Shakeia Taylor: Candace Parker's impact, from a 3-time Ms. Basketball of Illinois to a 3-time WNBA champion

CHICAGO — What does it mean to be one of the greatest of all time?

It’s something we hear tossed around in sports discussions constantly. We each define it differently, some metrics carry more weight than others. It’s completely subjective, but we ask anyway. It’s one of the greatest and forever arguments in sports.

Is it championships? Is it individual player awards? Is it impact on the game?

Candace Parker attended her first basketball game at two weeks old. After a basketball career that spans nearly her entire life, the former Naperville Central hoops star announced her retirement Sunday on social media. Parker leaves the game a three-time WNBA champion, WNBA Rookie of the Year, two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, seven-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time Ms. Basketball of Illinois and with a host of other awards and accolades.

When Parker announced she was choosing to forgo her final season of eligibility at Tennessee to declare for the 2008 WNBA draft, a Chicago Tribune article titled “Candace Parker Goes Pro” asked, “Could Candace Parker do for women’s basketball in Chicago what Michael Jordan did for the Bulls?”

In that year’s draft, then-team President Margaret Stender and the Sky held the No. 2 pick. But with the hometown phenom Parker available, they wanted to trade up with the Los Angeles Sparks for the first overall pick.

“We’ve been talking to (L.A.) and they know we’re open to a deal. But Candace is hard to walk away from,” Stender said in February 2008 after news spread of Parker entering the draft.

The Sparks said their team would “keep its options open to the best thing” for the team.

“Candace Parker is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Magic Johnson all rolled into one — that’s how good she is,” Sparks coach Michael Cooper said at the time.

The Sparks kept their pick and used it on Parker, while the Sky drafted LSU star and future WNBA MVP Sylvia Fowles.

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