As a lifelong basketball fanatic, Candace Parker dreamed of having her own shoe line or being on the cover of a sports video game.
Well, the latter has come true for the 35-year-old WNBA legend when it was announced on Wednesday, July 13, 2021, that she is gracing the cover of the ultra-popular NBA 2K video game.
The first WNBA player on a cover of NBA 2K 🙌
Introducing our GameStop Exclusive Cover Athlete @Candace_Parker pic.twitter.com/OKG8nDDRCF
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 14, 2021
Parker, who now plays for the Chicago Sky and also commentates for NBA games on “Inside the NBA” on TNT, will appear on NBA 2K22 cover in commemoration of the WNBA’s 25th anniversary special edition on Sept. 10.
With this distinction, the future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee now joins a very small and exclusive club of women who have graced the cover of their respective sport’s video games. Shawn Johnson was on a Gymnastics by Wii game in 2010, and Jelena Dokic was on a tennis game nearly 20 years ago.
Extremely proud and humbled to be the first female cover athlete in the history of @NBA2K
I’m honored to work with a company that’s investing in women and betting on us to succeed. I’m hopeful there will be many more badass females to follow 💪🏽💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/WJan4YE7Qt
— Candace Parker (@Candace_Parker) July 14, 2021
This is the perfect gift for an athlete who remains hopelessly in love with the sport.
