Candace Parker's Chicago Championship Homecoming Becomes Reality

CHICAGO — Skytown is now officially Titletown and it’s fitting that it happened in Candace Parker’s back yard.

It’s fitting that the former WNBA champion is again a WNBA champion in the city where she was brought to help deliver Chicago’s first professional women's basketball title. It’s fitting that not only did it happen, but that the Naperville native had the ball in her hands when the buzzer sounded on Sunday's 80-74 victory over the Phoenix Mercury at Wintrust Arena.

The tears of happiness flowed freely as the final seconds ticked away and once the deal was done, Parker sprinted down the floor and embraced her family. Sometimes, the script writes itself in a basketball moment at almost seemed destined to happen where it did.

“It’s crazy. I had flashbacks from high school when I first realized we won the state championship,” said Parker, who won two state titles at Naperville Central, where she was twice the Gatorade National Player of the Year and thrice the Illinois Player of the Year. “It was kind of similar. It was amazing to hug my dad and my mom and my family and it’s just an amazing feeling to be from here and see so many people in the stands that have been supporting you since you started.”

For much of Sunday afternoon, the Sky's championship chances didn’t look good. The Sky trailed by as many as 14 points and still trailed in the waning moments. But when Chicago cranked up its defense and the Mercury missed three wide-open, close-range shots while clinging to a slim lead, the door of opportunity opened to the Sky. The momentum shifted and Wintrust Arena, which had been silenced for much of Sunday afternoon, again roared back to life.

Parker was there for all of it. But there were plenty of other reasons why the Sky were able close out the series at home.

Allie Quigley’s 3-point shooting changed the tenor of a game that all but seemed over. The Sky’s defense, which hadn’t found ways to stop Phoenix’s Brittney Griner, suddenly tightened as the offense found some rhythm. Kahleah Copper, named the Finals MVP, may have been the emotional leader of this championship run. But make no mistake. This is Candace Parker’s team. And maybe, now Chicago is Candace Parker’s town.

This moment had to happen at home. The Sky could have easily traveled to Phoenix for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Tuesday. But the fact it happened in a city that was once the capitol of championship basketball embraced a team that didn’t get much pub until the Finals arrived suddenly seemed appropriate.

Wintrust Arena became the place to be this weekend. The Sky sold the joint out in Games 3 and 4 headlined by Chance The Rapper, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and a host of Chicago Bears players who turned out Friday before having other business to attend to Sunday. Parker and her teammates acknowledged the support from Chicago, which is no stranger to championships, but that hadn't seen once since 2016 and hadn't witnessed a title captured on a professional basketball court since 1998.

Like Parker, Quigley grew up in Chicago’s shadow and starred at Joliet Catholic before playing collegiately at DePaul. Quigley said Sunday that she stuck with the Sky with hopes of capturing a championship after the Sky lost in the Finals in 2014 and that thanks to the team's coach and general manager was a big reason why.

James Wade said when he was hired in 2018 that this team would win a championship. He sensed that all the franchise had all of the makings of a title-caliber team. It just had to believe. That faith is a big reason why Parker came back to Chicago based on the premise she could be the final piece of the puzzle and that this city would ride Parker's championship experience all the way to a title.

And on Sunday, the final piece was put into place.

“Faith is something you can’t see – you just have to believe," Wade said. “It’s just something that’s in me and you give it to them, and you sound crazy enough that they believe it.”

The Sky believed and stuck together behind the leadership of Parker, Copper and Quigley. They twice won single-elimination games and knocked off the overall No. 1 seed in the semifinals. And as the faith continued to mature, the confidence grew and the Sky took the city along for the ride, culminating with Sunday’s title moment and Parker and her teammates basked in their new reality.

“We’re champions for life,” Parker said Sunday.

And it's only fitting that it happened right where it was supposed to and for all the world to see.