As Chicago Sky coach James Wade conducted exit meetings with each of his players after the 2020 WNBA season, he noticed a theme in their answers about what it would take to get the team to the next level.
The Sky had made the playoffs for the second consecutive year but got stuck in another single-elimination game, ending in a first-round exit. Wade, who is also the team’s general manager, heard his players talk about wanting to add a player with experience, someone who knew how to win and what extra intangibles it takes to go from playoff team to championship contender.
It was the kind of player that sounded a lot like Candace Parker.
So Wade went all-in with his pursuit of Parker during free agency. He flew to Atlanta for an in-person pitch, letting her know she was the Sky’s top priority.
It all led to Monday, when the Sky officially announced Parker will play in Chicago next season. Terms of the deal were not released.
Parker grew up in Naperville and was named Ms. Basketball in Illinois three times at Naperville Central before becoming a two-time WNBA MVP and Finals MVP in 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks.
“Chicago is where my family raised me; where I first learned the game of basketball; and where I first fell in love with this orange ball,” Parker said in a statement. “I am excited to continue the next chapter of my career where it all began. To my new teammates, my new organization, and my new fans: I’m home.”
Wade did not mince words when discussing the significance of Parker joining the Sky, calling it the biggest free-agent signing not only in team history, but also in WNBA history.
“It’s been hard to sleep,” Wade said with a laugh. “You think about all the talent that we have and (it) is very promising. We have great players, we have great young players, we have great veterans. But Candace Parker is a once-in-a-generation-type player.
“The fact that she’s a leader, Finals MVP, (league) MVP, all these things, the fact that she’s won on every level consistently. Every team doesn’t have that. Really nobody has ever signed a free agent like this. For us to be the team that has the biggest free-agency signing in league history is special. It means that our players are doing something right, our organization is doing something right.”
Parker instantly transforms the Sky into one of the favorites to win the WNBA championship next season. She will join a loaded starting lineup that includes Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields. The Sky also have a strong group of promising young players such as Azura Stevens, Gabby Williams and Kahleah Copper.
During the last few seasons, the Sky have had little trouble scoring (fourth in offense in 2020, second in 2019), but they have struggled defensively (eighth in 2020, ninth in 2019).
Adding the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year in Parker should be a perfect fit. After injuries derailed her 2019 season, Parker, 34, was back to her old form in her 13th season, averaging 14.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 51% from the field to finish third in MVP voting.
“The majority of people that are not from this area, they know she was a big star in high school, they know she was as big as they come, but they didn’t experience it,” Wade said. “To actually be here in Chicago and to go through what Chicagoans have been through since Michael Jordan stepped away … since the injuries to Derrick Rose, to actually have this happen to women’s basketball here, a place that’s been a great hotbed for women’s talent, to have your biggest star come back home and say, ‘I’m going to try to lead you to the promised land’ — it’s something special.
“We are aware that she’s going to make us a much better team. We expect for her to come in and just be herself and do everything that she’s done over the 13 years that she’s been in the league. We know that she’s going to be really good in a Sky uniform. We just expect great things. And we’re excited as anyone because it says a lot about our organization that she would choose us.”
