Candace Parker, the rookie star out of the University of Tennessee, who helped Coach Pat Summitt win two NCAA championships, dunked in a game for the Los Angeles Sparks yesterday, the second game in a row that she had done so.
Only two women have dunked in a WNBA regular season game - Lisa Leslie, who did it way back in 2002, and never did it again, and Candace Parker, who has now done it twice in two games.
During the various sports talk shows today, ‘Round the Horn’’ and ‘‘Pardon the Interruption’, the emphasis was not on the fact that she’d dunked twice… but on whether or not such dunks were even newsworthy.
Dunks are commonplace in the NBA, and let’s face it, they’re much more spectacular. Guys elevating above the rim and then slamming down the rock - that leaves people breathless.
But Parker’s dunks are simply the hand over the rim, and stuffing it down.
Nevertheless, yes it is a big deal… because it’s something that women haven’t been able to do until now.
The PTI crew showed a 10-second video of a female high-school player - who is 6 feet 8, who can not only dunk the ball but does it in traffic. When she – Brittney Griner – gets to college and then the WNBA – look out!