CHICAGO — Editor's Note: The video above is from a 2019 piece in Tampa about Parker's brother and the family's mentoring for young women.
WNBA star Candace Parker, 35, will make history as the first female athlete to grace the cover of the NBA 2K video game series.
In a tweet revealing the cover, the Chicago Sky forward and two-time WNBA MVP said she was both extremely proud and humbled to be featured on the front of the North America special edition.
"I’m honored to work with a company that’s investing in women and betting on us to succeed," Parker wrote. "I’m hopeful there will be many more badass females to follow."
The new edition of the game will be released in September and sold at EB Games and GameStop.
As Bloomberg points out, Parker's recognition is significant because as recently as three years ago, the video game did not feature any female stars at all. In the time since, Bloomberg says the game makers have been adding features, including a mode letting customers create lead WNBA teams or create their own female players.
Parker was the first overall pick in the WNBA's 2008 Draft. She spent 13 years seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks before heading to Chicago.
She has two Olympic gold medals.
Her brother, Marcus Parker, is a local coach with the Tampa ACES.
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