MINNEAPOLIS — To say 2008 was a monumental year for Candace Parker would be an understatement.

She completed her collegiate career at Tennessee by leading the Lady Vols to their second straight NCAA championship and earning her second straight Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor.

A day later, the Los Angeles Sparks selected her first overall in the WNBA Draft. A month later, she began her professional career with the greatest debut in WNBA history, posting 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in a Sparks win.

In addition to making her Sparks debut, she also made her Olympic debut in 2008 as a member of the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Beijing.

She returned to the WNBA to make even more history, becoming the first (and only) WNBA player to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors in the same season. The only other professional basketball players to accomplish that feat are Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld in the NBA.

Her Sparks team entered the 2008 WNBA Playoffs as the third seed in the West, and after dispatching of Seattle in the first round, they matched up with top-seeded San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals. The Sparks took Game 1 at home and were in position to sweep the then-Silver Stars, holding a one-point lead with just 1.3 seconds to play.

Then this happened.

Sophia Young’s improbable turnaround jumper that hit the backboard, then the rim, then the backboard again before falling through at the buzzer kept San Antonio alive and forced a decisive Game 3. In another tight game, the Silver Stars prevailed by four points to advance to the WNBA Finals and send the Sparks home for the season.

Just 1.3 seconds separated Parker from the Finals in her first season. It would take just over eight years – 2,927 days or 252,892,800 seconds to be exact – for Parker to have another opportunity to punch her ticket to the Finals. And she did just that by leading the Sparks to a 95-75 win over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday to give L.A. a 3-1 series win and set up a matchup with Minnesota Lynx for the title.

“My rookie season I thought I would be in this situation at least four of five times by now,” said Parker. “But you never know what your journey is going to hold. For me personally as an individual, I’ve learned that you’ve got to grasp the moment and when opportunity knocks, you answer it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huORRdnIznI

In her postgame press conference, Parker summed up her journey rather simply: “Man, it’s been a long time coming — jeez.”

The journey from her unprecedented 2008 season to her first Finals appearance in 2016 has been a roller coaster full of ups, downs and unexpected turns. There have been wins, losses, awards, motherhood (2009), injuries (2010, 2011), another Olympics (2012), another MVP (2013) and more playoff appearances… but no championship.

This year alone has been quite a ride for Parker. Before the WNBA season tipped off, she found out she had been left off the 2016 Olympic team, thus losing her shot at a third gold medal. While she took the high road and never fully vented her frustration over the slight, it definitely provided a chip for her shoulder should she ever need an added source of motivation.

With her focus on the Sparks and the WNBA season, Parker led L.A. to a remarkable 11-0 start to the season, breaking the team record of nine straight season-opening wins set back in 2001 and 2003 and surpassing the WNBA record of 10 straight set by the 2012 Minnesota Lynx.

But the Sparks weren’t the only team on a historic run to start the 2016 season. Minnesota was also unbeaten through the first five weeks, which set up an epic showdown between the two undefeated teams – the 12-0 Lynx and 11-0 Sparks – in L.A. on June 21. The Lynx would prevail to snap the Sparks’ streak and set a new WNBA record at 13-0.

On that same day, Parker was named to the WNBA’s Top 20@20 Team, which honored the 20 greatest and most influential players in the first 20 years of the WNBA. Parker was the only member of that extraordinary group of players that had not played in the WNBA Finals; only three of the 20 players had not won a title, but all had reached the Finals. Except for Parker.

Just three days after suffering their first loss of the season, the Sparks got their revenge against the Lynx and began a nine-game winning streak, which culminated with the Sparks matching the 1998 Houston Comets for the best record through 21 games at 20-1.

But in the middle of that incredible run of success on the court, Parker and the rest of the basketball world got the devastating news of the passing of legendary coach Pat Summitt. Parker was part of Summitt’s final championship team at Tennessee and wore her emotions on her sleeve and her coach’s words on her shoes as she registered 31 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in a Sparks win on the same day as Summitt’s passing.

Parker attended funeral services for Summitt, grieved the loss and celebrated her coach’s life and impact on not just the game of basketball, but the lives of countless student-athletes over decades of instruction, motivation, inspiration and, of course, staredowns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pET_-azj6hI

With Parker dedicating her season to Summitt, it seems fitting that this be the year that she break through and reach the Finals to compete for the championship, which was the standard that Summitt set.

The Sparks had squandered their first chance to reach the Finals with a lackluster second half in Game 3 of the Semifinals against Chicago. Tuesday’s Game 4 was Parker’s 28th career playoff game, the most by any player that had not played in the WNBA Finals. And Parker made sure that mark didn’t reach 29 games.

After the Sparks led by as many as 28 points in the first half and held a 24-point edge at halftime, the Sky mimicked their Game 3 recipe with a great third quarter, outscoring the Sparks 28-14 to pull within 10 points heading into the fourth quarter.

After an Erica de Souza layup on the first possession the period pulled the Sky within eight, Parker took over. She knocked down a three, got fouled on another and made all three free throws, blocked a driving layup by Cappie Pondexter, got fouled on her next shot and made two more free throws.

In the span of 65 seconds, she single-handedly went on an 8-0 run to push the Sparks’ lead back to 16. She finished with a game-high 29 points, with 15 coming in the fourth quarter. With the Sparks up by 20, she exited the game in the final minute and watched the clock reach zeros from the sideline. As the buzzer sounded, she pumped her fists and smiled wide as she was one step closer to her goal of winning a WNBA championship.

During a postgame interview with ESPN’s LaChina Robinson, Parker was mobbed by her teammates just as Robinson asked Parker how much it meant to finally get to the Finals.

As the Sparks celebrated the accomplishment of reaching the Finals, Parker was quick to put everything in perspective – as great as it is to reach the Finals, the goal is the championship, not just the appearance.

“It’s been a long journey. We haven’t done anything yet. We haven’t accomplished our goal,” she said.

To reach that goal, the Sparks must dethrone the mighty Minnesota Lynx, who are making their fifth Finals appearance in the last six seasons. And to do that, the Sparks will need Parker at her absolute best.

Parker’s versatility is essential to the Sparks’ attack; she is the only player in the league to rank in the top 10 in scoring (15.4, 10th), rebounds (7.4, T-8th) and assists (4.9, 3rd — as a center!). She also tied for eighth in steals (1.4) and 11th in blocks (1.0). A playmaking big is a nightmare to defend and scheme against, and Parker is just that — similar to what Draymond Green provides for the Golden State Warriors, expect with more scoring punch.

The Sparks feature an MVP duo on their frontline with Parker and Nneka Ogwumike showing splendid chemistry in their fifth season as teammates. They work the high-low game to perfection, taking advantage of Parker’s Swiss Army Knife of skills and Ogwumike’s explosive athleticism and motor around the basket. They will face off with three-time Defensive Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles and the underrated Rebekkah Brunson (a four-time WNBA champion) in what will be a key matchup in this series.

As challenging as it was for Parker and Sparks to finally end the team’s 14-year drought from the Finals, winning the franchise’s third championship may be even more difficult against such a formidable opponent.

While her magical season of 2008 didn’t end with Parker hoisting the WNBA championship trophy, she now has a shot to end a tumultuous 2016 by adding the one accolade missing from her nearly impeccable basketball resume.