Candace Parker Wants To Return To WNBA But Only If Her Foot Heals Completely: ‘I Can’t Play In Pain’

The Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA championship last season. Although the Aces repeated as champions this year, Candace Parker was unable to help as she was sidelined for the second half of the season when she had surgery on her foot. The status of her health will decide if she plays another season, according to The Associated Press.

Parker discussed her plans with the media outlet as she recovers from her operation on her right foot in July. She is a free agent but would like to return to the Aces if she does play next season.

“I’ll weigh my options. If I feel really, really good, then I’ll play. That’s a big if. I’ve got to get my foot right. My foot was really bad last year. I don’t want to cheat the game or cheat myself,” she said.

The veteran basketball player was on a scooter for 10 1/2 weeks and feels a bit better after having the surgery. Parker said that although she wants to continue playing, she won’t if she is still in pain.

“Every day my foot doesn’t feel great walking,” she said. “I continue to rehab and stuff. I can’t play in pain. It makes the game not fun. I realized on Halloween that I want to take my kids trick or treating. I don’t want to be sitting in the car because I can’t walk. I want to be able to go out to the beach. I love playing beach volleyball. I don’t know if one more season is worth risking that,” Parker said.

Recently, she was in New York at the premiere showing of a documentary featuring her life story, Unapologetic. The film traces her life from her beginnings in Naperville, Illinois, to her career and everything in between.

“A lot of those points in the documentary were well done. I’m proud of it. Proud of the way we handled my injuries, we didn’t make excuses. The way we handled the USA situation. I’m not going to badmouth people. These are the facts however you want to interpret it. This is why I was upset. Same thing with the divorce. We co-parent well. We had experience doing it when I was overseas for eight years.”

From high school phenomenon to changing the WNBA and sports forever.

“Candace Parker: Unapologetic” premieres Sunday on ESPN and @ESPNPlus 🍿 pic.twitter.com/r7ssrWYhPW

— ESPN (@espn) November 9, 2023

Unapologetic will be airing on ESPN on Nov. 12.