the season, averaging 17.9 ppg.
- She suffered a hamstring injury during the Sparks’ first preseason game and was ruled out 3-5 weeks in May 2019.
- Then, she made her season debut on 18th June 2019.
- She started all 22 games for the Sparks during the 2020 season. She posted a 51% field goal percentage, her best since 2011, and averaged 14.7 points per game. She led the league in rebounding (9.7 per game) and recorded a league-leading 10 double-double performance.
- Candace became an unrestricted free agent as of 2021.
- She would choose to leave the Sparks after 13 seasons, signing a 2-year deal with the Chicago Sky.
- She stated “Chicago is where my family raised me; where I first learned the game of basketball; and where I first fell in love with this orange ball…..I am excited to continue the next chapter of my career where it all began. To my new teammates, my new organization, and my new fans: I’m home.”
Source: @thenext.substack.com
Awards and Achievements
- WNBA champion (2016)
- WNBA Finals MVP (2016)
- 2× WNBA MVP (2008, 2013)
- 6× WNBA All-Star (2011, 2013, 2014, 2017-2018, 2021)
- WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2020)
- WNBA All-Star Game MVP (2013)
- WNBA Rookie of the Year (2008)
- WNBA All-Rookie Team (2008)
- 6× All-WNBA First Team (2008, 2012-2014, 2017, 2020)
- 3× All-WNBA Second Team (2009, 2015, 2018)
- 2× WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2009, 2012)
- 3× WNBA rebounding leader (2008, 2009, 2020)
- 3× WNBA peak performer (2008, 2009, 2020)
- WNBA Top [email protected] (2016)
- 5× Russian National League champion (2011-2015)
- 4× Russian Cup winner (2011-2014)
- EuroLeague champion (2013)
- 2× NCAA champion (2007, 2008)
- AP Female Athlete of the Year (2008)
- 2× USBWA College Player of the Year (2007, 2008)
- Naismith College Player of the Year (2008)
- 2× John R. Wooden Award (2007, 2008)
- Wade Trophy (2007)
- 2× Honda Sports Award for basketball (2007, 2008)
- Honda-Broderick Cup (2008)
Who is Candace Parker Husband?
Candace Parker was a married woman and she is currently single. She married her husband, Shelden Williams who is a basketball player and had played basketball at the Duke University. The duo is also blessed with a child named Lailaa Nicole Williams (born on May 13, 2009). Their wedding date is 13th November 2008. Prior to their marriage, they dated for 3 years. In the year 2013, the couple also purchased a 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) home in Encino, Los Angeles, for $3.56 million. In November 2016, the couple split up after eight years of marriage when Williams filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences”. They had been living separately for three months prior to the divorce. TMZ reported in April 2018 that the former couple had sold their home and split the profits from the sale and that Parker agreed to a one-time payment of $400,000 as opposed to ongoing spousal support for Williams upon finalizing the divorce, as well as their mutual agreement to joint legal and physical custody of their daughter, with neither parent receiving child support payments from the other. As of October 2020, Parker and her daughter became part of the ownership group of Angel City FC, a Los Angeles-based team set to start to play in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022. She also has two dogs. Her sexual orientation is straight.
Source: @blackamericaweb
How much is Candace Parker Net Worth?
Candace Parker is a very talented basketball player whose net worth is estimated to have $3 Million as of 2021. Her salary ranges from an average of $500,000 to $2 million a year. She has also been able to endorse various brands. She signed long-term endorsement deals with Adidas and Gatorade. Her major source of wealth comes from her basketball career and she is living a standard lifestyle as of today.
How tall is Candace Parker?
Candace Parker is a beautiful woman who has a tall height of 6 feet and 4 inches. Her weight is around 175 lbs or 79.4 KG. Her hair color is black and her eye color is dark brown. Her body type is slim. Her shoe size is 13 US and her dress size is 8 US. Her other body details is unavailable at a moment.
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