LOS ANGELES — Candace Parker took the second left instead of the first, sat in an unfamiliar locker room and warmed up on the opposite side of the court. After 13 years as a Spark, returning to Los Angeles for the first time as an opposing player felt backward, but her performance felt painfully familiar to those who watched her leave.
Parker dazzled in her first game in L.A. since bolting for the Chicago Sky last year with 10 points, 10 assists and 14 rebounds in an 82-59 blowout win Thursday at an arena she knew as Staples Center.
"It will always be Staples to me," Parker said. "It will not be Crypto.com."
