Queer WNBA Icon, Candace Parker, Announces Retirement

Candace Parker, queer WNBA icon, has announced her retirement. 

Candace Parker is one of the best WNBA basketball players of all time. Over her 16 seasons of professional basketball, she won three WNBA championships, 2 WNBA MVP awards, and 7 WNBA All-Star awards. Her accolades have built her a legacy as one of the greats. 

In a heartfelt Instagram announcement, Parker announced her retirement. She writes, “I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it. The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it’s time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed more time to accept it.” 

Throughout Parker’s WNBA career, she’s suffered many injuries, with this year marking her 10th foot surgery through her 16-year career. She had to miss the second half of the 2023 season due to her injury and notes she can’t continue “playing in pain.”

Parker is a mother of two with her wife, Anna Petrakova. She mentions her daughter in her retirement post, saying “I always wanted to talk off the court with no parade or tour, just privately with the ones I love. What now was my last game, I walked off the court with my daughter. I ended the journey just as I started it, with her.”

Though she is retired, her presence in the basketball world will remain strong. She shares her plans for the future saying, “This is the beginning… I’m attacking business, private equity, ownership (I will own both a NBA & WNBA team), broadcasting, production, boardrooms, beach volleyball, dominoes (sorry babe it’s going to get more real) with the same intensity & focus I did basketball.” 

Throughout her 16 years with the WNBA, Candace Parker has cemented herself as a legend. In her retirement, she’ll get more time with her family and focus on “loving the game differently.”

Photo courtesy of social media