Chicago Mayor Lori Lighftoot attended the Zoom videoconference Tuesday morning to welcome Candace Parker to town, where she will play for WNBA heaven next season after finishing the first 13 Has played seasons of her career with the LA Sparks.
« This is really a great day for the city of Chicago and a day to celebrate, » said Lightfoot, noting that she’s been a Parker fan since seeing her at a tournament for nearby Naperville Central High School had been watching. « You will love it here and we will definitely love you again. »
The theme of Parker’s one hour introductory virtual news conference: It wasn’t the sparks, it was them.
The two-time WNBA MVP, an unrestricted freelance agent this off-season, said she had a choice between staying in LA – where she will continue to live through the winter (the WNBA off-season) – or returning to her roots in the area « Chicagoland ».
She and all-star point guard Chelsea Gray both decided to leave the Sparks free. Gray signed with the Las Vegas Aces on Monday. The Sparks will add point guard Erica Wheeler, the former Indiana Fever All-Star, who has agreed to a multi-year contract. They will also keep former league MVP Nneka Ogwumike who has agreed to a multi-year deal.
But they will lose Parker, whom Sky coach James Wade described on Tuesday as « the talent of the generation ».
« I’m so excited to be home and I say that with all my heart, » said Parker. « I didn’t know how great the Chicagoland area is with basketball in general until I went out into the world and saw how special and how much they embraced their native talent.
“When this opportunity arose to come home and play in front of my family and friends, and play for a fantastic organization like Chicago Sky, it was a tough decision, but in the end I am very excited and proud to be able to come home. “
Parker said her grandmother FaceTimed picked her up the morning after she heard Parker’s decision and held up a copy of the newspaper to express her excitement at having the opportunity to attend Parker’s games.
She spoke of the possibility that her daughter Lailaa might have to visit some of the same gyms and playgrounds Parker used to play as a teenager. Parker noticed how excited her childhood best friend was that her sons and Lailaa could play together. She mentioned tweets welcoming her from the Bulls and Bears in Chicago – teams of which she is a lifelong supporter – were making her day.
She raved about the chocolate cake (and fish sandwich with cheese, jumbo chili cheese dog without onions, and chocolate cake milkshake) from Portillo, Chicago.
You have no idea what that means to me. I’ve always been a fan of the cops and being in the same town now just means more. THANK YOU https://t.co/5AWt28BoWH
« I left Naperville when I was 18 and now return at 35, » said Parker, who will celebrate her 35th birthday on April 19 before the WNBA season. « The lessons I learned are gone, brought me home and I really appreciate that.
« I really didn’t make this decision lightly, » continued Parker. « I followed my heart and I followed my passion and I think while COVID it really showed the importance of being with family and friends. »
Speaking from Atlanta, where she was due to work as an NBA analyst for TNT on Tuesday night, Parker spoke to NBA stars Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant about her experiences with freelance agencies.
“The biggest thing I’ve got from them is, ‘You have to follow your heart for what you want and what you want. Let all that other stuff take care of itself. »
She said she weighed the pros and cons, slept on it, and then felt confident making the decision to leave the sparks, although she still called the move « bittersweet. »
« It was Chicago or Los Angeles, (those) were my only two places I wanted to play, » she said. “I grew up when you finished what you started, and for 13 years I’ve felt like I gave the Sparks organization everything I had and they gave everything they had.
« And at this point, I feel like I am contractually an unrestricted free agent. I don’t go upset, I don’t let things be thrown or I’m upset or angry or request a deal, I go because I can go where I want by contract. And I can make that decision. Empowering the players is very important.
« I’m so grateful and happy to have played with the Sparks for such a great organization, » she added. “(CEO & Governor) Eric Holoman was fantastic in my tenure there too … so it’s difficult to leave. But I get the best of both worlds, I still live in LA in winter and come to Chi City in summer. »
In her 13 seasons with the Sparks, Parker won a WNBA title in 2016 when she was named Finals MVP. She was a five-time all-star. She posted career averages of 16.9 points and 8.6 rebounds. She was the only player in league history to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season as she was also the second player to dive into a WNBA game. Last season she was named Defensive Player of the League of the Year.
28-year-old Gray was All-Star three times in her five-year tenure with the Sparks. She is a 38.5% 3 point shooter who averaged 5.8 assists in the bubble last season.
On Tuesday afternoon, she reached the media via Zoom and said the aces would be a better fit for her and her family.
« It was hard to say goodbye, but it was also refreshing and exciting to say hello to something new, » said Gray. “You can only see the growth Vegas wanted, and I wanted to be on that journey.
« It wasn’t exactly what Vegas had that LA didn’t, » added Gray. “Was it exactly what I was about to participate in? What did I want to be a part of in the future? And so was my mindset. I viewed it as two separate entities and not really against. And I think when it came to an end I could see a lot more future and where I wanted to be with the aces. Pros and cons for aces, pros and cons for the sparks, and I definitely just felt for my future and how I felt for my family on and off the court, it just went with the aces perfectly. »
With Parker and Gray departing, the Sparks will bring on board Wheeler, a freelance agent who wrote a play in the Players Tribune explaining her decision to join Derek Fisher’s team.
Related articles
Spark to build Nneka Ogwumike after Candace Parker lost Chelsea Gray to a free hand
Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray are expected to leave Sparks in the vacant agency
Kobe Bryant’s legacy lives on through his teammates who are now coaches
The spark stars Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray and Nneka Ogwumike join the free agency
Sparks sign Te’a Cooper again
« This step is not about my not wanting to be in Indiana anymore, » she wrote, noting that she « will miss this place like crazy! »
But she wrote, « It’s about exploring new opportunities and seeing what it feels like to be on the West Coast. »
She said she wants to explore fashion and that she is excited about the idea of working with Ogwumike to create one of the most unstoppable pick and roll combinations in the W. »
After leaving Rutgers, the 5-foot-7 guard had brief stints with the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty before the Indiana Fever signed them in 2017 after their training camp. She started 25 games that season and resulted in assists she was her runner-up goalscorer. In 2019, when she became the first uncovered player in league history and became an All-Star, she was named an All-Star Game MVP.
We invite you to use our comment platform to have insightful conversations about problems in our community. Although we do not pre-check any comments, we reserve the right to remove any information or material that is illegal, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent, or otherwise objectionable to us all Disclose information necessary to meet legal, regulatory, or regulatory requirements. We can permanently block any user who abuses these terms.
If you see comments that you find offensive, use the « Mark as inappropriate » feature by hovering over the right side of the post and drag the indicated arrow down. Or contact our editors by email at [email protected]
–
