Las Vegas Aces star Candace Parker has announced her retirement from basketball following a distinguished 16-year professional career.
The two-time Olympic champion, regarded as one of the WNBA’s finest players in history, signed a new deal with the Las Vegas Aces in February.
Parker, 38, was drafted as the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2008 WNBA draft – and was a vital member of the United States teams that clinched Olympic gold in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
She has won three WNBA championships – with the Sparks in 2016, then with the Chicago Sky in 2021, and most recently with the Las Vegas Aces last year.
She took to Instagram on Sunday to declare her retirement, saying “I’m retiring.
“I pledged to never shortchange the game and to leave it in a better state than when I entered.
“While the competitor in me always yearns for one more game, the time has come. My heart and body were aware, but my mind needed time to come to terms with it.
“I always envisioned exiting the court without fanfare or spectacle, just quietly alongside my loved ones.
“In what was intended to be my final game, I walked off the court with my daughter, concluding the journey as it had begun with her.”
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