Candace Parker has all the time carried Chicago together with her. Monday evening, Chicago carried her again, elevating her No. 3 jersey into the rafters at Wintrust Area and giving one of many recreation’s most completed gamers a everlasting place within the metropolis’s sports activities historical past.
The Chicago Sky honored Parker at halftime of their matchup with the Las Vegas Aces, her final WNBA workforce. Household, pals, and former teammates crammed the sector. Her highschool coach Andy Nussbaum stood courtside, nonetheless in contact with Parker 20 years after guiding her to 2 state titles at Naperville (In poor health.) Central. Fellow Chicago natives Widespread and Jennifer Hudson joined the celebration, whereas Derrick Rose despatched in a video tribute.
“My coronary heart will all the time belong to the state of Illinois, town of Naperville and town of Chicago,” Parker advised the group. “It’s not simply the place I’m from, it’s the core of who I’m.”
A Championship That Modified the Metropolis
Parker solely spent two seasons with the Sky, however the affect was seismic. She signed in 2021 after 13 years with the Los Angeles Sparks and instantly delivered Chicago’s first WNBA championship.
Her presence gave the Sky credibility, management, and resilience in a postseason run that is still town’s lone skilled sports activities championship because the Cubs’ 2016 World Collection. Parker averaged 13.8 factors and a couple of.1 steals that postseason, anchoring Chicago alongside Finals MVP Kahleah Copper.
“I grew up within the ’90s … eat at Portillo’s, eat at Giordano’s, go to Grant Park in June as a result of the Bulls had been going to win the championship,” Parker mentioned. “To then be part of bringing a championship to Chicago is surreal. To be from right here to win a championship right here, it’s nothing prefer it.”
Candace Parker will get a standing ovation in her hometown forward of her jersey retirement with the @chicagosky pic.twitter.com/8WeNftGGtn
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 26, 2025
Copper, now with the Phoenix Mercury, made the cross-country journey only for the ceremony.
“I wouldn’t have missed this present day for something. For actual, for actual,” she mentioned, leaving instantly afterward to rejoin her workforce for a Tuesday evening recreation in Los Angeles.
Parker paid tribute to these bonds together with her apparel. The denims she wore featured pictures of her 2021 Sky teammates — a reminder that her brief stint in Chicago was constructed on connection as a lot as outcomes.
From Naperville to the Corridor of Fame
Parker’s path again residence was a long time within the making. At Naperville Central, she grew to become the primary participant to have his or her quantity retired, main the Redhawks to 2 state titles. Nussbaum, her coach then and a presence at her jersey retirement, mentioned her management was as defining as her expertise.
“I believe Candace has all the time been, though she’s had all types of particular person accomplishments, she’s all the time been a workforce participant,” Nussbaum mentioned. “And that goes a protracted option to successful a championship.”
From there, Parker starred at Tennessee, successful two nationwide championships underneath legendary coach Pat Summitt. Drafted No. 1 total in 2008, she received each Rookie of the Yr and MVP that season with the Sparks — the one participant in league historical past to take action.
Congratulations Candace Parker in your jersey retirement with the @chicagosky 🙌
From 2021-2022 with the Sky, Parker grew to become a Champion (2021), 2x All-Star, All-WNBA First Workforce Member (2022) and he or she holds franchise information in playoffs for many double-doubles, BLKS and REBS. pic.twitter.com/43GZCNBpkp
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 26, 2025
She spent 13 years in Los Angeles, claiming two MVPs, seven All-Star choices and her first WNBA title in 2016. Later, in 2023, she added a 3rd ring with the Las Vegas Aces, becoming a member of shut buddy Chelsea Grey earlier than accidents in the end ended her taking part in profession.
“She’s received on each workforce she performed on,” Chicago heart Elizabeth Williams mentioned. “Candace is a legend in each sense of the phrase.”
Candace Parker Created a Lasting Legacy
The Sky’s tribute was full of reminders that Parker’s legacy is broader than numbers. She retires with profession averages of 16.4 factors, 8.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists. However past the stats, she modified what it meant to be a ahead within the girls’s recreation, mixing perimeter abilities with elite submit play.
“Candace is a basketball savant,” Sky head coach Tyler Marsh mentioned. “She’s a legend on this league, a legend on this metropolis.”
Her affect continues in her roles off the courtroom. She has grow to be a fixture on TNT’s NBA broadcasts, bridging males’s and ladies’s basketball with equal authority. She additionally serves as president of girls’s basketball for Adidas, shaping the way forward for the game by way of one among its most seen world manufacturers. Later this yr, she’ll launch her e book, The Can-Do Mindset: The right way to Domesticate Resilience, Observe Your Coronary heart, and Struggle for Your Passions.
However for Parker, the second of seeing her No. 3 lifted into the rafters was about Chicago.
“Town is so particular to me,” she mentioned. “I wasn’t drafted right here … however by some means I discovered my manner again right here, and to play right here was an honor. To see the jersey go into the rafters, it means a lot. It actually does.”
Her quantity now joins Allie Quigley’s No. 14 as the one two retired by the Sky. Parker additionally has her No. 3 retired by the Sparks, making her simply the second WNBA participant honored by a number of groups.
For many who have adopted her journey since Naperville, Monday evening was a fruits.
“Candace Parker is a legend, future hall-of-famer, and synonymous with Illinois basketball,” Sky CEO and President Adam Fox mentioned. “We’re honored to retire her jersey and rejoice her unbelievable legacy as a Chicago Sky participant.”
Because the jersey rose, Parker glanced up together with her household close by, pals and former teammates cheering, and the sector filled with followers who noticed her not solely as a champion, however as one among their very own.
Chicago’s personal now has a spot of her personal in Chicago.
