Candace Parker slammed an opposing coach for bragging about knocking her out of the WNBA playoffs

• The Connecticut Sun eliminated the reigning champion Chicago Sky from this year's WNBA playoffs.
• Sun head coach Curt Miller boasted that his team "knocked Candace Parker out of the playoffs."

The Connecticut Sun are WNBA Finals bound.

After trailing by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's semifinal matchup against the Chicago Sky, Jonquel Jones and company ended Game 5 on an 18-0 run to upset the reigning champions and advance to their first championship series since 2019.

Sun head coach Curt Miller had plenty to say about it, name-dropping one of the opposing players in an attempt to elevate his own stars.

"I do want to get on the record for this," Miller said during the post-game press conference. "We've knocked Candace Parker out of the playoffs three out of the last four years.

"She is an incredible, all-time great in this league," he added, referring to the Sky's superstar center. "But I hope someone writes the combination of [Jones, Alyssa Thomas], and [Brionna] Jones have knocked her out three out of the last four years."

A two-time league MVP, Parker spent the first 13 years of her illustrious WNBA career playing for the Los Angeles Sparks. And while she found great success with the franchise — including winning a championship in 2016 — her departure from Hollywood ended unceremoniously thanks to back-to-back playoff losses against Connecticut.

Parker moved to Chicago in 2021, and in her first season back in her home city, she led the Sky to its first-ever WNBA title. And while losing her chance at a repeat is undoubtedly disappointing, the six-time All-Star wasn't willing to let Miller mention her name without issuing a rebuttal.

"Here's the thing: We have a standard that we uphold," Parker said when asked about the opposing coach's comments. "We won a championship last year."

"We don't hang conference banners," she added, referring to the Sun's lack of WNBA titles.

Still, Parker offered praise for the three Connecticut post players Miller mentioned, noting that "they did a great job" defensively throughout the back-and-forth series.

The Sun will go on to face the top-seeded and heavily favored Las Vegas Aces in the 2022 WNBA Finals, which are guaranteed to result in a franchise's first-ever championship. Game 1 tips off at 3 p.m. ET at Las Vegas' Michelob ULTRA Arena.