Candace Parker on the Cover of ESPN The Magazine
Special Women in Sports Package
Candace Parker is the total package - the best at what she does, a record setter, a woman who plays like a man. She is nice, even sweet, and beautiful to boot. She is also MVP of a struggling women’s basketball league and will miss the 2009 WNBA season because she is pregnant with her first child. In the ESPN The Magazine cover story The Selling of Candace Parker, on newsstands now, Allison Glock looks at the unprecedented combination of game, generosity and good looks that Team Parker believes will make the 22 year old, 6’4” stunner the most recognized woman in American Sports. So can Candace Parker be the female Jordan?
Quotes from the article:
- Parker: “I wouldn’t mind being the female MJ. I want to have major crossover appeal”
- Parker: Basketball is calming to me. Whenever anything goes on in my life, I go shoot. As long as I can shoot, I’m okay. The baby will be along for the ride, with me on trips, at the court. You don’t hear about male players doing that, do you? Women, we just have to balance more things. It’s harder for us. That’s just the way it is. For now.”
- WNBA player Tina Thompson on Parker: “She’s already setting new standards. She’s opening up doors a female player hasn’t been through before. She isn’t making LeBron money, but she is drawing those sorts of contracts. And it is only the first year of her pro career.”
- Marj Snyder, chief program and planning officer, Women's Sports Foundation on Parker: “Hamm did great stuff for soccer, but hey, what she really did is get up there in the same commercial as Michael Jordan. If Candace is doing the same ads as the male players, that elevates her. And audience is built.”
Peek behind the scenes of Parker’s photo shoot at espnthemag.com.
Women In Sports Package:
In addition to the Parker feature, ESPN The Magazine compiles the ultimate stats - like how many women have donned the Wheaties box, and which WNBA players have had their uniform numbers retired.
And inHeading For Trouble, senior writer Peter Keating reports on female athletes and concussions in. High school girls playing soccer get concussions 68% more often than boys, and girls who play high school basketball have a concussion rate nearly triple that of boys. Scientists are only beginning to figure out why there are gender differences in sports concussions…ESPN The Mag takes a closer look.
Additional Features:
BABY, YOU GOT WHAT WE NEED. As the NBA's elite teams prepare for their stretch runs, four of the league’s less-heralded players may wind up playing the biggest roles of all. Ric Bucher reports.
HOOP-DE-DO!. Think a No. 16 seed will never upset a No. 1? Think again. Our Tourney board game gives a whole new meaning to college basketball’s March Madness. Elena Bergeron and Sarah Turcotte report.
STICK ‘EM UP! Sure, the commercials for Fatheads are goofy. But the creators of the all lovable, life-size player adhesives are laughing all the way to the bank. Tim Keown reports.
IT’S NOT ALL SUN & GAMES. While the FBI investigates how MLB recruits Dominican Baseball Players, the scouting system under scrutiny continues to work. Jorge Arangure Jr. and Luke Cyphers report.
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