WNBA Western Conference

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No one loves the game more than the Mercury guard, a leading contender for WNBA MVP, but even she didn't understand what hoops meant to her until a string of harrowing events threatened to derail her career

CANDACE PARKER IS BACK—SO IS SHERYL SWOOPES!—BUT THE BIGGEST STORY REMAINS ANOTHER MAJOR STORM BREWING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

THE LONE REMAINING PROFESSIONAL HOOPS TEAM IN SEATTLE HAS NOT JUST SURVIVED IN THE WAKE OF THE SONICS' DEPARTURE, THEY HAVE THRIVED THANKS TO THEIR OWNERS' WILLINGNESS TO DREAM BIG

L.A. forward Candace Parker plays all five positions and can light it up and throw it down. Most important, the former WNBA MVP, still only 25, is finally injury-free, which is just one of many tantalizing storylines...