Twenty two-year-old Candace Parker was named the 2008 WNBA Most Valuable Player Friday, becoming the first ever winner of both the WNBA Rookie of the Year and the MVP.

The Los Angeles Sparks forward was unanimously selected rookie of the year.

According to the WNBA league, Parker received 276.79 points, 34.71 points higher than the second finisher Connecticut's Lindsay Whalen. It marks the first time in the WNBA's 12 seasons that a rookie has earned the award.

Parker, the top overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft earlier this year, caps a season in which she has also earned All-WNBA First Team honors, the Rookie of the Year Award, two Rookie of the Month Awards (May and July), one Player of the Week Award (Aug. 31) and the Peak Performer Rebounding Award.

She nearly averaged a double-double in 2008 (18.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg)and was the only player in the league to pull down more than nine rebounds per game. Parker also led the league in double-doubles with 17 and ranked among WNBA leaders in rebounds per game (first),blocks per game (second), points per game (fourth), field goal percentage (fifth), minutes player (seventh) and assists per game (17th).

With the great help of Parker, the Sparks finished the third in the regular season and beat Seattle in the Western Conference semifinals before giving up to San Antonio the conference finals.

The WNBA MVP was selected by a panel of 45 national sportswriters and broadcasters, which accounted for 75 percent of the vote, and an online fan vote, which accounted for 25 percent of the vote. This was the first year that an online fan vote was incorporated.

In honor of being named the WNBA Most Valuable Player, Parker will pocket 15,000 U.S. dollars and a trophy.

(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2008)