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Sparks’ Candace Parker Doesn’t Hold Back on WNBA Coaching Cycle: “Copycat League”

Parker was brutally honest on the WNBA's current coach hiring process.
Ben Geffner|
Oct 14, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker (3) talks with head coach Brian Agler in the second quarter of game three against the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA Finals. at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Oct 14, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker (3) talks with head coach Brian Agler in the second quarter of game three against the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA Finals. at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Candace Parker, a Los Angeles Sparks legend, spent 13 illustrious seasons with the purple and gold — helping the franchise to a WNBA championship in 2016.

Read more: Sparks' Rickea Jackson Talks Mindset Playing Through Injury, Calls Out Opponents 

The former Sparks' star earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2008 and averaged over 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists during her time in L.A.

Parker had her No. 3 jersey retired into the Crypto.com Arena rafters at halftime of L.A.'s June 29 game against the Chicago Sky.

In a recent episode of her podcast, "Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston," Parker was brutally honest in challenging the current WNBA head coaching cycle — referencing Alex Sarama, a former assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers and recently hired as the Portland Fire's new head coach.

Read more: Former Sparks Guard Signed By Fever Amid Caitlin Clark's Absence   

The Fire, a WNBA expansion team, officially join the league in 2026.

"I just think that the WNBA is a copycat league and ... has had success in coaches that have come from the NBA," Parker said. "But the problem that I have is a lot of the coaches that are going to come from the NBA are not going to be women — and in a league that is all women, I think that the coaching positions are ... going back to men.

"If everything is going back to NBA, do women walking in the door have a fair shot?" Parker added.

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Ben Geffner
BEN GEFFNER

Ben Geffner is an award-winning sports journalist and current student at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. A greater Los Angeles native now with countless years of extensive and dedicated experience — including beat reporting, writing, play-by-play broadcast, television anchoring, podcasting and video production — Ben remains eager to contribute as credentialed media covering the LA Sparks.

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