Snubbed 7 Years Back, WNBA Veteran Candace Parker Holds The Grudge in Her Latest Documentary ?Unapologetic?

The first woman to slam dunk in Illinois state history is now premiering as ‘Unapologetic’. The ESPN Film’s latest documentary showcases Candace Parker’s story through her career in basketball. It has also captured other aspects of the WNBA Champion’s life that helped mold her potential as a young athlete. But with grace and glory, Candace Parker makes no bones about the grudge she holds, and rightly so.

Parker’s documentary was released 19 years after she became the first woman to slam dunk at McDonald’s All-American Game. Having a stellar career in both high school and college, Candace made her mark as a resilient athlete. Apart from her professional feats, the documentary delves deep into her family life.

Candace Parker: “I was mad at my time”

On their official X account, ESPN posted a video with Parker’s quote, “I remember being angry. I remember being upset. I put miles on my body and I did all this extra media stuff … I was mad at my time I spent away from my family,” with the title – “@Candace_Parker on not making the 2016 USA Olympic team.”

In the post, Parker talks about her time in 2016 when she went to Spain and was not admitted to that year’s Olympic Team: “Going in 2016, USA Basketball was having a tour. They were going to Spain, and I was like okay, I’m going to take time away from my family and go on this trip, and, on the trip, I dominated, like I think I had a couple of triple-doubles on the trip like, I remember Geno coming up to me and be like ‘are you trying to be the best player in the world?’ like I remember him saying that.”

At the time many women basketball fans were left in shock as the legend was not included in the US Olympic roster. One of the headlines then read – ‘Leaving Candace Parker off Rio Team is a bad call by USA Basketball’.

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Apart from recalling the tough time she had to face miles away from home, Parker revealed many unsaid and unknown aspects of her life.

Time away from family in 2016

2016 was indeed a very interesting year for Parker as she and her Sparks teammate, both led their team to a Finals 5-game win over Minnesota Lynx. Moreover, that year, Parker was named the finals MVP as she averaged 17.2 points per game in the series ( a team-high score).

However, these achievements came from the personal sacrifices that Parker had to make. Motherhood has always been a significant aspect of Parker’s life. In the documentary, she gets upset remembering the time she had to spend attending training camps and away from her daughter.

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This period of professional triumph over personal sacrifice hit Parker hard. And it was a let down in some portions, given her not being included in the 2016 Olympics team. The moment affected her very badly. Years later, she would even reject an invitation to the Tokyo Olympics.