Parker is already standing tall, and has room to grow

Team USA's Candace Parker, the new face of women's basketball, is a fan of the games of many players from the past. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Nancy Lieberman-Cline was the first to open the door wide for women's basketball. Cheryl Miller brought more attention to the game with her ability to score at will. Lisa Leslie was the first to bring a strong combination of game and femininity while also being able to dunk. And Cynthia Cooper was the WNBA's first dominant player to become synonymous with winning.

Candace Parker's got next.

The new face of women's basketball has the potential to be Lieberman-Cline, Miller, Leslie, and Cooper all wrapped into one while also being able to dunk on opponents and take headlines and money away from the men.

"It's evolved into something special," said Dawn Staley, the former WNBA star and US Olympian. "To see Candace grow and to see Candace do what she does is an incredible thing around the world. But things are better and our future incredible when you have someone like Candace who does what she does with her still needing to grow.

"She's only going to get better. Our game is only going to get better. And you're going to see more Candace Parker types than Lisa Leslies. I think people are more intrigued about seeing somebody 6-4 grab a rebound, go down the other end, and dunk on somebody. It's only going to help the growth of our game."

Parker, 22, grew up in Naperville, Ill., where basketball was a way of life for her family.

Larry Parker taught his daughter about NBA legends whose game she could only see on tape. Living in Illinois in the 1990s, it wasn't a surprise that she was a big fan of the six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls. Candace's older brother, Anthony, starred in college at Bradley before playing professionally in Israel and Rome and now plays for the Toronto Raptors.

Parker was able to see the birth of the WNBA as an 11-year-old in 1997 and was a big fan of Leslie and Tina Thompson, who are now her teammates on the US Olympic squad.

"I was a huge old-school NBA fan," Parker said. "I grew up in Chicago, so who didn't like Michael Jordan? I was the biggest Ron Harper fan that you'd ever meet in your life. I put [his poster] all over my wall. People used to laugh. I tell everyone that he was my favorite Bull. My dad made sure that I knew who George Gervin was and I knew who Julius Erving was, just different things like that so I patterned my game off a lot of those players.

"I was really in the first generation that had the WNBA to aspire to be like. I had Lisa Leslie to look up to. I was the biggest Tina Thompson fan. I had the best of both worlds."

While Parker was enamored with the NBA and WNBA, she also began dreaming of being more than just a basketball star after seeing commercials with soccer star Mia Hamm.

"I remember the Michael Jordan-Mia Hamm Gatorade commercial when I was younger - 'Anything you can do, I can do better,' " she said. "What they did with Mia Hamm is make her into this global icon. I really just enjoyed her."

Parker, a two-time USA Today National High School Player of the Year, showed the world she was something special during the 2004 McDonald's All-American Game. She became the first female to win the game's dunk contest, beating the likes of J.R. Smith and Rudy Gay, who now play in the NBA.

Next up was the University of Tennessee, where Parker led the team to two NCAA titles and a 101-10 record in three seasons. The 2008 Naismith and Wooden Player of the Year decided to forgo her final year of eligibility after graduating from Tennessee with a degree in sports management.

Renowned NBA agent Aaron Goodwin, whose claim to fame was getting LeBron James a $100 million deal with Nike, signed Parker as a client. She was selected No. 1 overall in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, putting her in a major market and teaming her up with Leslie.

Parker already has contracts with Adidas and Gatorade, and there are more on the horizon. A source close to Parker said she makes more endorsement money than the majority of NBA players. If she decides to play overseas in the offseason, the source said, she may garner more money than any female basketball player in history. But after playing for Tennessee, the Sparks, and USA Basketball this year, the earliest she seems interested in playing overseas would be January.

"It sounds cliché, but, first and foremost, I want to take a little bit of Mia Hamm and Lisa Leslie and take it into myself," said Parker. "I don't want to be molded into something I'm not."

Said Leslie, "The sky's the limit. Whatever you need, she can do. It just depends on where we are and the economy, which is unfortunate. I think where we are in women's basketball, we always get whatever is left over from what the guys have done.

"It's unfortunate because young girls deserve to have role models like Candace to see. It's not just about her looks. It's about the fact that she's graduated, she's smart, and she plays her sport really well."

While Parker has the game and the look, the veteran media darling Leslie says she still has some things to polish up.

"A little shy at times, but she's a sweetheart," said Leslie. "She does a really good job. She can probably smile a little more. I try to tell her, 'It's OK.' But sometimes people make her close up a little bit.

"But she's doing great. I think she's built to be in the spotlight. She's a pretty girl with a sweet heart and personality and a natural love for people. On the court, her skills are great and they speak for themselves."

Parker is coming off a championship at Tennessee and is playing for a playoff-caliber team with the Sparks, whose WNBA season is currently suspended until the end of the Olympics. And now in Beijing, she could take her budding brand to a higher level if the women win the gold medal, as expected.

"It's something I've looked forward to forever," Parker said. "To be sitting here and to be representing my country, I'm trying to take in everything I can. This is my first Olympics and I hope to come back numerous times."

Parker also plans to pave the way for other young women, just as Lieberman-Cline, Miller, Leslie, and Cooper did for her.

"I feel at ease because I know it's up to me," said Parker, who is engaged to Kings forward-center Sheldon Williams. "People have paved the way and it's about leaving the game better than you came into it.

"Lisa Leslie has done so much for the game. Tina Thompson has done so much for the game. They played for my generation.

"I'm playing so my daughter and my son would have the same opportunity. If she wants to play basketball, then she can have a career playing basketball and all the doors will be open. I think it's just about making steps."

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com