All-time WNBA great Candace Parker announced on Instagram that she will be signing with the Las Vegas Aces. Following last week’s Dearica Hamby trade, the defending champions had the opportunity to make a major addition in free agency, and they cashed in, bringing Ace to the Aces. Parker heads to Sin City after having spent the past two years with her hometown Chicago Sky, which followed 13 campaigns leading the Los Angeles Sparks.
Free agent Candace Parker announces on her Instagram she will be signing with the Las Vegas Aces. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/pCrGgj1pFV
— Mitchell Hansen (@M_Hansen13) January 28, 2023
Parker, 36, is one of the most accomplished players in WNBA history. Despite being in the second half of her thirties, Parker is as sharp as ever, making up for her diminished athleticism with one of the strongest basketball IQs the game has ever seen. She was named to the All-WNBA First Team in 2022—her 15th season in the league—just as she was named to the All-WNBA First Team in 2008, which was her first season in the league.
Drafted first overall by Los Angeles in 2008, Parker wasted no time announcing herself as an elite professional basketball player. She became the only person in league history to be named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season, averaging 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals on sterling efficiency. She collected her second WNBA MVP award in 2013, the same year she took home All-Star Game MVP honors.
Parker is a two-time champion. She won her first title with Los Angeles in 2016, earning Finals MVP for her stellar performance against the Minnesota Lynx. After 13 years with the Sparks, Parker signed with Chicago ahead of the 2021 season. In her first season with the Sky, she earned ring number two, helping her hometown team defeat Phoenix in four games.
Parker has been named to the All-WNBA First Team seven times and All-WNBA Second Team three times. In addition, the University of Tennessee alum has earned two All-Defensive Second Team nods. In 2020, her final season with the Sparks, she was named Defensive Player of the Year.
The power forward’s sustained excellence means she is all over the league’s all-time leaderboards. Parker is 10th in WNBA history in points scored, third in rebounds, fifth in blocks, eighth in assists, and ninth in made field goals.
Parker will turn 37 before the 2023 season begins. She averaged 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals in her second season with the Sky in 2022.
