Candace Parker

Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an All-American basketball player for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. She was drafted to the team from Tennessee in 2008. She may be best known for being the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game —she set both milestones as a redshirt freshman on March 19, 2006. She also became only the second player to dunk in a WNBA game on June 22, 2008. A versatile player, she is mainly a forward, but was listed on Tennessee's roster as a forward, center, and guard. She was a starter on the Lady Vols basketball team, winners of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA championships.
Candace won the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award as the favorite female athlete in the sports category.

Parker was named Academic All-American 2007-2008 by the ESPN the magazine because of her ability to balance schoolwork and sports and be successful in both of them. She had a 3.55 GPA when she won this award.

2008 Most Valuable Player Award winner
2008 Rookie of the Year Award winner

2008 AP Female Athlete of the Year
2008 All-WNBA Team member
2008 WNBA All-Rookie Team member