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CANNES — Candace Parker wants a piece of the WNBA ownership pie.
During an appearance at Sport Beach hosted by Stagwell at Cannes Lions, the former forward declared that she’s set on staking a claim in the ownership sector of a team in the league.
“I’m doing everything in my power to try to be involved or have an ownership piece in a WNBA team right now,” Parker, who retired from the league in April 2024, said, emphasizing that women’s sports are on a rapid rise.
“I think that the growth you see on television, since we’re talking numbers, 95 percent of the sports shown on television is male. Do you think that number is going to go up… or down? I would like to bet there’s probably going to be more women’s sports shown on television.. and just that number alone is advertisement dollars, its growth, [and] it’s time.”
Parker, the first overall pick by the Sparks in the 2008 WNBA Draft did not name a team she’d pursue as a potential owner.
The 16-year WNBA veteran is currently an NBA TV and TNT analyst.
In May, Parker was named President of Adidas Women’s Basketball, the same brand where she became the first woman to have a signature basketball shoe with, ACE Commander, in 2010.
Parker won gold medals for the U.S. in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
The seven-time All-Star won three championships with three different teams, including the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016, Chicago Sky in 2021 and Las Vegas Aces in 2023, which made her the first WNBA player to do so.
A two-time WNBA MVP, WNBA Finals MVP, she played for the late Pat Summitt’s last two national championship teams at Tennessee in 2007 and 2008.
As Parker continues her transition from WNBA stardom to retirement, she said she sometimes leans on Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez — a 14-time MLB All-Star in his 22-year career — for guidance.
“They say athletes die twice, real death and retirement, and I found that to be true with me and a lot of my colleagues,” said Rodriguez, a 2009 World Series champion and three-time AL MVP winner.
