Candace Parker and Allen Iverson have come full circle as the iconic WNBA star was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on August 15, 2026. The story is as interesting as it gets.

Parker has been a massive Iverson fan since she was young. In fact, he was the one who inspired her to pick up the sport. At the induction ceremony, he was also one of her presenters.

This was certainly a huge moment for Parker. She did not miss the chance to hand him his flowers during her speech.

"AI will always stand for Allen Iverson," Parker said at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony via Oh No He Didn't X handle. "I don't care what today says. It will always stand for Allen Iverson."

The clever wordplay is an obvious dig at artificial intelligence. However, it represents how Parker feels about the man who inspired her.

When she was young, she was a huge Iverson fan. Her brother, Anthony Parker, played with Iverson for the Philadelphia 76ers. The NBA legend discovered that his teammate's sister was a huge fan and sent her his finger bands.

Parker would continue to wear Iverson's gifted finger bands throughout her high school matches. She even decided to wear a No. 3 jersey in her professional career, just like her inspiration.

Therefore, the two knew about one another long before Parker became a WNBA legend in her own right. During her career, she became a 3x WNBA Champion, 7x WNBA All-Star, 10x All-WNBA, 2x WNBA MVP, and more.

With her induction into the Hall of Fame, perhaps being honored by her very inspiration is yet another accolade to be added to her list of accomplishments.

However, Iverson wasn't the only one she celebrated during her induction speech.

Candace Parker recalls a text from Kobe Bryant pulling her out of a tough situation

During her induction speech, Candace Parker emphasized how she wanted her story to be "despite" her difficulties. The player underwent 10 knee surgeries, two foot injuries, and a shoulder injury, among other difficulties.

However, she still showed up to play as well as to practice. In 2016, as the Los Angeles Sparks played against the Minnesota Lynx, she received the perfect message at the perfect time from perhaps the best person.

“Finally, in 2016, game five at Minnesota for the title, I get a text from Kobe." She said in her speech, as reported by Cydney Henderson of USA Today.

That message stuck with her heading into the biggest game of her career.

"He says, ‘Do it the hard way. It's always better that way. You can't die with bullets in the chamber.’ I finally just had played that game like I was a kid again. I was free, not worried about the outcome. I really, in fact, just hooped."

The Sparks went on to win the game on an offensive rebound by Nneka Ogwumike, giving Parker the championship she had fought so hard to reach.

Years later, that same grit helped carry her to the Hall of Fame, where she could finally celebrate the people who helped shape her journey.

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Written by

Prit Chauhan

Edited by

Rudra Dubey