Candace Parker makes ROY pick between Paige Bueckers vs Sonia Citron
Lately, WNBA legend Candace Parker has offered her unvarnished opinions on all things about the league. Especially, when it comes to critiquing the current cream of the crop.
All of which is filtering through her podcast Post Moves alongside Fever center Aliyah Boston.
On the latest episode, Parker provided her analysis of the battle for Rookie of the Year. It is a contest between Paige Bueckers and Sonia Citrton.
On Citron, Parker contends she's giving the heavily favored Bueckers a run for her money.
'Sonia is like, listen, everybody had you as a preseason Rookie of The Year favorite Paige, but the last six games she is putting it up for debate,' Parker said. 'I mean 19.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.8 steals. She's kind of doing it all. But obviously Paige is just so calm, cool, and collected. I think the only unfavorable kind of check on Paige's side is that she has missed seven games. There are no such rules in the WNBA of an amount of games that you have to play to be eligible for, you know, postseason awards like there are in the NBA.'
Ultimately, Parker decided upon Bueckers as ROY, but with a caveat.
'Back in July, Paige became the first player in WBA history to total 350 points, 100 assists in the first 20 games of their career,' she said. 'And so Paige is having herself a season. I think it's just a matter of her being on the court, is what all of us want to see. So this could be interesting. I think I give the nod to Paige Bueckers for Rookie of the Year, but Sonia, make me change my ways.'
Candace Parker's embrace of the next generation of WNBA stars
In 2024, Parker retired from basketball after 16 seasons in the WNBA. Since then, she's not stayed far away from the game at all.
Her commentary, however it comes across, conveys a deep seeded interest in what the next generation of players will do.
Recently, she's made blunt comments about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. With Clark, Parker said that her eventual return from injury would make her even better.
When it comes to Reese, Parker gave her a C grading on her performance. In all, Parker is not the least bit shy in assessing the players giving her high basketball IQ.
Related: WNBA viewership, attendance increase slightly despite Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese absence
Related: Caitlin Clark 'Rookie of the Year' Nike Kobe 5 releasing Spring 2026
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