Is Candace Parker married? All about relationships as WNBA legend’s jersey retired by LA Sparks

In 2024, Candace Parker officially retired from the WNBA after a remarkable 13-season career with the Los Angeles Sparks. On June 29, 2025, the team hosted a special halftime ceremony at Crypto.com Arena to have her legendary No. 3 jersey retired, as per Sports Illustrated.

After Lisa Leslie and Penny Toler, the star athlete is now the third Sparks player to have a jersey retirement ceremony at the rafters of Crypto.com Arena.

Addressing her speech to the attendees, Candace Parker shared,

"It's about enjoying the process, enjoying the journey … LA isn’t just about ball, it’s now where we call home."

Amid news of Parker's halftime ceremony, her fans are curious to know more about her private life. According to a Distractify report, she is married to Russian basketball player Anna Petrakov.

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Candace Parker's No. 3 jersey was retired in a recent ceremony

The event was organized during the team's game against the Chicago Sky. Candace's pride, her No. 3 Los Angeles Sparks jersey, was lifted to the rafters, acknowledging her expertise, contributions, and athletic spirit.

During the halftime speech, as AP News cited, Candace Parker opened up about her journey, noting,

"I represent coming from a family that told me I could do and be anything. I’m really proud of that kid. I think I’d do things exactly the same way because it’s why I’m sitting here. I made mistakes and took two steps forward and one back, but I was always moving forward."

Reflecting on playing for her team, she further continued,

"When I got drafted out here, it’s become home. I've lived here longer than anywhere else. It’s super important to see this jersey in the rafters before any others because my 13 years here were super special. It was ups, downs, wins, losses, heartaches and rewards but it’s super special to share that with my teammates and coaches with an organization that bet on me with the first pick in the 2008 WNBA draft. That was a long time ago."

Adidas Basketball paid a special tribute to Candace Parker and shared beautiful glimpses of her jersey retirement ceremony.

Lauding her impressive career, the caption reads,

"Three championships, two MVPs, one legendary career."

Adidas also congratulated the iconic basketball player, penning,

"Congratulations @candaceparker on your jersey being retired by the LA Sparks — a tribute to a legacy that changed the game and continues to inspire generations."

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Candace Parker's dating history explored

It appears Candace prefers keeping her personal life under wraps. While she often makes headlines for her illustrious career, she rarely speaks about her partner. Let's take a look at her relationships over the years.

Shelden Williams

Candace Parker was married to Shelden Williams. According to a report by Cleveland.com, Parker was reunited with Williams when he was playing for Duke and she was the collegiate star for the University of Tennessee, although they had known each other since high school.

They tied the knot on November 13, 2008. A few months later, they welcomed their daughter Lailaa Nicole Williams on May 13, 2009.

In 2016, Shelden Williams filed for divorce from Candace Parker, TMZ reported, as cited by Bleacher Report. After their separation in August, he made this significant decision in November, stating "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their split.

While filing for a divorce, the former NBA player also requested joint custody of his daughter, whom he shares with Parker. Their divorce was finalized by April 2018, and the former couple agreed to co-parent their daughter with joint custody without spousal support.

Anna Petrakov

In 2021, Candace Parker announced her marriage to Anna Petrakov as per People. They chose to keep the news away from the spotlight for the first two years.

According to The Sun, the pair first met in 2012 while playing together at UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia. However, it was a couple of years later when they began dating.

In an August 2022 interview with TIME, the lovebirds opened up about their proposal on Candace's birthday trip to Mexico. Recalling the moment when Parker popped the question to Petrakova, she revealed,

"It literally took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on."

The Los Angeles Sparks star proposed to her with a cake with "Will you marry us?" written on top. Lailaa had the cake during the proposal.

Reflecting on including her daughter in this special occasion, Candace said,

"She knows that Lailaa is the center of my entire universe. So we come in a package deal. It was important for the dynamic duo to be upgraded to the Big Three."

During an interview with TIME, she confessed to being against coming out of the closet. Explaining why she felt so, she elaborated,

"I was always against ‘coming out’ because I felt like in this society, in this day and age, you shouldn’t have to do that. Society had a way of putting this pressure on people to come out. And I don’t think it should be that way. I think there were a number of media members who knew about my family. And they supported it. They didn’t out me. Or they didn’t put pressure on me to expose my living situation."

She also conveyed how, in a world where oversharing is common, one should be able to keep their privacy as well:

"We live in an oversharing world. You should be able to choose the parts of your life that you share and the parts you keep private. And I hope I was able to open up the door of conversations. And open up the door of how valuable it is to have support."

Parker and Petrakova exchanged vows in December 2019, in an intimate and private ceremony. They also welcomed two sons together, Airr Larry Petrakov Parker and Hartt Summitt Petrakov Parker.