OKLAHOMA CITY — Not far from here, just down the road inside a cozy high school gym in Midwest City, one stunning moment created a legend.
A smiling 17-year-old with braided hair elevated off the floor, covered her eyes with her left arm and made history in the Slam Dunk contest of the McDonald’s High School All-American Game.
Candace Parker beat the boys, including future Kentucky star Joe Crawford. She joined LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter as winners of the McDonald’s Slam Dunk contest. She was Billie Jean King with hops.
Four years later, Parker’s college career nears its conclusion just eight miles from where it lifted off. In between, she’s transformed from novelty to respected player to national champion to the woman who can revolutionize the WNBA next season.
“And,” Tennessee center Nicky Anosike said, attempting to stifle a laugh, “Candace has definitely gotten her hair done since then.”
It began that evening at Carl Albert High School, the twisted path of Parker’s collegiate career that continues tonight when Tennessee meets Notre Dame in a regional semifinal at the Ford Center. Realization No. 1: Dunking would overshadow the rest of her game.
She never imagined the impact of competing in the dunk contest. After all, future Duke and UConn star Brittany Hunter competed the year before with little fanfare, particularly after missing her attempts.
Parker dunked once for the judges to gain admission into the contest and decided to compete despite tearing her ACL less than a year before the event. She can’t even remember who suggested that she attempt a no-look dunk, just that it was “some guy on the sideline.”
She made the dunk — getting 10s from all the judges except former NFL running back Barry Sanders — and Crawford missed twice to give Parker the title.
“It was exciting,” Parker said, “but it was one of those things where it was just like it was kind of the end of high school and moving on to college. I was kind of looking forward to bigger and better things.”
The wait lasted longer than she expected. She was not the two-time Naismith Player of the Year. She was the girl who could dunk.
After dunking twice against Army in the 2006 NCAA tournament, Parker seemed peeved at the hype. George Washington coach Joe McKeown expressed his annoyance at all the attention, saying the women’s game was “better than that.” Parker’s other accomplishments as a redshirt freshman seemed irrelevant.
“I felt like when I came on the scene, people were like, ‘Oh, that’s the girl that can dunk,’” Parker said.
An unshakable will, an unsurpassed work ethic and a commitment to improve every aspect of her game helped her shed the label. The intent of her college career, she said, was to become more than a one-dimensional player.
She was not going to be the girl who dunked. She was going to be a national champion, the best player in the country. She’s averaging 21.1 points per game this year, the highest of her career. Her steals are up. He turnovers are down. She’s more efficient on the offensive glass.
Parker is finally the player coach Pat Summitt hoped would evolve at Tennessee after watching her dunk in the McDonald’s All-American game.
“I didn’t know at that time that she was going to be the great player that she has become,” Summitt said, “because I didn’t know how hard she was going to work.
“I think the thing that has allowed her to elevate her skills and her game overall is her commitment. She is the one player on our team that has been in the gym the most and worked on her ball-handling, her left-hand hook, her right-hand hook, her jump shot and playing off the dribble.”
Summitt never mentioned dunking. Parker appears disinterested in that aspect of the game. Every day, Summitt said, Parker finds one part of her game that needs improvement and works on it that day. She’s trying to win a championship in her final year. There’s no time for dunking.
“I feel like, now, people recognize that my game isn’t just that,” Parker said.
Funny, her legend started just down the road from the Ford Center with flying braids and a dunk.
“I’m excited to be back here, where it all started,” she said. “This is where college all started.”
And, she hopes, not where it ends.
