adidas Basketball Honors Candace Parker With Surprise Ceremony At WNBA All-Star Weekend

The surprise ceremony celebrated Parker's new role as president of adidas Women's Basketball.

Adidas Women’s Basketball orchestrated an intimate ceremony to honor Candace Parker’s extraordinary journey and her groundbreaking new role as president of the brand during WNBA All-Star Weekend.

The surprise ceremony brought together Parker’s closest friends, loved ones, and other WNBA athletes to celebrate the basketball great’s 16-year collaboration with adidas.

“I’m so happy to represent a brand that believes in what I believe in, want my opinion and want to push the game forward,” Parker said, according to a press release. “I’m so grateful to adidas.”

In 2008, Parker joined adidas during her WNBA rookie season. In 2010, she became the first woman to have a signature adidas shoe, the ACE Commander. In her playing career, which ended in 2023, Parker was one of the league’s all-time greats, winning two MVP awards.

The ceremony follows the brand naming Parker its first-ever president of adidas Women’s Basketball in May, a position created to advance the brand’s commitment to women’s sports. Notable figures like Chelsea Gray and Sue Bird spoke at the ceremony, praising Parker’s trailblazing efforts and her impact both on and off the court.

Moved by the recognition, Parker told the audience to “never stop opening doors for women.” She added, “I’m so grateful for where the game is right now…To the players that are still playing – enjoy it. Your responsibility is to open up more doors for the next and do the impossible.”

WNBA All-Star weekend started with the annual ACE Party following adidas Women’s Basketball’s ceremony for Parker. Prominent guests such as Angel Reese and Megan Rapinoe attended, with Flau’jae Johnson delivering a performance to cap off the evening.

“Both moments mark the brand’s commitment to amplifying women in basketball and uniting the robust roster of athlete partners into a sisterhood,” the press release stated.

Visit adidas Women’s Basketball to shop products from Parker’s collection.