The WNBA rookie of the year award has typically been an expected result. This year was no exception but the honor that went along with it was. Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks won the rookie of the year award in her basketball first year along with winning the Most Valuable Player of the Year award–which has never been given to basketball beginners. This feat has only been accomplished by 2 other players in basketball history: Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld. After these accomplishments it wasn’t a surprise that Parker became the most recognized female athlete in the nation. Parker launched out of the gate as an exceptional player: fun to watch, a high scorer and team player with a recognizable smile.

Here,at Electro-Mech, we not only produce electronic basketball scoreboards but we are also big fans of all team sports- women’s basketball included. For now, we’ll talk about the beautiful, talented Candace Parker.

Parker’s WNBA rookie of the year season with the Los Angeles Sparks found her on a scoring and an outright record-breaking mission. She was the WNBA’s overall first overall pick for the Sparks and they were lucky. In just her first pro game ever she scored 34 points! Since the WNBA record was less than 20 for an opening night, she easily eclipsed that record. Later in 2008 she played to the crowd when she dunked during a WNBA game, becoming only the second player in WBNA history and capping her basketball first year. Her teammate Lisa Leslie was the first to have done this. Her statistics were also impressive: 18.5 points per game average and nearly 10 rebounds per game, while dishing out almost 4 assists. The Sparks lost in the Western Conference Semifinals to San Antonio.

Basketball rookie of the year Parker has been a terrific athlete from her time in the college ranks, where she was an All American players. Parker enrolled in 2006 at the University of Tennessee joining the famed Lady Vols basketball program. In her first season there she established a new record for scoring points, took home the Rookie of the Year and nailed the game-winning shot at the SEC Conference Finals. In the two seasons that followed, she brought the Vols victories in the NCAA Finals. Parker was named the Most Valuable Player for the Finals both years. She joins Cheryl Miller on the short list of female athletes to accomplish this lofty goal. Parker, never tired, also managed to be one of the Academic All American basketball players for her time at UTENN.

Recently, at the same time that Parker posed on the magazine cover at ESPN Sports and it was revealed that she is pregnant After the cover shots were taken and the story was prepared, they discovered that she was pregnant. So her teammates, her family and Sparks ownership all recently found out that their star will be out for the entire 2009 season. The cover shot was for ESPN’s March female athlete month focus, an annual event. WNBA fans will have to wait another season to see their WNBA Rookie of the Year this back on the court.