In her first season with the Chicago Sky, Candace Parker helped lead her team to a WNBA Finals victory and you could see how much it meant to her.
Candace Parker is 1-for-1 in seasons played with the Chicago Sky and WNBA Finals victories. In the former No. 1 overall pick’s first year with the franchise, she helped guide them to a huge win over the Phoenix Mercury, including playing a huge part in the Game 4 comeback that clinched the series victory.
This was not Parker’s first win in the WNBA Finals. She won five years ago while with the team that drafted her, the L.A. Sparks. But if you were to see her reaction with the Sky after winning on Sunday, you’d have thought this was a moment she’d never experienced before.
As she had the ball as time expired to affirm the Sky title victory, Parker took off in a dead sprint, clearly overcome with emotion and the compulsion to celebrate the massive WNBA Finals victory:
Candace Parker showed pure joy and elation for winning the WNBA Finals with the Chicago Sky
Athletes celebrating a huge win, especially winning a title, is certainly nothing new for fans to see. Having said that, there are some reactions that just catch your eye more than others. Candace Parker’s here is one of them.
Far too often, professionalism is put on a higher pedestal than the joy of playing a beautiful sport for a living and the camaraderie of being on a team that endures a season.
That’s not the case with Parker, which isn’t to say she’s being unprofessional by any measure. However, the reaction to the WNBA Finals win is pure and untainted by worry about what she’s supposed to do or anything like that. It’s all about the intense feeling of excitement and the need to celebrate as quickly as possible.
We need more of that in sports because, in the simplest terms, it’s awesome to see no matter who you are.