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FILE – Candace Parkert (3) celebrates after a shot during the national championship basketball game against Stanford at the NCAA Women’s Final Four, April 8, 2008, in Tampa, Fla.<\/p>\n
Amy Sancetta\/AP Photo\/Amy Sancetta<\/p>\n
FILE – Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne (11) looks to pass the ball as Phoenix Mercury forward Brianna Turner (21) defends during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, June 16, 2023, in Washington.<\/p>\n
Nick Wass\/AP Photo\/Nick Wass<\/p>\n
FILE – Naismith Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductee Candace Parker speaks during a news conference at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Michael Conroy\/AP Photo\/Michael Conroy<\/p>\n
FILE – Spanish professional women’s basketball player Amaya Valdemoro poses for photographers before the Marca Leyenda Awards Ceremony at Callao Cinema in Madrid on Nov. 26, 2013.<\/p>\n
Abraham Caro Marin\/AP Photo\/Abraham Caro Marin<\/p>\n
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Candace Parker\u2019s basketball journey has come full circle.<\/p>\n
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It started when she led Tennessee to two national championships, then continued in the WNBA, where she won three titles and two MVP awards. She also helped the U.S. win two Olympic gold medals.<\/p>\n
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Parker was inducted Saturday night into the Women\u2019s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville. She was joined by Elena Delle Donne, Amaya Valdemoro and Isabelle Fijalkowski; coaches Cheryl Reeve and Kim Muhl; television analyst Doris Burke; and posthumous veteran honoree Barbara Kennedy-Dixon.<\/p>\n
While accepting the honor, Parker said she had brothers who were eight and 11 years older than her. She spent her life trying to do whatever they did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I struggled when I was young, my mom would whisper \u2018can do\u2019 to me,\u201d Parker said, referring to her nickname. \u201cIt reminded me to push the doubt away. I was a little girl who dared to dream. I whispered that to myself whenever I was scared.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody creates in a vacuum. They have influences. We are our ancestor’s wildest dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Chamique Holdsclaw, another Lady Vols legend who presented Parker at the induction, put her career in perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cShe knocked down every bar set in front of her,\u201d Holdsclaw said. \u201cShe changed the way the game looks. She brought creativity, skill and athletic ability.\u201d<\/p>\n Parker is the 11th player and 17th person with Tennessee ties to be enshrined. Later this summer, Parker and Delle Donne will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n Delle Donne originally committed to play her college basketball at UConn but chose instead to stay close to her Wilmington home at the University of Delaware. She was a three-time Colonial Athletic Conference Player of the Year. She was the No. 2 pick in the 2013 WNBA draft. Delle Donne was a two-time WNBA MVP and was part of an Olympic gold medal-winning team.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished international players, Valdemoro made her mark in the WNBA. The native of Spain was part of the Houston Comets’ run of three straight titles. She also excelled in the EuroLeague.<\/p>\n Fijalkowski was born in France and played college basketball at the University of Colorado. She played in the WNBA\u2019s first two seasons for Cleveland. She became the French national team\u2019s career scoring leader with 2,562 points.<\/p>\n The head coach and executive since 2010 with the WNBA\u2019s Minnesota Lynx, Reeve has won the league\u2019s Coach of the Year honor four times and Executive of the Year twice. Reeve has led the Lynx to four WNBA titles. She was an assistant coach on two gold medal-winning Olympic teams before leading the U.S. to gold in 2024 as the head coach. Reeve took a break from the busy WNBA season to come to the induction ceremony. Her team plays at Dallas on Sunday.<\/p>\n After 37 years, Muhl announced his retirement as head women\u2019s basketball coach at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He won 1,108 games.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Burke began working as a television analyst for Big East men\u2019s basketball in the early 1990s. By 2017, she was a full-time NBA analyst for ESPN.<\/p>\n Kennedy-Dixon, who died in 2018, was a player and longtime administrator at Clemson.<\/p>\n This story has been to corrected to delete an erroneous reference to Cleveland making the WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/a>
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