Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese is paying tribute to Candace Parker, as the WNBA legend announced her retirement from basketball on Sunday. Reese is remembering Parker as one of her idols in women's basketball.

“She's always been an amazing player, a big guard, I have always admired her,” Reese said. “I knew she was going to get her jersey retired soon, because she's an amazing player, an amazing mom, an amazing person.”

Reese has a few things in common with Parker. Both players suited up at some point for the Chicago Sky WNBA franchise. Reese is a rookie with the team, after getting selected this year in the WNBA Draft. Parker played for the Sky from 2021-2022, and won a league championship with the Windy City franchise. The two players also each won at least one women's college basketball national championship. Reese got hers while a player at LSU under legendary coach Kim Mulkey. Parker won hers at a different SEC school, under another legendary coach.

Parker's career

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Candace Parker had a spectacular career in women's basketball. She started her career at Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summitt. In Knoxville, Parker won two national championships at the school. She was then selected as the no. 1 player in the 2008 WNBA Draft, by the Los Angeles Sparks.

Parker won three WNBA championships, with the Sparks, Sky and Las Vegas Aces. Parker was the Finals MVP in 2016, while a member of the Sparks. She was also named the league's Most Valuable Player twice in her career, during the 2008 and 2013 seasons. Parker was named to the WNBA All-Star team seven times in her illustrious career. Those are only some of the awards that she collected during her professional women's basketball career.

Parker retires from the game of basketball after averaging 16 points a game in her WNBA career, per Sports Reference. She scored 6,574 career points in the league. She is in the top 10 in several statistical categories in the WNBA, including points, rebounds and assists.

It's amazing to see Reese give accolades to someone who came before her. Time will tell if Reese is able to have the same amount of success in the WNBA as Parker had.