- Candace Parker is headed home to Chicago after 13 years with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Dwyane Wade applauded theWNBA superstar's free-agency move and lambasted the Sparks for letting her go.- "What when they don't appreciate your worth looks like," Wade said. He told the Sparks, "That's your legacy."
WNBA free agency doesn't begin until Monday, but explosive drama has already taken hold of the league.
Candace Parker, the WNBA's reigning defensive player of the year and a two-time league MVP, is leaving the Los Angeles Sparks after 13 seasons to join her hometown Chicago Sky.
And Dwyane Wade had something to say about it.
After news of Parker's free-agency move broke on Wednesday night, Wade, a future NBA Hall of Famer and Chicago native, congratulated his TNT broadcast teammate for heading back to the Windy City. He also lambasted the Sparks for letting their superstar walk away without a hard fight.
"What when they don't appreciate your worth looks like," Wade tweeted. "I'm happy for my friend and teammate that she's going back HOME!!!
"But @LASparks no that's your legacy," he added.
—DWade (@DwyaneWade) January 28, 2021
Though Parker's departure from Los Angeles is jarring to WNBA fans, those who have followed the Sparks in recent years may not be entirely surprised by her decision to leave. Parker had a rocky relationship with Derek Fisher - who became the franchise's head coach in 2018 and was promoted to general manager in December - since his first postseason at the helm.
Fisher benched Parker for most of the team's 2019 WNBA semifinals elimination game against the Connecticut Sun. When she came out for the final time in the third quarter, Parker was caught on camera angrily saying, "Why would you do that now?"
—Ipso Facto Throat Punch™️ (@RLpontificates) September 23, 2019
Los Angeles lost 78-56 and was eliminated from the playoffs. The following year, the No. 7 Sun upset the third-seeded Sparks - this time in a single-elimination second-round game - in what would prove to be Parker's last contest in purple and gold.
The 6-foot-4 forward led Los Angeles to its first championship in more than a decade in 2016. She earned Finals MVP honors in the Sparks' five-game battle against Maya Moore's Minnesota Lynx for the title.
Parker accumulated five WNBA All-Star nods and six all-WNBA first-team selections during her time in Los Angeles. The Sparks made the playoffs in all but two seasons in her 13 years with the franchise.
Parker will join a deep Chicago squad with three 2019 All-Stars: Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Diamond DeShields. With the 2019 WNBA coach of the year, James Wade, the Sky have become a favorite to win it all in 2021.
And that's Parker's main objective as she reaches the twilight of her career.
"I'm all about championships," Parker told Insider in December. "Individual awards, those can be disputed. Finals MVPs and championships, those can't be disputed. I've won two in high school, two in college, and I've gotten one in the pros.
"So honestly I would be lying to you if I didn't tell you that I wake up every day and think about winning another championship."