Basketball-Three-times WNBA champion Parker retires

The twice most valuable player Parker won the trophy with the Las Vegas Aces last year but was sidelined for much of the season after undergoing surgery on her foot. "I promised I'd never cheat the game & that I'd leave it in a better place than I came into it.

Seven-times All-Star Candace Parker called time on her career on Sunday, stepping away from the game after becoming the first to win the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals with three different teams. The twice most valuable player Parker won the trophy with the Las Vegas Aces last year but was sidelined for much of the season after undergoing surgery on her foot.

"I promised I'd never cheat the game & that I'd leave it in a better place than I came into it. The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it's time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it," Parker wrote on Instagram. The first overall pick in the 2008 draft led the Los Angeles Sparks to the playoffs 11 times, winning the championship in 2016, before a short stint with the Chicago Sky to win the title in 2021.

The future Hall of Famer won Olympic gold with the United States twice and re-signed with the Aces in February but said that her foot was not "cooperating" in the off-season. "It's no fun knowing what you could do, if only," said Parker.

"I'm grateful that for 16 years I PLAYED A GAME for a living & DESPITE all the injuries, I hooped."

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