A jersey retired by two teams said all it could about the legend of Candace Parker. 3 teams, 3 championships– the first ever to do so. She is someone whom Caitlin Clark “grew up a fan of” and someone whom the Chicago Sky HC once called a “basketball savant.” But while her 16 years at W were ideal, her retirement wasn’t. Was it truly the farewell she deserved?

When Tyler Marsh committed to the Sky, one of his biggest inspirations was none other than Candace Parker. She was the one who guided him through the decision to accept the position. So when the Sky decided to honor Parker by raising her retired No. 3 jersey to the rafters of Wintrust Arena alongside the team’s championship banner she helped the Sky win in 2021, Marsh couldn’t help but shower the praise the legend deserved for sailing through adversities.

“I think that she sets a standard for herself to be great, to be excellent, and she doesn’t accept anything less than that,” he shared in a pregame press conference when asked about the things about Parker’s routine that stood out to him. “I think that with the injuries that she sustained, you know, in the latter part of her career when she was with us in Vegas… I think that one thing that led to her retirement was just the fact that she couldn’t be who she wanted to be anymore.”

Well, that’s reality. Parker has had about 14 surgeries across her 16 years at W. But she never really backed off until she knew that her body couldn’t take it anymore. And that came after the 2023 season, when she was part of LA’s roster and was limited to just 18 games due to a foot injury.

“This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating,” Parker wrote in her retirement post on Instagram. “It’s no fun playing in pain (10 surgeries in my career), it’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only… it’s no fun hearing ‘she isn’t the same’ when I know why, it’s no fun accepting the fact you need surgery AGAIN.”

So, while the competitor in her wanted one more, as she promised, she would never cheat the game, she didn’t, and signed off as the first player to win a championship with three different franchises. And the Sky, one of those franchises, has been eagerly anticipating replicating a similar year since 2022.

So, when Marsh added, “And so, the impact that she has…had on and off the court, to me, is inspiring no matter who you are, no matter the age, no matter the sport, no matter the gender.” The president of Adidas Women’s Basketball and a lead broadcaster in the women’s game has retired from the WNBA, and no one could deny how she shaped the sport.

And of course, there’s a reason Aces head coach and her former coach Becky Hammon called her, “There’s only one Candace Parker. One of one,” last year during her retirement post. She showed that versatility was an advantage and not a flaw in the W. And now, that position she defined, the point forward, is the driving force for women’s pro league.

But… what comes after a career like that??

When Parker put down the ball and transitioned to retirement life, she explained it as “really scary.” But the president of Adidas Women’s Basketball and a lead broadcaster in the women’s game hasn’t really strayed far from the W. Be it giving opinions or showering support to players across the league, she’s spot on.

But she’s not done yet. Even now she’s sowing seeds of the W in her son. “We watched WNBA all the time… like it’s on television constantly… My son was so surprised when he found out I played in the WNBA… So the last week or so we’ve been watching YouTube,” she shared recently while revealing that her wife was pregnant with him when she played at Chicago.

Now… It’s a whole lot of new memories with her son, as the Sky’s recent move to retire Parker’s jersey makes her only the second W player to get her jersey number retired by two different WNBA teams — Sky and LA, who did it earlier this summer as Parker helped them win the 2016 championship. The only other player is Lindsay Whalen, who had it with both Connecticut and Minnesota. So yes, while the Sky’s dream to make it to the playoffs has ended again this season, the team decided to make 2025 memorable with the help of CP yet again.