Does Candace Parker have an MVP resume?
WNBA
The statistics are there for the Sparks' rookie, but her team has woefully underachieved.
Candace Parker of the Sparks came into Thursday night's game against the Atlanta Dream leading the league in rebounding, second in blocked shots, fourth in scoring and field-goal percentage, fifth in minutes played and among the top 25 in steals and assists.
Does that mean she is a lock for the league's most valuable player award?
Not in the mind of Detroit Coach Bill Laimbeer.
"Stats don't mean they're the MVP," he said.
Defining what constitutes a most valuable player has always been tricky, but as the WNBA regular season winds up this weekend, identifying which player deserves the award is like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube.
Parker's biggest downfall, according to Laimbeer, is she plays for a team that has vastly underachieved this season, most recently in Thursday's double-digit loss to the Dream, which came into the game with a 3-29 record.
The Sparks (19-14), on the other hand, were predicted to win the WNBA title with three Olympians in the starting lineup.
"A team that has underachieved that badly does not deserve to have an MVP," Laimbeer said.
Other coaches disagree, citing Parker's overall impact.
"Candace has only been around one year, but she certainly has made her mark in the league," said Atlanta Coach Marynell Meadors, who has more than 35 years of coaching experience at the college and professional levels.
What impresses Meadors even more is the durability of Parker, who has been playing elite basketball almost straight through from the summer of 2007, with USA Basketball, the Tennessee Lady Vols and then the Sparks and the U.S. Olympic team, including the last six months with a bothersome shoulder injury.
"If you take those away and she's healthy, she could lead the league every year in scoring and rebounding," Meadors said.
Before offering his own thoughts on who should be MVP, Sparks Coach Michael Cooper provided this definition:
"An MVP, to me, is a player who obviously leads her team, both on and off the floor," Cooper said. "An MVP is someone that's a go-to player that you can throw it to them and they can get it done. An MVP is a player that makes the other players around them better."
Cooper said Parker possessed those qualities this season, as did teammate Lisa Leslie, a former three-time MVP. He also said point guards Sue Bird of Seattle, Lindsay Whalen of Connecticut and Becky Hammon of San Antonio fit that definition.
