Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. She was the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft and is the younger sister of former NBA player Anthony Parker. In high school, she won the 2003 and 2004 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year awards, becoming the only female to receive the award twice.
Parker mainly plays forward but has also played center and guard. She was the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first to dunk twice in a college game on March 19, 2006. She also dunked in a WNBA game on June 22, 2008. Parker led the Tennessee Lady Vols to two consecutive national championships, earning Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors both times. Her achievements include a 2016 WNBA championship, two WNBA MVP Awards (2008, 2013), WNBA Finals MVP (2016), WNBA All-Star Game MVP (2013), two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012), and WNBA Rookie of the Year (2008). She was the first player to win Rookie of the Year and WNBA MVP in the same season and has been selected to six All-WNBA teams and three All-Star teams.
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