CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago Sky plan to retire Candace Parker’s No. 3 jersey later this year.
The WNBA team made the announcement Wednesday.
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A jersey retirement ceremony will be held during the Sky’s game against the Las Vegas Aces on August 25 at Wintrust Arena.
“Growing up in Naperville and playing on the courts with my brothers, while following Chicago teams like the Bulls, who were known for their winning spirit, I never dreamed that one day my jersey would be displayed by my hometown team,” Parker stated. “Returning to Chicago and helping to secure the city’s first WNBA championship was deeply meaningful. I am immensely thankful to the city, the supporters, and everyone who has been a part of my journey. Chicago shaped me, and it will forever be my home.”
The legendary women’s basketball player announced her retirement from the WNBA last year, bringing to a close the career of one of the sport’s top players and a major figure in the game for nearly 20 years.
Parker is among the most accomplished athletes in basketball, having won NCAA championships with Tennessee in 2007 and 2008 before being picked first in the 2008 WNBA draft. She secured titles with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016 (earning Finals MVP), with her Chicago hometown team, the Sky, in 2021, and with the Aces in 2023, making history as the first player to win championships with three different teams.
She was also a two-time league MVP (2008, 2013), a 10-time All-WNBA selection, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, a Defensive Player of the Year (2020) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2008, 2012).
Parker played 13 of her 16 WNBA seasons with the Sparks before the player out of Naperville, Illinois, signed with Chicago ahead of the 2021 season — a seismic move at the time in a league that had generally experienced little free agency movement. After two seasons with the Sky, Parker signed with the Aces.
Parker might have been one of the best scorers in league history — her five seasons averaging more than 20 points per game are tied for second all time — but her versatility as a forward with guard skills was the true trademark of her game.
She finished her WNBA career with 6,574 points (16.0 per game), 3,467 rebounds (8.5 per game), 1,634 assists (4.0 per game) and 619 blocks (1.5 per game) in 410 regular-season games — the only player in league history to rank top 10 in all of those categories.
Earlier in her career, Parker became the first WNBA player with multiple career triple-doubles and the first to dunk multiple times in the regular season.
Her fame began in high school, where she was the first girl to win the McDonald’s High School All American Dunk Contest. Her commitment to Tennessee was the first on ESPNews by a women’s player. After redshirting her freshman season because of a knee injury, Parker was a two-time Wooden Award winner and propelled the Lady Volunteers to back-to-back national titles — the program’s final championships under the late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt.
For decades, Parker’s popularity has transcended beyond the court, from signing endorsements with Adidas and Gatorade fresh out of college, to producing a documentary on Title IX, to joining the ownership group for the NWSL’s Angel City FC, to becoming a well-respected NBA analyst for TNT and NBA TV.
ESPN contributed to this report.
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