One of the toughest aspects of being an athlete is reaching that moment in their career when they must make a crucial decision—whether it’s leaving a team they’ve long called home or hanging up their boots to prepare for life after sports. For basketball legend Candace Parker, that moment came in 2020 when she left the Los Angeles Sparks.
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The three-time WNBA Champion departed the Sparks in 2020 after 12 long seasons, going on to join the Chicago Sky and later the Las Vegas Aces before retiring in 2024.
Still, her decision to leave La La Land weighs heavily on her heart, even years later. The 39-year-old spoke about it during a recent appearance on the No Offseason program.
The show hosts asked Parker whether she had anyone to confide in during that time. “My older brother Anthony is probably my moral compass,” she stated. “I think he’s the best human I’ve met in my entire life.” Family is clearly vital to Parker, as it should be for anyone in that position. Even with the support, she admitted that period of her life was exhausting.
“You know when you reach a point when you’re just exhausted?” asked Parker. “And whatever step you take, you know the next step has to be the right one. I’m a big believer in making a decision.”
Los Angeles isn’t for everybody. But Parker didn’t just find success in the City of Angels—she built a foundation. A home. Picking up and leaving the city that gave her everything must have hurt like hell. Fortunately, the seven-time All-Star had more than just her sibling in her corner.
“Obviously, I talked with my wife and my kids and my mom, and dad, and my family. I’m a big sleep-on-it decision maker. Sometimes you need time for your heart and your head to kind of match up and come to grips with something that you’re fighting,” Parker continued.
Speaking to someone who had gone through a similar experience was vital in Parker’s decision to leave. She revealed that she called up Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, as he could relate.
“I called up D-Wade. I talked to him about his decision to leave Miami,” she revealed. “And then he ended up back in Miami. Listen, you don’t know what your journey is going to be. You just make the best of it and make the best decision possible.”
Wade is so synonymous with Miami basketball that his departure in 2016—even if only for two seasons—was a gut punch to Heat fans. But unlike Wade, Parker never returned to Los Angeles. She never heard her name called one final time as a member of the Sparks, the team she carried on her back for over a decade.
It’s a shame, too. “I would have loved to stay in LA my entire career,” concluded Parker. Perhaps in another timeline, she gets her proper sendoff. It just wasn’t this one.
