Candace Parker is totally badass … but you already knew that

By: Tom Alexander

The other day, Saturday I think it was, I caught a good piece of the WNBA game between the LA Sparks and the Phoenix Mercury, which had the notable distinction of being Candace Parker’s first game ever in the WNBA, and she lived up to the hype.

I am not really interested in the WNBA. I think it’s a little bit amusing, because there are not a lot of fans, but there are a few, and they had some major freakouts based on some SeriousSportsNewsNetwork.com stories we had about the WNBA, about what haters we were, etc. The second reason is that one of our first stories in the Chicago Sports Review was a profile of a then high-school-aged Candace Parker, so I’ve watched with interest the development of her career.

You know what she did at Tennessee; back-to-back titles. You probably have already heard what she did the other day, nearly putting up a triple double and scoring 34 points, notching twelve rebounds and eight assists. The game was actually moderately entertaining.

I don’t think it’s going to be enough to make the WNBA a success. I think that after watching men’s basketball all the time, there is just not enough excitement in the women’s game. I think it’s crisper–more passing, more players have to participate, no Chris Paul doing everything, etc.–but overall I think it’s one of those things where it’s a totally different product than the NBA proper. And I don’t think it will ever have the mainstream appeal of the NBA.

That being said, Candace Parker is something special. She’s awesome to watch, and from what I can tell, she’s a good person and nice enough and all that jazz. So it will be interesting to see what happens. I’ll be rooting for her, at least.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Tom Alexander founded the Chicago Sports Review in 2003, and currently serves the publication as its co-publisher. Alexander's media career has spanned a variety of interests, including newspaper reporting with the Times of Northwest Indiana, online reporting with ePrairie.com, and a two-plus year stint as a professor in Columbia College Chicago's journalism department. Outside of journalism, Alexander works to redevelop communities that have been struck by natural disasters. Alexander, a 2000 graduate of the University of Chicago, currently lives with his wife Tiffany and their black lab mix, Johnny Cash, in Arlington, Va.

Share This Article

No Comments

No comments yet.

Comment On This Article