Candace Parker has always said she won’t cheat the game in regards to when her storied basketball career will eventually come to a close.
The Lady Vols legend has at least one more season before that happens, though. Parker, who is a free agent, is finalizing a one-year deal to return to the Las Vegas Aces, Winsidr’s Rachel Galligan reported Wednesday. The three-time WNBA champion will play her 17th season in the league with the back-to-back WNBA champions.
Parker was sidelined during the second half the 2023 season, her first with the Aces, due to a fracture in her foot that she had surgery on in July. Parker, 37, helped the Aces to a 21-2 start to the season, averaging 9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals, but couldn’t play in Las Vegas’ historic run to a second straight WNBA Championship. Nevertheless, she added a third WNBA title to her resume and became the only WNBA player to win a championship with three different franchises.
Parker won her first in 2016 with the Los Angeles Sparks, the franchise that drafted her No. 1 overall in 2008. The second came with her hometown Chicago Sky when she joined them in 2021.
Parker’s return was dependent on her foot healing after playing on an injured left foot in 2023 before her surgery. Parker played through the pain until she injured her right ankle and Achilles tendon. She got an MRI on her left foot, too, according to the Associated Press, and discovered it was 89% fractured.
“I’ll weigh my options. If I feel really, really good then I’ll play,” Parker told the AP in November. “That’s a big if. I’ve got to get my foot right. My foot was really bad last year. I don’t want to cheat the game or cheat myself.”
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Parker has won two WNBA MVP awards, WNBA Finals MVP, WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and 10 All-WNBA selections. She is the only player in league history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, and is the first to eclipse 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds and 1,500 assists in her career. She was also the first WNBA player to record multiple triple-doubles in her career.
Parker is one of the greatest players to put on a Lady Vols jersey, and her name is still all over the Tennessee record book. She’s one of six Lady Vols to have her jersey retired.
She’s the only player in program history to surpass 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 200 blocks – and she did it in three seasons. Her 275 career blocks stood as the program record until Tamari Key eclipsed that number in 2022. Parker played for Pat Summitt from 2004-08 and won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2007 and 2008, the last time Tennessee made it to the Final Four or won a national title.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Candace Parker expected to return to Las Vegas Aces on one-year deal
