Who is NBA 2K22 cover star Candace Parker?
CANDACE Parker is a Chicago Sky WBNA star who has played in the league for 13 years. It was announced that Parker will grace the cover of NBA 2K22, a decision for female basketball. Candace Nicole Parker is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the WBNA. She was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. At 6ft 4in, she typically plays the forward and center position. She was born April 18, 1986 and raised in St Louis, Missouri. 3 Parker was drafted by the WBNA in 2008 Credit: Getty Images - Getty  Parker is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who will be commentating the medal rounds at the Tokyo Games. The basketball star will appear on the NBA 2K22 cover for the WNBA 25th anniversary special edition when it's released on September 10. She's the first female in 2K history to appear on the cover. "I grew up a video game fanatic, that's what I did, to the point where my brothers would give me the fake controller when I was younger where I think I was playing and I wasn't," Parker told ESPN. "All I wanted to do was just be like them. As a kid growing up, you dream of having your own shoe and dream of being in a video game. Those are an athlete as a kid's dreams. To be able to experience that, I don't take it lightly." 3 Parker is the first cover star to appear on NBA 2K Credit: Getty Images - Getty  She said she appreciates the honor more so now as she's gotten older. "I think when you're young and experience these type of things, you're onto the next thing," she said. "As I've gotten older, I've really savored the moment." The Chicago Sky star continued to speak on the importance of visibility. "I think it's a benchmark of women's basketball for sure. I think most importantly it speaks to visibility and how important it is and how important the WNBA is," Parker said. "Everyone is looking at it that it's impacting little girls, but it's also impacting little boys and young men and young women and men and women. I think our game is different than the NBA; now it's embracing that fact. Now more than ever, fans want to follow the athlete. Through social media, through video games, it's adding and benefiting the WNBA." Parker joins Luka Doncic, who was named the cover athlete for the game's regular edition, and Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who were recognized as cover athletes for the NBA 75th anniversary edition. The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8. The opening ceremony will take place on July 23. The first two days will include the preliminary matches of football and softball, one of the new sports to be introduced to the Olympics. In total, the Tokyo Games will feature 339 events across 33 sports. The games will be hosted in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Nationwide, Japan has reported about 811,000 coronavirus cases and more than 14,800 deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization. On July 8,2021, the Olympics organizers announced that all spectators would be banned from this year's games.