Candace Parker

Candace Parker is wearing a simple white dress and the biggest smile imaginable. She is cradling her belly, which carries her unborn child, as she poses for this cover of a magazine aimed at readers who expect to see LeBron or Manny. But on the cover of the issue of ESPN the Magazine that will be on newsstands Friday it is Parker, the Sparks star, who will look the buyer in the eye beside the headline, "How Big Can Candace Parker Get?"

Candace Parker spoke with a non-stop giggle in her voice. She is in Chicago, staying with her family as she prepares for the birth of her first child with her new husband, Sacramento Kings basketball player Shelden Williams. Parker on Friday talked publicly for the first time since announcing she and Williams, who eloped last November, are expecting and that she probably will miss a part of the Sparks season, which begins in May.

Candace Parker, Tennessee's All-American forward, will skip her final season at Tennessee for the chance to play professionally. "This was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make, but my family and I think this is the best choice for me," the 6-foot-4 Parker said. Parker, averaging 20.6 points and 8.8 rebounds, is regarded as the top pick in April's WNBA draft. The Sparks have the rights to the No. 1 pick.

Even with an injured shoulder, Candace Parker was still able to lift Tennessee into another Final Four. Parker scored 26 points and returned after dislocating her left shoulder to lead the Lady Vols out of a second-half deficit for a 53-45 win over Texas A&M in the Oklahoma City Regional final Tuesday night. She twice left the game in the first half with the injury and she didn't return until about halfway through the second half.

The injury this week to Tennessee women's basketball star Candace Parker should have no effect on her status heading into next week's WNBA draft, according to some of the league's coaches, including Michael Cooper of the Sparks, who hold the No. 1 pick. Parker, a redshirt junior for the Lady Vols and the NCAA player of the year last season, dislocated her left shoulder twice Tuesday night in a 53-45 victory over Texas A&M in the Oklahoma City Regional final of the NCAA tournament.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Stanford plans to force Tennessee standout Candace Parker to play with her left hand in tonight's NCAA championship game. Up until this point of her college career, everything has always gone right. As in, she could do no wrong, because she can score with either hand, from up close or from outside, and has the awards to prove it. But an injured left shoulder has thrown a curve at the 6-foot-4 redshirt junior and given the Cardinal at least some kind of idea on how to defend her.

Somewhere between the mashed carrots and mixed vegetables, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker began to sense it. Leslie, the Sparks' three-time league most valuable player, and Parker, the team's highly acclaimed rookie, were in a South Bay grocery store shopping for Mother's Day cards and baby food. And then it happened. Next thing they knew, they were holding an impromptu autograph session in Aisle 2.

PHOENIX -- Candace Parker had some jitters in her WNBA debut. It sure didn't show. Parker scored 34 points, the most in a WNBA debut, and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Sparks beat the defending champion Phoenix Mercury, 99-94, on Saturday. The previous high in a WNBA debut was 25 points by Cynthia Cooper in 1997. "It obviously was better than I expected," said the 6-foot-4 Parker, who led Tennessee to back-to-back national titles. "Coming out, I just wanted to play hard.

PHOENIX -- If for Candace Parker the rest of the WNBA season goes anything like it did during the Sparks' opening game here Saturday, folks like me are going to be in deep trouble. By season's end, the descriptions will be exhausted. How many times can you write the words fantastic, superb and perfect?

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tan White scored 11 of her 20 points in the second overtime, and the Indiana Fever held off the Sparks, 82-78, on Thursday night to hand Candace Parker her first professional loss. Parker had 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocked shots, five assists and five steals. The rookie from Tennessee scored six points in the final minute of the second overtime to keep the Sparks in the game. It was a wild game that featured failed dunk attempts by Parker and Lisa Leslie.