Holdsclaw retires

I know it's the WNBA, and some of you won't care, but this is a bit of a surprise -- one worthy of its own thread. She was one of the three or four best college players ever -- and I don't think she's 30 yet. I know she battled a serious case of depression a few years ago when she was in Washington and it doesn't appear that this had anything to do with that.

http://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news;_ylt=AiHT43X5sF6RIBKEqR3sLdM5nYcB?slug=ap-sparks-holdsclawretires&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

She's 29. Weird really. She re-signed over the summer, and had played this season.

 

I know Chamique has been struggling with the depression, but the fact that her grandmother died - the woman primarily responsible for raising her - probably hasn't helped Holdsclaw's outlook.

I can only hope she finds happiness somewhere ... somehow. Her emergence at the professional level could have helped give the WNBA a badly-needed shot in the arm.

 

Now they're just going to have to wait on another Vol to see about that.

 

Holdsclaw was a hella good WNBA player, and it did little for the league. I don't think her emergence would have helped the league much. I think she was as good a player as she was going to be. She played in a big market and, well, nobody cared.

 

You're right, SC. But as much as David Stern latches onto and markets individual players on the men's side, a transcendent player has yet to really emerge in the WNBA. One that makes editors feel noteworthy of a weekend feature that otherwise doesn't bother with WNBA standings or capsules, much less gamers.

Chamique was good, of course, but she was almost being banked on as a Stern marketing centerpiece. That didn't happen.

 

We'll have to see if Candace Parker has the charisma to go with that obvious game. Maybe it's just me, but she hasn't grabbed ahold of the women's game the way Holdsclaw did. I hope I'm dead wrong before all is said and done, though.

 

It's just you. Candace is probably the only woman in the college game that people who don't follow it know. She's pretty, outgoing, intelligent and a great player. She's got all the markings of an athlete who'll be able to bring fans to a sport they don't normally follow.

 

Parker hasn't even taken over the college game like Taurasi did. She might next year, though, and since ESPN televises WNBA games, get ready for every possible Parker story that could be written or on-screen featurized.

 

Hammer Pants captured better what I was trying to say than I did.

That's what I meant, SC. Hey, I like Candace. It's pretty obvious she has the ability to be transcendent. I haven't seen it yet. I think she has at least a couple more notches in ability and game we haven't seen. When we do - I won't even say "if" - she could be that shot in the arm for women's basketball.

 

The WNBA is going to have to market Parker's abilities -- which are many -- beyond the fact that she can dunk. The league seemed to try that with Lisa Leslie and it didn't get it very far. Then again, Parker can dunk a lot better than Leslie ever could.

 

First it was Holdsclaw.
Then it was Taurasi.
Before them it was Lobo and Swoops.
All those players were supposed to transcend the gender barrier, etc.
No one has.