Legendary forward Candace Parker called it a career just before the start of the 2024 WNBA season due to a lingering foot injury that wasn't healing properly. But though her playing days are now behind her, she still envisions a long future in basketball, whether that's in the WNBA or NBA.
In a statement posted to Instagram on April 28 announcing her retirement, Parker wrote, "IM A BUSINESS, man, not a businessman. This is the beginning…I'm attacking business, private equity, ownership (I will own both a NBA & WNBA team), broadcasting, production, boardrooms, beach volleyball, dominoes (sorry babe it's going to get more real) with the same intensity & focus I did basketball."
On the latest episode of Bloomberg's "The Deal" podcast, Parker expanded on her ambitions to own a team during a conversation with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly.
"I always believe in speaking things into existence, and [owning a team] is a goal of mine," Parker said. "And I'm not gonna shy away from it. I think everybody assumes, you know, WNBA players own a WNBA team, but I'm a huge fan of the NBA as well. I think that's a possibility as well.
"Taking that mindset of being an athlete on the court you set all of those microscopic and telescopic goals, but really the work comes behind figuring out how I'm gonna do that, and every single day putting yourself in a position to be better than the day you were before. It's just recreating the blueprint of what you had as an athlete. I mean, you look at seasons, you figure out what your goals are. Obviously the championship would be owning a team."
Parker, who was named the president of women's basketball for Adidas in May, is involved in the investment world with former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry's Avenue Capital. In June, documents showed that the fund, which was opened in October of 2023, had raised $445 million in capital.
"Within women's sports for so long it's been a separation of investment and product for a very long time," Parker said. "The first conversation I had with Marc was, 'What percentage of the fund are you dedicating to women's sports?' Because this isn't something that I want to come into and just not make an impact on something I'm passionate about. And he was like, 'We're going to invest in women's sports, we're gonna do it.' And this was before this last year, year and a half."
As of December 2023, Forbes estimated Parker's net worth at $8.1 million. That is nowhere near enough for her to own a team on her own, but she could be part of a group that does so, particularly in the WNBA, which has much lower team valuations -- though those are now rising swiftly.