One veteran stood by Caitlin Clark‘s side amid the controversy surrounding whether or not she deserved all the fame she received more than those who came before her. One of the generational talents that maybe paved the way for the arrival of the “Iowa sensation” was Candace Parker.
Parker, however, supported the Fever rookie’s fame despite all the talk about senior players being envious. She can’t believe she missed out on one thing, though, prior to the league’s meteoric rise to fame. Thanks to Caitlin Clark and all of the players in the league, Candace Parker is pleased with where the W stands at the moment.
She participated in seven All-Star Games, won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, was a three-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA MVP, and the MVP of the 2016 Finals.
Parker’s legendary 16-season WNBA career came to an end in April 2024 when she announced her retirement from professional basketball.
Candace Parker speaks about missing out on WNBA boom
Given the present WNBA surge, Parker appeared to (half-jokingly) wish that her career had started a little later. She said : “I’m pissed that they started chartering [flights] the year I retired, I’m not gonna lie,” “All of us feel a responsibility and a part of the growth that’s happening right now. I mean, the league was hard for so many years, and that’s what I said when I retired: ‘I hope that it’s not too hard for the next [generation]. Not so difficult.”
“More so, I’m mad because I’m thinking of how much better I could have been if I had an offseason, if I didn’t have to go overseas, and I could have put weight on, and I could have bulked up in the weight room,” “But I also look at the doors that are opening now, and where the sport is… I work with a lot of angry old heads. I don’t want to be the angry old head.
“So I’m not gonna be, you know, Shaq coming in, like ‘Oh, man up!’ I’m not gonna be that. I’m gonna be the person where I’m happy where it’s at,”
Candace Parker, today, talked about how sometimes she gets mad with the fact that she couldn’t enjoy this stage of the league, with the charter flights, practice facilities, and having offseason, without having to play overseas. that it could have made her a better player.
Full… pic.twitter.com/C9QmHUIrf4
— LEO (@the22_LEO) November 7, 2024
After hearing this, Shaq, Parker’s NBA coworker on TNT, will likely question why he had to catch a stray.
Candace Parker criticizes networks for burying women's sports for many years. (via @bbgoriginals)
"The first time they put the Women's NCAA game on ABC was the first year that Caitlin Clark made the championship game. Are you surprised that the viewership was up? Are you… pic.twitter.com/Mt4AiI8tuZ
— WNBACentral (@TheWCentral) November 7, 2024