Candace Parker

My whole career has been trying to please people in basketball. Now it's time to please myself.

It will be exciting to have my child share my career and to remember what I was like when I was young.

On my best days, such as when I was a junior in high school coming off a 42-point performance and near triple-double, my dad was there to tell me I haven't arrived yet and bring me back to reality.

I look at it this way: the WNBA is 13 years young. I think eventually women will get to that point, maybe in my daughter's generation, where their salaries will be similar to men's. But we're still starting off, like, where the NBA was back in the 1950s.

What's so special about this team is that we all have the same mentality, this sort of, 'We've been knocked down, let's get back up' mentality.

Male athletes don't get dropped when they father kids.

I wouldn't mind being the female MJ. I want to have major crossover appeal.

Today I know that there is still work to be done, but along the way my I am achieving my dreams.

The Sparks have always been committed to success and making the right moves to build upon their rich tradition in the WNBA.

My baby is the joy in my life.

For me, family has always come first.

From my first dunk at 14 years old to my second NCAA Championship at the University of Tennessee, my intense training with my dad was always to credit.