Candace Parker is Retiring!

 She announced Sunday on social media:

In 2021, after 13 seasons with L.A., Parker returned to Chicago as a veteran superstar. With teammates Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Kahleah Copper, she helped win the franchise’s first WNBA championship and the only championship by a Chicago professional sports team since 2016.

And the city showed up to watch her do it. For Games 3 and 4 of the 2021 WNBA Finals at Wintrust Arena, a sellout crowd of 10,387 was in attendance to watch the Sky defeat Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury.

Last summer, I wrote about how Chicagoans view the city as a basketball mecca. Parker represents that proud love and legacy.

“She’s the original Caitlin Clark. CP is Jordan and Caitlin is LeBron in terms of visibility,” Marquee Sports Sky reporter Karli Bell told me. “Candace Parker is the epitome of what a women’s Chicago basketball player is. She had a ferocity, intensity, and grit that represented the city of Chicago on such a level that everyone who was playing basketball at that time really wanted to emulate it.”