A consideration of and interview with Candace Parker, the WNBA’s favorite point-forward
“You saw what she’s capable of doing. She was spectacular. She shot the ball well. She was one assist away from a triple-double. That’s the second time she’s done that this week. She’s just a tremendous player.” – Coach Brian Agler, post-game notes July 15, 2018
Sunday night, the Los Angeles Sparks snapped the Las Vegas Aces’ four-game win streak. In the 99-78 victory, Parker recorded 34 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. She was one assist short of a triple-double, a feat only she and six others have achieved in the history of the WNBA thus far.
Parker started off hot, scoring 14 points in the first quarter, with five rebounds and four assists to match. In the thirty minutes played, she stayed efficient, shooting 57.1% from the field and 62.5% from range.
Parker’s five made three-pointers showed just how much of an overall threat she is. She defines positionless basketball. “[The Sparks] all feed off Candace, so when she gets hot like that, it’s hard to stop,” Aces guard Kayla McBride told the media following the game.
Her offense was not the only thing on, either. Eight of Parker’s 11 rebounds were defensive rebounds, and she added a pair of blocked shots, too.
Her nine assists of the night are nothing out of the usual—she once led the WNBA for a full season in assist percentage.
This isn’t Parker’s first Player of the Week this season. Parker was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 18 after contributing a great deal to the Sparks in their payback victory, 87-83 over the Dallas Wings. The achievement is the 23rd time she has been named POW, second only to New York Liberty’s franchise player, Tina Charles, who has 29 under her belt. However, this week is to be noted because no other WNBA player has ever notched a statline mirroring that of last night.