Candace Parker joins the Chicago Sky!

Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

Russ: Hello, everyone. Welcome to SportsWise! I’m Russ Adams, and I hope everyone is okay this week. The topic is the return of Candace Parker to the Chi. She’s here not to visit, but to play for our very own Chicago Sky— Welcome home!

Donald: Here, here! I have never been as happy about anything the Sky has done in the history of the team as I am about this. I’m already a fan of both, but now I get to be a fan of both together in one smooth shot. We are sitting pretty, boys…we really are.

Patrick: Don, if there’s one thing I know, it is that you are a superfan of women’s basketball—college and pros. I swear I haven’t heard someone speak about Candace Parker coming to the Sky as our conversations about it in the last couple of weeks. On my end of things, I am most certainly happy as heck about this.

John: Now, y’all know I’m not a huge fan of women’s basketball; however, I am slightly excited about this. Candace Parker is coming from the Los Angeles Sparks, which is where all the gold is in sports, right?

All: (Laughter.)

Russell: Shoot, now we have someone who can run the floor, confuse defenses, and score and rebound with the best of ’em. Remember, we made it to the Finals in 2014, and came really close in 2019 but lost in the second round to the Las Vegas Aces.

Donald: Now we have one of those players like Diana Taurasi or Sue Bird, so we should be able to compete at an even higher level than we already were. We should be much better.

John: Y’all are getting me kinda excited about the upcoming season. Make me rethink my whole not-100%- fandom with this team.

Patrick: I know, right! And not only do we get her for this year, but we have her for at least two years. I wish we could afford and keep Cheyenne Parker, who’s also pretty good; shoot, she averaged 13.1 last year as a full-time starter, so not bad at all. But, still and all, we are talking Candace Parker, and she’s definitely a special one. Plus, with the disappointing end to last year—

Donald: They lost to the Connecticut Sun, right?

Russell: Yep.

Patrick: So, yeah, why not make a big move to shake up things?

John: By the way, fellas, when I was doing a bit of research about this topic, I found that Candace will earn $190,000 this year, and $195,000 next year. Now, to me and you, that’s big-time money, but it seems way low when compared to the men’s salaries.

Donald: True, but one thing to mention is that the guys play a longer season, so that’s a huge factor.

Patrick: Plus, because both leagues are private companies, salary levels aren’t government-regulated. So, from what I get, because of the entertainment level, which is hugely important to the amount of money made—

Russ: The food sold, the money from the gate—

Donald: The souvenirs sold in the stadium—

John: The raffles.

Patrick: All that. So, while on one hand I’m with you, John; on the other, I do understand. It would take some undoing and, then, redoing, of some things; unfortunately, most of the reconfiguring will have to be a retooling of society.

Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org