SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Candace Parker arrived under the impression she was in for two hours of press at Toca Madera in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday night, July 19, during 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend. The three-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and seven-time All-Star will always show up for basketball — still giving to the game, even after she’d given every ounce of herself to push it forward for nearly two decades and had every excuse to walk away.
Instead, Parker walked through the door at Toca Madera and saw her dearest family (biological and basketball), friends, and peers all gathered to throw her a surprise “Crowning ACE” adidas-sponsored retirement party. She beamed and hugged everyone while wiping tears from her cheeks.
The perpetual giver was the recipient, at last.
Parker announced her retirement in April after 16 seasons, most recently with the Las Vegas Aces. It was a relatively quiet end to a booming career — until Parker was announced as the President of adidas Women’s Basketball on May 8. The work of a disruptor is never over.
“I didn’t want millions of people in the stands [for a farewell tour],” Parker told Dime. “I didn’t want to do the parade because I would cry and because it would be emotional. But I’m super grateful for the people who have been a part of this. I’m humbled by it. I’m blown away. I’m the ‘moment’ person. Sometimes, my wife will get mad at me because I’ll just cry in moments because they’re so special, and this was super special. I had no idea. I was obviously reluctant to be celebrated, but I’m so grateful that the people in my circle planned this and surprised me. I’m still overwhelmed by it.”
She added, “They definitely forced me to take the flowers.”
After the Los Angeles Sparks drafted Parker No. 1 overall in 2008, she played her first WNBA game here in Phoenix, as noted by her mother, Sarah Parker, to emphasize the full-circle nature of the evening. The Lady Vols legend had posted a casual 34 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists in her debut — foreshadowing becoming the first-ever WNBA player to win Rookie Of The Year and MVP in the same season and growing into an omnipresent force every season.
The list of Parker’s immortal accolades and universal influence on the court is exhaustive — though adidas successfully summarized it on a complimentary purple-and-white tee reading, “SHE DID. SO WE CAN.” But the sentiments expressed by those personally touched by her impact is a worthier list, anyway.
For roughly an hour, Parker sat on stage while 12 people, one by one, got up to say it all out loud. A visibly emotional Parker often reached for tissues, burst into laughter, and reciprocated their love.
“You really thought we were just gonna let you ride off into the sunset?” said Justine Brown, her best friend of 18 years and VP of Creative Development & Talent Relations at TOGETHXR.
“I am proof that you’re leaving the game better than you found it,” said Las Vegas Aces perennial All-Star Chelsea Gray, who won two WNBA titles with Parker in LA (2016) and Vegas (’23), rattling off 6’5 women being guards and high school girls dunking as tangible examples of what “changed because Candace came into the league.” (For the uninitiated, Parker is the first-ever women’s college player to dunk in the NCAA and second-ever in the WNBA behind Lisa Leslie.)
“I’m older than you, but I can look at you and tell you [that] you inspired me as well,” said recently retired 13-time All-Star and four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird, who mostly competed against Parker but said she couldn’t help but love her after becoming UMMC Ekaterinburg teammates in Russia.
“I don’t even know what I did in a past life to deserve being a couple of feet away from you,” said Zack Miller, Parker’s WME agent.
“There will never be another you,” said Phoenix Mercury All-Star guard Kahleah Copper, who also thanked Parker for “taking me under your wing” as teammates in Chicago, where they won the WNBA title in 2021.
“Part of me is sad I wasn’t born earlier,” said reigning WNBA Rookie Of The Year Aliyah Boston, who cried when explaining how meaningful it is to have someone like Parker as a role model.
And then, it was time to hear from Anna Petrakova, her wife of five years, and Lailaa, her 15-year-old daughter. Parker had mostly kept it together throughout the night, but she wept as Lailaa struggled to get her sentences out — their unspoken, unshakable bond heavily palpable. Like her mom, she pushed through discomfort and saw her message through, citing Parker telling her that “women can do everything” as the reason “I want to work harder in everything.” Lailaa sat on Parker’s lap to watch the adidas Basketball tribute video, which Lailaa narrated.
This tribute had been in the works for weeks, and Parker was oblivious.
“It’s all about respect,” Eric Wise, global GM of adidas Basketball, told Dime. “We preach family at adidas Basketball, and this is just putting our actions where our words are. It’s consistency. It’s not just a PR announcement. It’s not just what we’re doing tonight. This is who she is and how we help usher in [her next chapter].”
Parker repeatedly grinned, shook her head, and said, “I can’t believe I got got!” After a room-wide toast led by Brown, Parker asked for the mic. They may have gotten one over on her, but Parker always gets the final word. Parker intended to “keep it short,” but she’s never abided by half measures, so why start now? Instead, she delivered a masterpiece of a 10-minute speech with such effortless composure that it served as one more reminder that Parker is one-of-one.
“It took my head a couple of months to catch up with what my heart and my body knew — that it was time to move on from the game. I think it’s the hardest thing, at this current time, I’ve ever had to do,” Parker began, adding, “I am so grateful for where the game is right now. […] I’m just so proud of this generation of athletes who are unapologetic, that take up space, that are demanding what’s rightfully ours.”
This night was deservedly hers.