The LA Sparks will retire the No. 3 jersey of WNBA icon Candace Parker in 2025, the team announced on Thursday.
The ceremony will take place during the team’s June 29th game against the Chicago Sky.
"To see my jersey hanging in the rafters amongst other legends is truly an honor. This moment is not just about me — it’s about my family, my teammates, and the incredible support from the LA Sparks organization and fans,” said Candace Parker in a statement.
"This jersey represents all the moments, all the connections, and all the love that got me here.”
Spending her first 13 seasons in LA, the 2024 retiree won WNBA MVP twice with the Sparks. She additionally led the Sparks to a WNBA championship in 2016.
Moreover, she was named 2008 Rookie of the Year, 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, and 2016 Finals MVP.
Parker still leads the storied organization in total assists, ranking second all-time in rebounds and third in points scored.
The Sparks will also help launch Parker's book, The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions.
As part of the ceremony, LA will integrate book-themed activations. This will allow fans to "engage with Candace’s story both on and off the court."
Basketball great praises Parker ahead of jersey retirement
Among those singing Parker's praises was Sparks co-owner and retired Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
“Candace is the best all-around player that has ever played in the WNBA. Her legacy is immeasurable — she redefined excellence, was a champion on the court and for the Los Angeles community and inspired countless fans and future generations of athletes," said Johnson.
"Very few champions get to see their jersey hanging from the rafters in this city. Retiring Candace’s No. 3 jersey is not just a celebration of her extraordinary career, but a tribute to the enduring mark she's left on this organization, the WNBA, and the city of Los Angeles. She will forever be a part of the Sparks family."
Retired WNBA star Layshia Clarendon is being inducted into the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame, with the former LA Spark earning recognition for contributions both on and off the court on Thursday.
After coming out in a 2015 Players Tribune article, Clarendon made history as the league's first openly trans and nonbinary player. They played 11 seasons in the WNBA, repping half of the league's 12 teams by the time they retired in 2024.
The 2017 All-Star's off-court endeavors included advocating for justice and inclusivity across all sectors. They became the first vice president of the WNBA Players Association in 2016, helped negotiate the league's game-changing 2020 CBA, and served on the league's Social Justice Council, among other accomplishments.
"Layshia made a huge impact on and off the court throughout their outstanding basketball career," said former LA coach Curt Miller. "Lay was a true professional, showing up each day with a desire to help our teams compete and improve."
"Off the court, Lay is a trailblazer and impacted so many with their bravery to be authentic and unapologetic while consistently fighting for the marginalized."
Current USC manager Lindsay Gottlieb, who coached Clarendon at Cal, echoed Miller's assessment.
"The way the W looks and feels right now is largely a testament to the people that have been doing the work," she said. "And there's no one more important in that realm than Layshia."
Clarendon joins first LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame class in 10 years
First established in 2013, the LGBTQ Sports HOF honors coaches, athletes, advocates, and executives "who have made an enduring impact on the sports world through leadership, visibility, and commitment to inclusion."
The HOF grew to 49 inductees through 2015. It then lay dormant for a decade before the Sports Equality Foundation resurrected it.
The SEF plans to announce additional members of the 2025 class in the coming weeks.
This year's cohort will be officially inducted in Las Vegas on August 10th. Then, Clarendon will join past honorees like tennis icon Billie Jean King, USWNT star Megan Rapinoe, WNBA standout Brittney Griner, and golf legend Patty Sheehan in the LGBTQ HOF.
WNBA stars and two-time league champions Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum are on the move, with ESPN reporting Sunday that the Storm, Aces, and Sparks have finalized a huge three-team trade.
According to the report, Seattle is honoring Loyd's trade request by sending the six-time All-Star to Las Vegas. Plum is subsequently LA-bound on a one-year deal after the Aces cored her for a sign-and-trade.
The Aces also receive LA's No. 13 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft in the deal. Meanwhile, Seattle's No. 9 pick in 2025 plus their second-round pick in the 2026 draft now belong to the Sparks.
The Storm walk away with Sparks center Li Yueru, plus two massive draft selections. Seattle now owns valuable assets in the form of LA's No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft and Las Vegas' first-round pick in 2026.
However, should they hang onto their chips, Seattle now has a shot at righting a disappointing 2024 run by snagging a top NCAA select like No. 3 Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles or No. 4 USC forward Kiki Iriafen.
Loyd, Plum trade makes WNBA history
Though the news won't be official until the free agency signing window opens on February 1st, the deal is the first in WNBA history to include multiple No. 1 overall draft picks.
Top-picks Loyd (2015) and Plum (2017) have only played for the franchises that originally drafted them. Plum relocated to Las Vegas as part of the San Antonio team that originally selected her out of the University of Washington.
Plum has reportedly indicated her intention to remain with the Sparks past the 2025 season, despite inking a one-year contract.
While the terms of Loyd's agreement remain unclear, both athletes will likely become free agents in 2026. They'll join the majority of WNBA players in doing so, as athletes hope to take advantage of a new CBA that's expected to significantly impact salary caps and other contract stipulations.
The higher seeds handled business on Tuesday, as twin first-round sweeps saw the Liberty and Aces emerge 2-0 from the best-of-three series to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 WNBA playoffs.
Fueled by Sabrina Ionescu's 36 points, which tied New York's single-game playoff scoring record, the Liberty came from behind to defeat the Atlanta Dream 91-82 before the Aces held off the Storm 83-76.
The wins set up an electric second-round matchup between 2023 championship foes New York and Las Vegas.
Last year, the back-to-back defending champion Aces needed just four Finals games to beat New York for the title. To take aim at the elusive three-peat, No. 4-seed Las Vegas will have to advance past the top-seeded Liberty in the 2024 semifinals, which will tip off on Sunday, September 29th.
Despite four Finals appearances, the Liberty is the only remaining original WNBA franchise without a championship.
Could tonight's WNBA playoff game be Diana Taurasi's last?
Wednesday night's WNBA playoffs could see the end of legend Diana Taurasi's professional career, as her No. 7-seed Phoenix Mercury attempts to avoid elimination against No. 2-seed Minnesota.
Now in her 20th season, 42-year-old Taurasi — an 11-time All-Star, three-time WNBA champion, former league and Finals MVP, and the WNBA's all-time leading scorer — has hinted that this year might be her last.
Caitlin Clark and the No. 6-seed Fever will also be playing for survival tonight after Sunday's blowout loss to No. 3-seed Connecticut. An Indiana win would send the best-of-three series to Indianapolis, known for their rocking crowds.
How to watch round one of the WNBA playoffs tonight
The Fever will tip off against the Sun at 7:30 PM ET tonight. Immediately following, the Mercury will take on the Lynx at 9:30 PM ET. Both games will air live on ESPN.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Sparks parted ways with head coach Curt Miller. The LA team finished the season 12th in the WNBA standings with a record of 8-32.
After leading Connecticut to the 2022 WNBA Finals, Miller joined the Sparks ahead of the 2023 season. He went on to oversee a 2024 rebuild that added top rookies Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson to LA's roster.
Miller showed "courage" during an LA Sparks rebuild
"Takes courage to come into a situation as such and do the dirty work that essentially you don’t and won’t get credit for. Everyone not built for that. He wanted that challenge! Some people like and only want gold handed on a platter," Sparks All-Star Dearica Hamby tweeted after the news broke.
Miller began his head coaching career at Bowling Green in 2001, where he coached the Falcons to a 258-92 career record including 135-41 in conference play and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 2006. He departed Ohio in 2012 to helm Indiana University's women's basketball team.
After three seasons with Indiana, Miller left college sports for the WNBA in 2015, spending a year-long stint as an assistant coach with the LA Sparks.
Establishing a WNBA career with the Connecticut Sun
Miller spent the bulk of his pro career with the Connecticut Sun, joining the team for the 2016 season and assuming general manager duties that same year. In 2017, Miller went on to win both WNBA Coach of the Year and WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year.
While he led the Sun to the playoffs in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, Miller never won a WNBA title with the franchise.
LA currently has the best odds to land 2025's No. 1 draft pick via the WNBA lottery, with UConn guard Paige Bueckers expected to fill that slot.
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese's first WNBA season was cut short as the Rookie of the Year contender suffered a season-ending injury in Friday's 92-78 win over LA. Reese fractured her left wrist in a third-quarter fall, but still finished the game with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
"The risk of not having surgery, I could literally have arthritis at 22-years-old — that wasn't an option," Reese told her TikTok followers on Sunday.
Without mentioning a specific recovery timeline, the star said she anticipates being able to participate in Unrivaled's upcoming season. The 3×3 league's inaugural competition begins in early 2025.
Reese made WNBA history in record-breaking rookie season
With new WNBA records for both consecutive double-doubles and single-season rebounds, Reese had a historically strong rookie year.
"I never would have imagined the last bucket of my rookie season would be a 3 but maybe that was God saying give them a taste of what they will be seeing more of in Year 2 lol," Reese posted to Instagram after her injury.
This year's WNBA rookie class will surely go down as one of the most impactful drafts of all time. But as the league's grueling schedule takes a toll, injuries to standouts like Cameron Brink and Reese are also part of the story.
Despite the injury, weekend wins keep Chicago in playoff contention
Chicago held onto the eighth and final playoff spot this weekend. After beating LA and Dallas, the Sky gained a one-game lead on ninth-place Atlanta.
That said, the Sky's fight is far from over. Chicago will next face a motivated 10th-place Washington on Wednesday before September 17th's big game against Atlanta.
In other playoff news, the Sparks and the Wings have been officially eliminated from postseason contention. Both teams are now guaranteed lottery picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
As the WNBA playoffs approach, teams are relying on top individual talent to ascend the league standings, with star players truly rising to the top in weekend play.
Chicago falls as Angel Reese takes flight
Despite two weekend losses from the eighth-place Sky, Chicago rookie Angel Reese notched two new WNBA records. First on Friday, she became the first player to post back-to-back 20-rebound games before upping her streak to three with 22 boards on Sunday.
Reese also had 11 points in Sunday’s buzzer-beating loss to the fourth-place Aces, claiming her 22nd double-double to tie Tina Charles’s 2010 record for most double-doubles in a rookie season.
Napheesa Collier can't stop scoring
Over in Minnesota, a monster weekend from star Napheesa Collier clinched her third-place Lynx a trip to the playoffs. Collier drained a combined 58 points between Friday's victory over the Aces and Sunday's win against the Fever — the first time Minnesota took down Indiana this season.
Also at the top of the table, the second-place Sun punched their playoff ticket by handing the league-leading Liberty their fifth loss of the season on Saturday, avoiding a season sweep and snapping New York's eight-game winning streak in the process.
Sparks sink to bottom of the WNBA standings
The Sparks hit a new low as two very different losses saw LA sink to last place in the standings. On Friday, the 10th-place Mystics nearly silenced the Sparks' offense, taking the game 80-74 with rookie Rickea Jackson the only LA player to score in the double-digits.
Then on Sunday, Jackson, Odyssey Sims, and Dearica Hamby combined for 72 of LA’s 110 points against Dallas — but it wasn’t enough to top the Wings as Arike Ogunbowale and Natasha Howard contributed 63 of their own in Dallas's 113-110 win.
The win boosted Dallas to 11th-place, while the Mystics held fast to their positioning after last night’s team effort lifted Washington over now-fifth-place Seattle 74-72.
The Connecticut Sun earned a big win in more ways than one on Tuesday, defeating the LA Sparks 69-61 in front of a sold-out crowd at Boston's TD Garden. Hosted by the Sun — who usually play at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut — it was the first WNBA game ever held inside the home of the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics.
Boston shows out to support New England's WNBA team
While Boston will see women's soccer return in 2026 via an NWSL expansion team, the Sun currently serve as New England's only WNBA team — and fans came out in force to support their home side. Last night's announced attendance of 19,156 stands as the largest in Connecticut Sun history, as well as the third-highest WNBA attendance this season.
Fans were treated to an end-to-end battle as the Sparks held a first quarter lead into the fourth quarter when, buoyed by the raucous crowd, DiJonai Carrington led Connecticut to a 14-0 comeback. Her efforts helped the Sun notch their 20th win, becoming just the second WNBA team to hit 20 victories this season.
"Hopefully, this is the start of something beautiful," Sun star Alyssa Thomas said after the game. "This is the kind of atmosphere you want to play in."
Lack of WNBA promotion causes stir ahead of untelevised Boston game
Despite the sellout success, the game wasn't broadcast nationally, with only WNBA League Pass and social media platform X providing live coverage.
"I think that there could have been a lot more publicity or promo from the top," Carrington — who posted about the issue early Tuesday — told reporters. "You know, Connecticut had announced that we were having this game probably almost a year ago."
Other noteworthy WNBA results
The Seattle Storm secured a win for the first time since returning from the Olympic break, taking down the Washington Mystics 83-77 in DC.
On the other hand, the NY Liberty looked as dominant as ever, beating Dallas 94-74 in the first of two matchups between the sides this week.
Sparks rookie Cameron Brink will miss the remainder of the WNBA season after suffering a torn ACL in her left knee during Tuesday’s game against Connecticut.
Brink will also miss the Paris Olympics after having been named to the USA Basketball's 3×3 Olympic roster earlier this month.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Brink started in all 15 games for the Sparks this season. She entered Tuesday averaging 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks, while her blocks ranked her third in the league behind Seattle's Ezi Magbegor and Las Vegas's A’ja Wilson.
During Tuesday’s game, Brink appeared to slip on the hardwood while driving to the basket. After standing up with assistance, she then had to be helped off the court before being carried back to the locker room.
"You never think it will happen to you," Brink wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. "And despite all the hard work sometimes it does. This is hard to fathom but I know it will only make me stronger. I will not be derailed and I will continue to love this life — I'm not defined by basketball, but it is something that I love deeply and I will work everyday to get back to it. It's not goodbye basketball it's just a see you later. I'm always so thankful for your thoughts and prayers."
In a statement, USA Basketball wished Brink a "speedy recovery" and noted that they will be looking for someone to fill her spot on the 3×3 team. Brink's 3×3 teammate Rhyne Howard also took a knock on Wednesday, although the severity of that injury has yet to be announced.
After the confirmation, Brink's fellow rookies took to social media to offer up words of support, with Angel Reese writing “\"prayers for my sweet girl!" Aaliyah Edwards also sent prayers, as well as "positive thoughts your way, Cam."
"It just breaks your heart," Caitlin Clark told reporters Wednesday.
"You don’t want to see anybody deal with any sort of injury, obviously an injury of that magnitude," she continued. "I know she’s the type of person that will be able to get through it and come through it stronger."
Arike Ogunbowale powered Dallas to a win on Wednesday, with 14 of her 25 points coming in the fourth quarter.
Despite trailing 75-73 with 3:16 to go, the Wings rattled off the next 14 points to beat the Chicago Sky 87-79. As a whole, the Wings shot 100% on eight shots in the final five minutes of the game.
"I don't know. I mean, I was dead, honestly," Ogunbowale said after Dallas's comeback win. "Maddy [Siegrist] came to me and said, 'The Lord renews your strength.' And the last five minutes, we went crazy."
Postgame, head coach Latricia Trammell applauded her team’s ability to handle the Sky’s pressure.
"We know basketball is a game of surges," Trammell said. "You just gotta weather the storm because we were gonna go on our runs as well."
While Chicago was unable to find an answer for Dallas’ fourth-quarter surge, Sky rookie Angel Reese had a solid professional debut. Her first WNBA bucket came in the third quarter, and she finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, joining the remaining four Sky starters in double-digit scoring.
Of Reese's 12 points, seven came in the fourth quarter.
"She's [Angel Reese] a great player on and off the court," Ogunbowale said of the LSU alum's performance. "This is her first game. Obviously, she has a long career, this is a good start."
While rapper Latto was in the building for the Sky game, Kim Kardashian dropped by the Los Angeles Sparks game with daughter North to see the Sparks took on Atlanta. Rookies Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson both made their WNBA debuts, while Layshia Clarendon had their first career triple-double.
Brink finished with 11 points, four assists, and two blocks, but got into foul trouble with five fouls in 20 minutes.
Atlanta would have the last word, thanks to Rhyne Howard leaving behind some broken ankles in her 25-point performance.