candace parker

b. 1986

Naperville, Illinois

Basketball player, Olympian

Candace Parker is the current Forward/Center for the Chicago Sky, past Forward for the Los Angeles Sparks, #1 draft pick in 2008, and two-time NCAA champion. Light work.

Her career kicked off in high school, where she won back-to-back championships at Naperville Central, was named USA Today High School Player of the Year (twice), Naismith Prep Player of the Year, and Gatorade Female Basketball Player of the Year (twice). The most fun fact of her high school era is winning the McDonald's All-American Game Dunk Contest, beating well-known current NBA players, and making her the first woman to win the award.

Parker then joined the Lady Vols at Tennessee, where she led the team to back-to-back NCAA championships and was the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game.

After Tennessee, she went #1 in the 2008 Draft and joined fellow first-time dunker Lisa Leslie on the Los Angeles Sparks. In her first year, Parker won Rookie of the Year, MVP, and an Olympic gold in Beijing. In 2016, she led the Sparks to another championship, kicking off a new era of Spark dominance in the WNBA. Again, light work.

In 2021, she returned to Illinois and joined the Chicago Sky. That same year, she brought the franchise its first championship, alongside heavy hitters like Kahleah Copper

Parker is also an analyst and commentator on NBA on TNT.

Work cited: "About Candace." Candace Parker, https://candaceparker.com/about/.