“Above everything else, I think it’s the safety of our players,” Phoenix Mercury’s Natasha Cloud had opined in May this year as she welcomed a landmark decision set to change the face of the WNBA. As conversations around a player’s overall well-being came to the forefront—intensified by the attention Caitlin Clark gets publicly—the league decided it would finally give what the community was long asking for: A full-time charter flight service for its teams.

The players were happy, the league was happy, fans were happy. However, amid all this, some couldn’t help but feel remorse that the decision didn’t come earlier. And one of them is former basketball player Candace Parker, who had unfortunately retired just a month prior to the announcement. During her career, the 38-year-old has been a three-time WNBA champion, a seven-time All-WNBA First Team, a two-time WNBA MVP, along with one count of being the Finals MVP, among various other iconic achievements. Yet, some regrets or rather complaints still stay…

In a conversation on the Bloomberg Originals show on November 6, the Parker sat down with Jason Kelly and former baseball player Alex Rodriguez to discuss her career and retirement—where she detailed how the WNBA was falling far behind compared to leagues in Russia. However, before we get to that part…

At one point, Kelly asked her, “You’re both the rookie of the year and the MVP. So you’re not a scrub player. You are literally the best player. And, and this is the economics of the situation. So, fast forwarding just for a minute, do you have some measure of cognitive dissonance then? Looking at where the W is now and thinking about what it was not that long ago?” pointing out the perks her successors currently enjoy. To this, the veteran highlighted the strenuous routine they had to follow during the season: “Well, I’m pissed that they started chartering the year I retired. I’m not gonna lie, because our back to backs used to be…we would play and then we’d go to sleep and then we’d wake up to take the 6:00 AM flight. And then we’d still play the next day. Yeah. So, I, you know, it makes me a little angry because it would’ve been nice to, you know, for your body to kind of catch that charter flight.”

For the unversed: The league plans to invest $50 million dollars ($25 million each for two seasons) for the next two years to provide full-time charter flight service for its teams during the season. This essentially means no getting up early, no queues, waiting or layovers. “Our league is growing, the demand for women’s basketball is growing…Chartering flights not only is a safety measure, the biggest thing, and then obviously what it means to be able to play a game and go home and rest and recover and be the elite athletes that we try to be every single night when we step out onto this court. It’s a great day for our league as a whole that we are able to get here and we’re going to continue to grow and continue to build and continue to push for even better,” the league’s president Nnuke Ogwumike had said at the time.

Notably, this comes after footage surfaced of Caitlin Clark walking through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with light security and the subsequent public outcry. As Cloud had pointed out, “At airports, it’s like a madhouse. You see Caitlin Clark walking through airports, people following her, people trying to touch her, get pictures with her. It’s just a safety measure, through and through. You would never have an NBA team walk through an airport.” Besides, who doesn’t remember the Brittney Griner incident in June last year? The Mercury player was harassed by a man described as a social media “provocateur” at a Dallas airport, who forced her to speak about her nearly 10-month imprisonment in Russia.

The player’s agent had called for “charters and enhanced security measures for all players” at the time.

As for Candace Parker, she also highlighted how hard the league was when she played, giving examples of not being able to find a gym for whenever she wanted to work out “because we didn’t have a practice facility…So more so I’m mad because I’m thinking of how much better I could have been if I had an offseason if I didn’t have to go overseas. And I could have put weight on and I could have bulked up in the weight room and focus on what I wanted to improve on.”

But then the former pro stated, “But I mean I feel like all of us feel a responsibility and a part of the growth that’s happening right now.”

At one point, the former player also mentioned how the lack of opportunities forced her to look for opportunities overseas, because “That’s how you take care of your family.” She even compared the the WNBA to other leagues around the world (particularly Russia) and noted:

“At the time, all of us were saying that we hope at some point in time we don’t have to go overseas. But I think you go where the money is, and it was just the ability to take care of my family. And over there I played for one of the best clubs in Russia. We had chefs, we had drivers, we flew private amazing apartments. Yes, it was a sacrifice, but…I was able to capitalize on the things that I was missing in the league. Like the things we didn’t have. And it was just unfortunate that we had to go thousands of miles away to actually get equitable pay and to be taken care of like we should.”

Notably, in 2o24, Parker was set to earn $100,000—a significant fall difference from the Las Vegas Aces’ Jackie Young with the highest salary of $252,420 per year. Clark, on the other hand, takes home $84,514 per year, as part of her $338,056, four-year rookie deal.

Nevertheless, the 3x WNBA champion couldn’t help but think, ‘What if?’

Candace Parker imagines an NIL era for herself

It was only three years ago when college athletes’ lives were forever changed by new NCAA rulings in 2021. Their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) valuation could be used to earn money, which was a landmark change in college sports. Caitlin Clark had deals with a combined estimate of $3.1 million, with brands like Nike and Gatorade. Candace Parker was close to retiring when the new rulings came.

The 3x WNBA champ said in the same podcast about how she wants to be happy about where the league is at right now, “But man, if I would’ve had NIL in college. You know, you gotta think about what if occasionally, and, but I’m happy for the doors that are open right now. And I hope to be a part of the process of continuing to open those doors.” The only W rookie to ever win not only ROTY but also MVP, which she did in 2008, Parker would have been a huge NIL hit at the University of Tennessee.

Nevertheless, Candace Parker is happy with where the W is right now, thanks to Caitlin Clark, yes, but also all the players that make up the league. “I also look at the doors that are opening now and look at where the sport is. I work with a lot of angry old heads, I don’t wanna be the angry old head.” 

Furthermore, she also suggested some necessary changes to uplift the leagues as a whole. “Well, long term, I think we’re taking care of the front and center athletes, but there’s very few front and center forward facing that would’ve probably made their money anyway. And I think over time, as we’re looking at the WNBA, the MLB, you always gotta take care of your median income. Health insurance, stipends, whether they are actually gonna be considered a union at some point? I think those are all things that should come up for conversation, just because the NCAA is a business and we’re seeing it’s necessary to be able to take care of your athletes, not just the ones that are gonna be able to sign the endorsement deals and get the national commercials.”

Caitlin Clark or no Caitlin Clark, Parker will clearly continue to extend her support to the sport she loves. But the presence of a famous rookie certainly helps bring in more eyes and better facilities! What do you think?