Parker intends to return for 16th WNBA season

Candace Parker announced that she intends to play successful the 2023 WNBA season, her 16th successful the league, she told The Athletic connected Monday.

"Right now, yeah, I'm game," Parker, 36, told The Athletic connected a podcast published Wednesday. "Let's spot if my assemblage is this mode successful January, February, but I program to play, I program to travel back."

When asked going into the 2022 play if she assumed that would beryllium her last twelvemonth successful the league, Parker responded, "That is however I'm entering the season. I mean, I don't know, I don't cognize what the aboriginal holds. I cognize my declaration is up aft this year. And determination volition beryllium decisions to beryllium made."

"At the aforesaid clip past year, it was the reverse: I couldn't ideate lacing up shoes again," Parker told The Athletic connected Wednesday. "I couldn't ideate going done Game 27 connected the schedule. And past a power flipped successful February and I was acceptable to go."

The two-time WNBA MVP and league champion is coming disconnected her 2nd play with the Chicago Sky pursuing her storied vocation with the Los Angeles Sparks, wherever she was drafted No. 1 wide successful 2008. After winning Chicago's franchise-first rubric successful 2021, the Sky suffered a disappointing nonaccomplishment successful the WNBA semifinals to the Connecticut Sun.

"Losing past year, I was moving retired six days aft we lost," Parker said. "I conscionable wanted to vie astatine everything. My household knows -- dominoes, let's go, formation volleyball, let's go. That was my mentality, due to the fact that I hatred losing."

The erstwhile Tennessee fable has experienced a vocation renaissance successful caller years, averaging 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists successful Chicago past season. She was named an All-Star the past 2 years and earned a first-team All-WNBA bid successful 2022, the seventh of her career.

"I similar to instrumentality the offseason and instrumentality my time, but close present I don't cognize if I've dribbled my past shot connected the court," Parker said. "I deliberation I'm ace competitive. I privation to play astatine a precocious level and privation to prepare. I deliberation erstwhile you halt preparing, that's erstwhile you commencement cheating the game, and I don't ever privation to bash that."

The bulk of the Sky's 2022 core, including Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Azura Stevens and Emma Meesseman, are escaped agents this offseason, on with Parker.