For three-time WNBA Champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Candace Parker, the “can-do mindset” is not just a mindset, it’s an identity. Now in her new book she’s talking about coming out, being out, her time in the WNBA and so much more.
Parker noted in an interview with Ebony, “Growing up, my parents would shorten my name to ‘can.’ I grew up with two older brothers who excelled at every single thing. And so, their shadows were very large and daunting at times.”
Her mom gave her this sage advice: “Whenever I felt like I couldn’t do something, she would always say ‘can do.’ It got me through.”
Parker has been at the pinnacle of success for decades. She’s won the highest individual award at every level of basketball she’s played: 2x Gatorade Player of the Year in high school, Naismith College Player of the Year and two WNBA MVP awards. Most notably, she is the only player ever to win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year and MVP award in the same year.
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Candace Parker was dominant since day one
Growing up in Naperville, Ill., with two older brothers, she was fiercely competitive with them in every way. Parker originally wanted to be a soccer player, but in eighth grade she was convinced to focus on basketball at the encouragement of her father and brothers.
A few years later, Parker would make national buzz as headlines of her dunking at her high school game sent the media ablaze. What pushed her to dunk in the first place? Not to become the first female baller to dunk in a high school game… but to do so at an age before her brothers did.
Fast-forward to today, as Parker is now the President of Women’s Basketball at Adidas, having retired after sixteen seasons in the WNBA. During those sixteen seasons, Parker became the only player ever to win a title on three different teams and was selected to be an All-Star seven times.
Life, Love and Basketball
In her new book, Parker comments on her time in the WNBA and how it affected her relationship with her sexuality.
The superstar had her first child, Lailaa, shortly after her rookie season with her now ex-husband. Parker was not out at the time, struggling to maintain her basketball career, motherhood and what she said was a lack of support from the league. This was a time before maternity care was a part of the W, and Parker spent many offseasons overseas playing basketball, on the road with her young child and mother.
In her book, Parker also talks about meeting her now wife — fellow former basketball player Anya Petrakova.
Parker had not been with a woman before Petrakova, and there was no major romantic event that brought together the two, who now have two sons — Hartt and Airr.
It was a slow build over time, combined with little moments that showed Parker there was more than friendship blossoming.
Parker told PEOPLE Magazine, “I remember — and I talk about it in the book — we were in Russia and we were going through all the museums. And it was before I even allowed myself to realize that I could like a woman. I don’t know — I just looked at her in a different way and my heart started beating in a different way.
“I think it was that moment where I realized it.”
Thankfully, the community that makes up the WNBA — the players, the staff, the coaches — helped Parker and her family grow into who they are today. Parker credits this community in her book.
“Thankfully we had some help,” she writes. “In a league full of queer women, my teammates and fellow players wrapped us in love and became part of our bubble. … Having our community be invested in our success as a couple meant the world.”
In addition to talking on her storied basketball career and her family, the author provides readers with an acronym to live by, CAN-DO:
Learn from and lean on your Community
Show up as Authentically you
Realize that Negativity is a part of life
Embrace the excitement of the everyday Dash
And fight for Opportunity for yourself and others.
The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions by Candace Parker is available for purchase now.
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