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Candace Parker on Potential WNBA Retirement: 'I Don't Know What the Future Holds'
May 6, 2022
As she enters her 15th WNBA season, Chicago Sky star center Candace Parker knows that the end of her career is on the horizon.
Parker recently told Kristen Ledlow on WNBA Weekly that she is open to the possibility of retiring after this year.
"That is how I'm entering the season," Parker said, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou. "I mean, I don't know, I don't know what the future holds. I know my contract is up after this year. And there will be decisions to be made."
Parker signed with the Sky ahead of last season and helped lead the team to its first WNBA title in franchise history. The Chicago native said she was "ready and really thinking about" retiring after last year's title run, but her daughter convinced her to stick around for at least one more year.
A two-time MVP and future Hall of Famer, Parker is regarded as one of the best WNBA players of all time. She has also added to her work off the court as a media personality and basketball analyst. Parker explained that she has reached a point in her basketball career when the preparation is harder than the actual games.
"I'm game for playing five, six more WNBA seasons if I could literally have an easy button of getting in shape. It's the easy button, that's the problem," Parker said. "It's the being in the studio, which I love, but then waking up in the morning and working out before going on air. It's the travel. It's the offseason."
Parker continued, "So I think the first workout that I did the end of October, I was like, 'Yeah, I really might retire.' That's how close I was. I was literally looking at my exercise bike and I was just like, 'Yeah, that might have been a good time to retire. I don't want to do this.'"
The Sky are geared up for another potential title run with Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Finals MVP Kahleah Copper returning, plus the addition of 2019 Finals MVP Emma Meesseman over the offseason. Chicago is hosting Parker's former team, the Los Angeles Sparks, in Friday's season opener.