New documentary looks deep into the life of Candace Parker
Several years into her professional career, people commented that Candace Parker had not yet won a WNBA Championship. Those doubters should have had more confidence in her. As of October, Parker became the first WNBA player to win championships with three different teams. Although her role with the Las Vegas Aces this year was more as sideline support—due to injury—she was on court for the first two: 2016 with the Los Angeles Sparks and 2021 with the Chicago Sky.
“My first championship was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever had to do in my career. It was a nine-year drought,” Parker told ESPN’s Elle Duncan at the espnW Ojai Summit held shortly after the Aces victory. “Coming from high school and college, the expectation was you win immediately.
“Chicago was that full circle moment where the people that watched me first pick up the ball got to watch us cut down the net,” she added. “In Vegas, it’s a completely different dynamic. … I was inspired by watching them. Being able to help any way I could.”
Over the course of Parker’s career, which includes two NCAA titles and two Olympic gold medals, she has often been the center of attention. At times it was lavish praise and at times harsh criticism. Parker’s tenacity, perseverance and leadership along with her basketball and personal journeys are chronicled in the ESPN film “Candace Parker: Unapologetic,” which premiered in New York yesterday and debuts on ESPN on Sunday. It is an unvarnished look at injuries, rehab, motherhood and daughter Lailaa, divorce, remarriage to wife Anna Petrakova and the birth of their son, Airr.
Today, Parker, 37, is also a broadcaster. She also started her own production company, Baby Hair Productions, which is behind “Unapologetic.” The film’s title speaks to her tossing off the notion that women need to constantly apologize.
“Some athletes, like myself, had to learn to be [unapologetic],” said Parker. “I’ve learned from being a parent because I can’t tell my daughter to be her or to be who she is or to follow her dreams or to love who she loves or to go and study what makes her happy if I’m not doing that. In this day and age, I’ve been inspired by the athletes around me that have encouraged me to be fully me and to be unapologetic about it.”
The post New documentary looks deep into the life of Candace Parker appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.