Candace Parker, 3-time WNBA champion and 2-time MVP, announces retirement

Candace Parker — a three-time WNBA champion and two-time MVP — is retiring, she announced Sunday.

Parker, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 WNBA draft, spent 16 seasons in the league, playing for Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas.

“I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it,” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it’s time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it.”

“This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating,” the post continued. “It’s no fun playing in pain (10 surgeries in my career) it’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only…it’s no fun hearing ‘she isn’t the same’ when I know why, it’s no fun accepting the fact you need surgery AGAIN.”

This story will be updated.

(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)