Alana Beard

WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks  – No. 0
Guard/Forward
Born	(1982-05-11) May 11, 1982 (age 30) Shreveport, Louisiana
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg)
College	Duke
Draft	2nd overall, 2004 Washington Mystics
Profile	WNBA Info Page
WNBA Teams
Washington Mystics (2004–2011) Los Angeles Sparks (2012–present)
Awards and Honors
4× WNBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
Medal record Women's Basketball Competitor for USA World Championship Bronze 2006 Brazil Team Competition

Alana Monique Beard (born May 14, 1982 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American professional women's basketball player with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. She was the first Duke women's basketball player to have her jersey number (20) retired.^[1] She resides in the Washington, DC area, where she is founder and President of the Alana Beard Foundation. The foundation currently sponsors 7 AAU teams. Six teams are located in Maryland called Alana Beard's Future and one team in Shreveport, Louisiana called the Southern Mystics.

Early years[link]

Beard was born on May 14, 1982 to LeRoy and Marie Beard.^[2]

High school[link]

Beard played for Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she led her team to four consecutive state titles. The team compiled a record of 144–6 while she was on the team.^[2] She scored 2,646 points during her four years, and finished her high school career with 53 consecutive victories.^[2] Beard was named a WBCA All-American.^[3] She participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored fifteen points.^[4]

College[link]

Coach Gail Goestenkors, then at Duke University, successfully recruited Beard. During her four years, she set a school scoring record of 2,687 points. Beard is the first NCAA basketball player to amass over 2,600 points, 500 assist and 400 steals.^[2] During the four years Beard played for Duke, the team won four regular season and tournaments championships. Beard helped Duke reach the Final Four twice in her career.^[2] In her senior year, the team achieved the first ever number one ranking in the final AP poll of the year.^[2]

WNBA career[link]

Beard was drafted in 2004 with the 2nd overall pick.^[1] In her rookie season, she led the Mystics to the playoffs, despite the loss of star Chamique Holdsclaw halfway through the season. They lost to the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs.

At present she is recovering from an ankle tendon, Achilles, injury. http://www.wnba.com/mystics/news/alana_beards_road_recovery_2010_05_07.html

International[link]

Beard was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.^[5] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.^[5]

Beard was one of twenty players named to the national team pool. Twelve of this group will be chosen to represent the USA in the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.^[6]

Honors and awards[link]

High school[link]

• USAT Second team All-America 2000^[2]
• Parade Second team All-America 2000^[2]

College[link]

• John R. Wooden Award-Women's Basketball National Player of the Year 2004^[1]
• State Farm Wade Trophy-National Player of the Year 2004^[1]
• Associated Press -National Player of the Year 2004^[7]
• Naismith Player of the Year^[1]
• Lowe's Senior CLASS Award 2004^[8]
• United States Basketball Writers Association-National Player of the Year 2004^[7]
• Victor Award-National Player of the Year 2003^[7]
• ESPN.com-National Player of the Year 2003, 2004^[7]
• Bayer Advantage Senior Class Award 2004^[7]
• Kodak All-American 2002, 2003, 2004^[7]
• AP All-American 2002, 2003, 2004^[7]
• United States Basketball Writers Association All-America 2002, 2003, 2004^[7]
• Women's Basketball News Service All-America 2001, 2003, 2004^[7]
• Kodak/WBCA All-District II 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004^[7]
• United States Basketball Writers Association National Freshman of the Year 2001^[7]
• Sports Illustrated National Freshman of the Year 2001^[7]
• Women's Basketball Journal National Freshman of the Year 2001^[7]
• CBS Sportsline National Freshman of the Year 2001^[7]
• Basketball Times Freshman All-America 2001^[7]
• WBCA Player(s) of the Year 2004^[7]
• ACC Female Athlete of the Year 2003, 2004

Professional[link]

• 2005 WNBA All-Star Team^[1]
• 2006 WNBA All-Star Team^[1]
• 2007 WNBA All-Star Team^[1]
• 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection

Notes[link]

References[link]

• David L. Porter, ed. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6. 

External links[link]

• Alana Beard at WNBA.com
• WNBA chat transcript
• Alana's bio at usolympicteam.com
• 2008 Moment of Thanks video of Alana Beard thanking the troops for their service

Candace Parker

WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks  – No. 3
Guard/Forward/Center
Born	(1986-04-19) April 19, 1986 (age 26) St. Louis, Missouri
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
High school	Naperville Central High
College	Tennessee
Draft	1st overall, 2008 Los Angeles Sparks
Profile	WNBA Info Page
WNBA Teams
Los Angeles Sparks (2008–present)
Non-WNBA Teams
UMMC Ekaterinburg (2009–present)
Awards and Honors
Wade Trophy winner (2007) USBWA Player of the Year (2007, 2008) Wooden Award (2007, 2008) Naismith Award (2008) Honda-Broderick Cup (2008) WNBA Rookie of the Year (2008) WNBA MVP (2008) 1× WNBA All-Star (2011)
Medal record Competitor for  United States Women's Basketball Gold 2008 Beijing National Team

Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an All-American basketball player for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and UMMC Ekaterinburg of Russia. She is the younger sister of NBA player Anthony Parker. She attended the University of Tennessee and was drafted by the Sparks 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.^[1][2][3]

A versatile player, she is mainly a forward, but was listed on Tennessee's roster as a forward, center, and guard.^[4] She was a starter on the Lady Vols basketball team, winners of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA championships.

Parker won the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award as the favorite female athlete in the sports category.

Early life[link]

Candace Parker was born on April 19, 1986 to Natasha, who currently works for the front office of the Chicago Sky, and Larry, who is in the insurance business. She has two older brothers: Anthony Parker, who is an NBA player, and Marcus, who is a doctor.^[5]

She grew up in Naperville, Illinois. Her whole family loved basketball, and she began playing at an early age. Her father had played at the University of Iowa in the 1970s. The family were also huge Chicago Bulls fans. Candace was 2nd guessing about playing basketball, fearing she would not live up to the level of play her father and brother demonstrated, so she focused on playing soccer. It wasn't until the eighth grade that her family convinced her to play. Her father would help coach and critique her. Candace said of the experience, "He did things to make me mad, to challenge me, because I was so much more athletic and had so much more knowledge of the game than everyone else that sometimes I just coasted. If me and my dad went to a park and he didn't think I was practicing hard enough, he'd just get in the car and leave. And I'd have to run home. I mean run home. Once I figured that out, I'd always try to go to close-by-parks." ^[6]

Playing career[link]

High School[link]

Like her older brother Anthony Parker, she attended Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois; she graduated in 2004. While she was in her sophomore year she became the first female high-school player and only the fifth woman at any level to dunk a basketball in a sanctioned game. "The first two times I tried it in games I failed. Embarrassing! The third time was a charm and then cameras and reporters were everywhere--everyone wanted to talk about dunking."^[7] While in high school, Parker led her basketball team to Class AA state titles in 2003 and 2004. She amassed numerous accolades.

She is the only two-time award winner of the USA Today Player of the Year, winning the award in 2003 and 2004. Parker also won the Naismith and Gatorade Awards as national basketball player of the year for each of those years. She joins Marion Jones, Greg Oden, Brandon Knight and LeBron James as the only back to back winners of the Gatorade honor. Parker was named WBCA All-American.^[8] She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored nine points.^[9] In March 2004, she won the slam dunk contest at McDonald's All-American Game and she beat a lot of the top male athletes in the country. Including two first round draft picks. She also got on the USA Today All-USA high school basketball team and won the USA Today Player of the Year Award.^[7]

She was a consensus pick as player of the year in Illinois in 2002, 2003, and 2004. A four-year member of the All-State first team, Parker compiled a school-record 2,768 points (22.9 points per game) and 1,592 rebounds (13.2 rebounds per game) while starting 119 of the 121 games in which she played. She also became the first women's player to announce her commitment live on ESPNEWS.

The summer after her junior year in high school, Parker tore her ACL in her left knee in a summer league game. She returned in December of her senior year and went on to lead her school to its second consecutive state title.

In August 2004, the "CP-3"s, Team USA roommates Candace Parker and Courtney Paris, led the undefeated USA Junior World Championship team to a Gold medal with 16.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 15.8 ppg, & 9.0 rpg respectively. While training, Parker had a relapse of knee pain and was required to undergo surgery in her lateral meniscus & the lateral articular cartilage in her left knee.

Late in her high school career, Parker was featured in an episode of the television show Switched.^{[citation needed]} She traded places, for a short time with an East Coast surfer of the same age.

College years[link]

Parker attended the University of Tennessee. She took a medical redshirt her freshman year of college, and started for the Tennessee Lady Vols during the 2005-06 season. She would make history yet again as she would dunk twice in one game.^[10] Carol Ross, head coach of the University of Mississippi Ole Miss Rebels, said this of Parker: "She's the toughest matchup in the game. On many nights, she's the best guard on the floor, the best post on the floor, the best rebounder on the floor, the best passer on the floor, and, let's not forget, the best scorer on the floor. She's got the strut of a competitor and the stuff of a champion."^[10]

She was the Southeastern Conference Rookie of the Year (Coaches and AP) and helped the Lady Vols win the 2006 SEC Tournament Championship. With 17 seconds remaining in the 2006 SEC Tournament Championship Game against LSU, Parker hit the game-winning shot. She was named Tournament MVP and was named to the 2006 Kodak All-America team, making her one of the few to ever receive the award as a freshman. However, in the NCAA Tournament regional finals against North Carolina, Parker got in early foul trouble and was out of the game for much of the first half. The University of North Carolina ultimately won the game.

Parker was the only college player named to the USA squad for the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil. The USA squad finished in third place.

On January 28, 2007, in an away game against Alabama, Parker scored her 1,000th career point as a sophomore making her the fastest player in Lady Vol history to do so. She did it in 56 games, besting Chamique Holdsclaw's mark of 57 games and Tamika Catchings's of 58 games. On March 1, at the SEC tournament in Duluth, Georgia, Parker was named the 2007 SEC Player of the Year. On April 3, she led the Lady Vols to their first National Championship victory since 1998, beating Rutgers 59-46; Parker finished the game with 17 points and earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor.

Parker announced on February 21, 2008 that she would forego her final season of eligibility at Tennessee in order to focus on the 2008 Olympics and pursue a professional career. She graduated with her incoming class in May 2008.^[11] A sports management major who had a 3.35 grade point average as of December 2007, she was named University Division Academic All-American of the Year in women's basketball for 2008 by the College Sports Information Directors of America.^[12]

On April 8, 2008, Parker led the Lady Vols to their second straight NCAA women's title, the eighth championship for Tennessee. She was also named the MVP for the second consecutive tournament, joining Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw and Diana Taurasi as the only female players to have done so. She won the honor despite suffering a dislocated shoulder during her team's regional finals win, but returned (wearing a white long-sleeve T-shirt under her jersey) and led the Lady Vols to the title. Although Parker had a year of eligibility remaining due to her medical redshirt in the 2004-2005 season, she opted to enter the WNBA Draft following the championship victory. While at Tennessee, she compiled a record of 101 wins and 10 losses.

WNBA[link]

Parker (left) gets ready for the jump ball

Just after the NCAA victory, Parker was selected as the first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She currently plays alongside Olympic teammates Tina Thompson and Delisha Milton-Jones. Shannon Bobbitt (Parker's teammate at Tennessee) joined the Sparks after being drafted in the second round.^[13]

On May 17, 2008, in her debut game against the Phoenix Mercury, she recorded 34 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Her 34 points broke the record for a rookie in a debut game. The record was previously held by Cynthia Cooper, who scored 25 points in her debut game in 1997.^[14]

On June 22, 2008, she became the second woman in WNBA history-after her teammate Lisa Leslie-to dunk during a regulation WNBA game against the Indiana Fever and Michelle Snow in the 2006 WNBA All-Star game. The dunk was on the same basket as the dunk of her teammate.^[15]

Parker was named the Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month for the month of May 2008.^[16] She received the same honor for July 2008.

In August 2008, the WNBA suspended play for a couple of weeks to some of their players to join the U.S.'s National Women's Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Parker was selected to go, as was teammate Lisa Leslie, and the US team cruised with 8 straight victories to achieve the gold medal. They won games with an average margin of 38.8 points. They faced Australia in the final game, and won, 92-65. Parker averaged 9.4 points in the tournament, and scored 14 in the finals game.^[17]

On October 3, 2008, she was named the Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Year as well as Most Valuable Player for the 2008 WNBA season. She became the first WNBA player to win both the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player in the same season.^[18] In addition, she also joined Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld as the only professional American basketball players to win both ROY and MVP trophies in the same season.

Candace Parker missed the 2009 WNBA season after having her baby girl Lailaa, but on June 30 Candace returned to practice with her teammates for the first time.^[19] She played her first game back from maternity leave on July 5, 2009. Candace earned 2nd Team All-WNBA honors despite missing almost a full month. She led the Sparks to the Western Conference Finals but lost in 3 games to the Phoenix Mercury. In the playoffs Parker averaged 18 points and over 10 rebounds per game. She missed most of the 2010 WNBA season due to a shoulder injury.

In 2011, Candace Parker played six games. During the seventh game, with 5:56 left in the third quarter, Parker went down after grabbing a defensive rebound and making brief contact with Quanitra Hollingsworth. After getting an MRI on June 27th, she found out she had a torn meniscus in her right knee. Parker may be out of the season for approximately six weeks.

USA Basketball[link]

Parker was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.^[20] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.^[20]

Parker was one of 21 finalists for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team Roster. The 20 professional women's basketball payers, plus one collegiate player (Brittney Griner), were selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee to compete for the final roster which will represent the USA at the 2012 Olympics in London.^[21]

The Brawl[link]

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (November 2011)

On July 22, 2008 Parker was involved in a fight during a game against the Detroit Shock. With 4.5 seconds before the game was officially over, the fighting began on the court after Plenette Pierson made a hard box out after a free throw on Candace Parker; the two players became entangled and Parker fell to the ground. As Parker was down, Pierson stormed over to Parker and aggressively walked over the top of her; in response, Parker tackled Pierson to the court. Parker threw a punch at Pierson before being tackled by Deanna Nolan as players and coaches from both teams joined in. Coach Rick Mahorn came off the bench — as a peacemaker — but the 6-10, 300-plus pounder incited more violence when he inadvertently knocked Los Angeles forward Lisa Leslie to the floor. Leslie's teammate, DeLisha Milton-Jones, then came to her rescue by punching a stunned Mahorn in the shoulder. In response, Mahorn was hit by Sparks players Milton-Jones, Murriel Page and Shannon Bobbitt. Pierson, Parker, Milton-Jones, and Mahorn were all ejected. The altercation also resulted in a season-ending ACL injury to Cheryl Ford, who was trying to restrain her teammate.

WNBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]

Postseason[link]

Personal life[link]

On November 13, 2008, Parker married her fiancé, Shelden Williams, who was a college basketball star for Duke University, and current player for the Brooklyn Nets. The couple welcomed a baby girl named Lailaa Nicole Williams on May 13, 2009.

Parker grew up in Chicago adoring the Bulls and was a Michael Jordan fan. Her all-time favorite player is Ron Harper, of whom she has a picture hanging in her bedroom. She has two dogs: a St. Bernard mix named Fendi and a pug named Nino, who is named after a character in the movie New Jack City. Parker’s favorite movies are Love and Basketball and He Got Game. She also likes to listen to Disney soundtracks such as The Little Mermaid and watch Full House and The Cosby Show.^[22]

Parker was named Academic All-American 2007–08 by the ESPN the magazine. She had a 3.55 GPA when she won this award.^[23]

Records[link]

• 1st WNBA player to win WNBA MVP and WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.
• 1st WNBA player to dunk in consecutive games
• Most points scored (34) by a rookie in her debut.

Awards[link]

High School[link]

• All-Area Team (2001-2004: Chicago Sun Times, News-Gazette and Chicago Tribune)^[24]
• All-State Team (2001-2004: AP, Chicago Sun Times, News-Gazette and Chicago Tribune, IBCA)^[24]
• Gatorade Illinois State Player of the Year (2002–2004)^[24]
• Illinois Miss Basketball (2002–2004)^[24]
• Illinois State Player of the Year (2002–2004: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Daily Herald, Naperville Sun and News-Gazette)^[24]
• First Team All-American (2002–2004: Nike, 2000-2004: Parade, Street & Smith's, USA Today, 2004: McDonald's)^[24]
• Second Team All-American (2002: Parade, Student Sports)^[24]
• Third Team All-American (2002: USA Today)^[24]
• Fourth Team All-American (2002: Street & Smith's)^[24]
• Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2003–2004)^[24]
• USA Today High School Player of the Year (2003–2004)^[24]
• 2004 Powerade Jam Fest Winner^[24]
• Gatorade High School Player of the Year (2003–2004)^[24]
• 2004 Women's Sports Foundation High School Athlete of the Year^[24]

College[link]

WNBA[link]

• 2008 Most Valuable Player Award winner^[41]
• 2008 Rookie of the Year Award winner^[41]
• 2008 AP Female Athlete of the Year^[42]
• 2008 All-WNBA Team member
• 2008 WNBA All-Rookie Team member

Europeen career[link]

• 2010-2011 Champion of Russia (UMMC)
• 2010-1012 Winner of the Russian cup

References[link]

External links[link]

• Candace Parker Official Site CandaceParker.com
• Candace Parker Profile VIBE
• Candace Parker at WNBA.com