The Sparks retired the No. 3 jersey worn by Candace Parker at halftime of today’s 92-85 loss to the Chicago Sky at Crypto.com Arena, honoring their career assist leader who led them to their most recent WNBA championship. Parker began her sightly more than four-minute speech before the curtain covering a replica of her jersey on the arena’s wall was lowered by recalling how for the 2008 WNBA draft lottery she “wanted the balls to fall in L.A.’s court,” going “where all the eyeballs, all the lights, where there’s ginormous shoes to fill.
“When I landed here, Michael Cooper said to me, `If you win here, you’re a champion forever.’ So there’s one thing on my mind, and we got that championship.” Parker was the MVP of the 2016 WNBA Finals, when the Sparks defeated the Minnesota Lynx, three games to two, including a 77-76 victory in Game 5 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, with Parker scoring a game-high 28 points and Nneka Ogwumike grabbing an offensive rebound and making the game-winning shot with 3.1 seconds remaining.
Parker also expressed her gratitude to “my family, my friends, my teammates, my coaches, my opponents, the ownership the entire Sparks organization, my Adidas fam, my Turner fam, doctors, physical therapists, shoot, even the refs” and explaining “the thing that I’ve learned through all the ups and downs, wins and losses, injuries, difficulties, highlights, records it’s about enjoying the process, enjoying the journey.”
Parker was introduced by Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, a teammate of two Seasons. The jersey retirement ceremony included video tributes from Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Cooper, also a Hall of Famer, who coached Parker during her first two seasons with the Sparks. In his video, Johnson said having your jersey retired “means you’re a super, super, superstar in the game of basketball to be right up there next to me, Kareem, Kobe and so many greats. That will be a special moment and a great way to say to herself, “Look at me, I really have arrived.”’
Parker’s jersey is the third retired by the team that began play in 1997. The others are the No. 9 worn by Leslie and the No. 11 worn by Penny Toler. Parker is the franchise leader in assists with 1,331. She is second in scoring average (16.9), rebounds (2,902), defensive rebounds (2,359) and free throws made (1,153); third in points (5,684), steals (446), field goals made (2,136), field-goal percentage (.482) and three-point baskets (768); and fourth in games played (337) and offensive rebounds (543).
The Sparks chose the 6-foot-4-inch power forward with the No. 1 selection in the 2008 draft after she led Tennessee to back-to-back NCAA championships and was selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player both times.
Parker quickly demonstrated she would continue her dominance as a professional, scoring 34 points in her debut, the WNBA record for scoring in a player’s first game in the league. In her 12th game, she became the second WNBA player to dunk.
Parker was selected as the 2008 MVP and rookie of the year as the Sparks improved from 10-24 to 20-14. She was also the 2013 MVP, 2020 Defensive Player of the Year and a five-time all-star selection. She was a member of the WNBA’s 20th and 25th anniversary teams and 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic gold-medal winning teams.
Parker missed the first eight games of the 2009 season after giving birth to her daughter Lailaa on May 13, 2009, returning to play July 5. Parker left the Sparks via free agency following the 2020 season, signing with the Sky, who she helped to the 2021 WNBA championship. The Sky will retire her No. 3 jersey later this season, which will make her the second WNBA player to have a jersey retired by two teams. The other is Lindsay Whalen, who had her No. 13 jersey retired by both the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx.
Parker played her final season with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023, helping them to the WNBA championship. The 39-year-old Parker will be a studio and game analyst for Prime Video’s NBA coverage beginning this fall and lead the streaming service’s expanded WNBA coverage starting next season. She was a game and studio analyst for TNT’s NBA coverage from 2018 until its contract ended earlier this year.
“I’m extremely humbled to have No. 3 up there amongst the greats, and I don’t take that for granted. I do not take that for granted at all,” Parker said. “I say thank you for this celebration. It means the world to me. The biggest thing is to always have a foundation in the little things. And this jersey going up in the rafters is no different. They say athletes have two deaths, one being when your career ends” She continues, “But I look at it as two lives. It’s never easy to put the ball down and move on from your first love but to simplify what I learned throughout my career here in L.A., through basketball, through it all, is what I’m going to carry to the next phase of life, which is joy.
“I choose to enjoy the big and the small moments. So I’m grateful for those ping pong balls all the way back in 2008 putting me in the purple and gold. But I was wrong. L.A. isn’t just about ball for me anymore. It’s now where we call home and we will forever call home. So thank you so much. I love you all. I’m so appreciative and I can’t believe it.”