(ThyBlackMan.com) The WNBA’s playoff chase is in full effect. One of the teams in the WNBA playoff hunt is the Chicago Sky, which features one of the most well-known players in the league in Candace Parker. Earlier this year, Parker was selected for another WNBA All-Star Game in her great career that will assuredly end with being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In a career full of the highest individual and team achievements, Candace Parker has earned another honor that has to rank among her biggest accomplishments as she will become the first WNBA player to appear on the cover of an NBA 2K game. The Chicago Sky forward, a six-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA MVP, and 2016 WNBA Finals MVP, is featured on the cover of the WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition of NBA 2K22, which will be released on September 10th.
Video games are a major source of entertainment and recreation for millions and millions of people of all ages throughout the world. Candace Parker gracing the cover of NBA 2K is a really big deal considering the popularity of that video game franchise. According to Ranker Games, NBA 2K20 is the most popular sports video game right now ahead of Madden NFL 20 and FIFA 19, two video games that are extremely popular every year the new edition is released. In many ways, being on the cover of sports video game is the new Wheaties cereal box that athletes aspire to be on the cover of. It was major news that WNBA teams and players were finally able to be included in video games back in 2017 and Candace Parker’s NBA 2K cover speaks to her credibility as an athlete and the long-deserved credibility of female athletes in sports.
While Candace Parker’s WNBA career will earn her Hall of Fame induction, NBA fans are well of her in recent years. Along with playing in the WNBA, she has also been a Turner Sports NBA analyst for TNT and NBATV. During her work as analyst, Parker has shown an ability to display the high basketball IQ that she is known for on the court as well as embarrassing Shaquille O’Neal with quick-witted remarks. The case can be made that Candace Parker is the most recognizable female basketball player in the world which makes her being the cover of the most recognizable NBA video game in the world a good fit.
The title of becoming the first woman to feature on NBA 2K cover is something that Candace Parker embraces. “Representation matters, so this is a special moment of progress for the sport and the series. To be part of this historic cover is a testament to the growth and rising popularity of the women’s game, and I’m proud to be the first female cover athlete to be the face of NBA 2K.” Parker said in a statement. She has been one of the best players in WNBA history and one of the faces of the league over the past decade. Interestingly, Parker’s Chicago Sky faced the Seattle Storm back on August 15th in the most watched WNBA regular season game since 2012 after drawing 755,000 viewers. Now, basketball fans that took in that WNBA game can purchase a video game with a WNBA All-Star on the cover, which should be celebrated.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines