Cheyenne Parker-Tyus On Pregnancy, Motherhood, Her WNBA Comeback

Cheyenne Parker-Tyus is an 11-year WNBA veteran who is currently signed with the Las Vegas Aces. A 2023 WNBA All-Star selection, the power forward also played multiple offseasons professionally in China. Parker-Tyus, 32, and her husband Keevin are parents to daughter Naomi, 3, whom she gave birth to while signed with the Atlanta Dream. Her second child, a boy, is due June 27. She expects to miss all of the Aces’ regular season and return in time for playoffs, which begin September 14.

My first pregnancy was an adventure, and it was also a roller coaster. There were so many layers and levels to that experience. I had my daughter Naomi on December 27, 2021, which is the WNBA offseason. So, thankfully, I could just focus on Naomi and my recovery.

If you’ve never had a child, if it’s your first time, there’s a lot of things that you don’t know. I didn’t know what questions to ask or what my rights were as a woman. I wish I knew then that you have a right to deny certain medical things, to listen to your body, and to trust your body.

I wanted to try to have Naomi naturally, but my doctors were adamant on inducing me, and she wasn’t ready. She was not ready. She was up there. They had to really tug on me to try to get her out. It was insane. I ended up having a C-section, and it was a very traumatic experience. It’s an intense procedure, and it was something that I hadn’t prepared for mentally.

After Naomi was out and healthy, that was really all that mattered at that moment. I was quiet about having a C-section for about two years—it’s a private thing, and was such a traumatic thing that I just wasn’t ready to talk about it. But now, I’m ready to speak my truth. Regardless of the way you give birth, as long as you are good and your baby’s good, that’s priority.

I’m thankful for that experience because of what I learned from it. It built character. Becoming a mom is powerful. It’ll give you some superpowers that you didn’t know you had. I had to relearn how to be a pro, because I had someone that was more important to think about. I had to rewire my brain to what matters and what motivates me—and that’s being a good parent and showing up for my family. That’s what keeps me going. And after I had Naomi, I played some of my best basketball.

I found out I was pregnant again as soon as I got to China in October 2024.

It was not a planned thing. I was in the process of changing my birth control, because the one I was on was fluctuating my weight throughout the WNBA season. Within the time that I waited to change birth controls—literally, I’m talking days, no more than two weeks—it happened.

I had signed with Beijing Great Wall for the WNBA offseason. When we landed in China, I was waiting for my period, and it just never came. I started having those nauseous symptoms and a lack of energy, and that’s when I knew. It wasn’t my first time experiencing that.

I couldn’t tell the team I was pregnant, because it was too risky. I thought they would cut me and send me home, and then I wouldn’t get my full salary, which was the best salary of my career. I’m thinking about all these things—the security of my family and our new addition. So Keevin and I came to the decision to keep it low and try to finish the season.

But I also needed to see a doctor, and I couldn’t just go to the team doctor. Thankfully, when I played for Zhejiang last season, I had hired an assistant who was my translator. She was amazing, and Naomi had fallen in love with her, so she came to Beijing with us as an extra hand to help us out. I asked her to help me find a doctor in her hometown, and when we played a game there in December, I snuck out to see them. I had never been to a women’s doctor in China, and it was so different and innovative. They had this 3D scan, and I saw my baby’s face. That’s when it really hit me that I was having a baby. I was about 12 weeks along.

It was a rough season. There were days where I was sick and I had to quietly throw up—have you ever tried that? It’s insane. I didn’t even know I could do that! I’m like, throwing up quietly on the plane. And I carry very small, which saved me, because I was able to conceal my pregnancy very smoothly. So much of that season was a blur, because I had to blur it out. There were days where it was so hard. I’m just thankful that God protected us and protected that baby. It was a blessing.

More Super Moms

I came into WNBA training camp this spring as a free agent—and also knowing I was very pregnant.

This signing period was a stressful experience. You think about your livelihood as a parent, making sure that your children are insured and the benefits continue. I’ve been in the WNBA for 11 years, and I would hate to interrupt my 401(k)—that’s so important. Being a professional athlete, those things can be taken away from you in an instant if you don’t get a job. So I had to have a really scary conversation with Vegas.

The Aces were the only team that I had spoken to in free agency that I was serious about. I want to win a championship before it’s all said and done—that’s a basketball goal I’ve always had. So when I spoke to Becky and Nikki [Aces head coach Becky Hammon and team president Nikki Fargas], I knew this was the place to be. Their mentality is championships, and that’s all I had to hear. And obviously, the players are some of the best in the world. I knew I had to play here.

There were other teams interested in me, but I didn’t bother. I told my agent, “There’s no point in me talking to these teams. I’m pregnant as hell. So I’ve got to break this news to a team that I really want to be with.” People suggested I continue to hide it, but it didn’t feel right to show up at training camp six months pregnant—I probably would’ve ended up getting cut.

When I told Vegas, it was a tough conversation. I was sweating bullets, literally—and I was all the way in China, so we were on a Zoom call at like 11:00 p.m. I was scared and worried, but I also had faith. I’ve played in this league for a long time. I’ve established myself well enough to where I knew I just had to be honest and up front, and they appreciated that. It went a long way, character-wise. I told them, “I’m committed to this team. I may be pregnant now, but I’m 100 percent determined to return this season if I can.”

Their response was the most comforting and supportive and gave me a huge sigh of relief. I think they felt my commitment, and they were really invested in me being on the team, too. I was thankful that they were able to make it work. Because even though they said, “We want you,” they still had to figure out how to keep an extra player on the roster. I signed a contract that allows them to sign a replacement player until I become active again.

I’m not going to lie, I was very surprised. I still am, especially because now I’m here and it wasn’t a bluff. [Editor’s note: In 2023, forward Dearica Hamby claimed the Aces engaged in unethical behavior when they traded her to the Los Angeles Sparks just months after she announced her pregnancy with her second child. The WNBA launched an investigation into those allegations, resulting in Coach Hammon being suspended for two games for violating Respect in the Workplace policies and the Aces’s 2025 first-round pick being rescinded due to the team providing “impermissible player benefits.” In August 2024, Hamby sued the Aces and the WNBA in federal court for discrimination and retaliation; this May the judge dismissed Hamby’s lawsuit against the WNBA but allowed her suit against the Aces to proceed.]

I’ve known Dearica since we started in the league, and she’s always been very open with me and helpful when I had scary questions about pregnancy. She was surprised at how the Aces responded, too—her experience was definitely on my mind throughout this process—but I would expect them to tread lightly after going through all that.

I’m a few weeks away from giving birth, but I’m still very much on the squad.

I’m in there like swimwear. The Aces are probably sick of me at this point. I’m in every huddle, like, “Let’s go!” I don’t travel with them, but when they’re home, I’m in practice. I’m there in the mornings. I lift with the strength coach. I’ll get shots up if I can. I don’t shoot as much anymore—I try to leave the court for my teammates, because they need that time. But I’m in the weight room, I’m in practice, and I’m in film. I’m there. I still have muscle mass, and I feel pretty strong.

The one thing that’s tough is I’m standing on the sideline and I hear them like, “All right, who’s next?” I’m ready to jump in there, but I know I can’t. Playing pregnant overseas really helped me understand when I need to sit my butt down.

I also work with my husband, who is my primary trainer. That’s been a huge part of my career—the longevity of it—because trainers are expensive. He also took a course on nutrition to learn what kind of foods I should be eating, especially now as a 32-year-old mom. He’s been a huge part of my overall success professionally, overseas and in the W. I know that he wants what’s best for me and my health and, of course, our baby’s health.

Cheyenne holds Naomi at the Atlanta Dream’s media day in 2022.

I’ve felt super supported in Vegas, and everything has been top tier. The health staff has been unbelievable, which is something that I didn’t experience in Atlanta. I just feel super invested in this season.

I’m trying to have a natural birth, because I learned there’s ways you can prepare that I had no idea about the first time. That’s all credit to the Vegas staff and how they have gone above and beyond to find me pelvic floor specialists and people that can help me prepare, before birth and after. I didn’t have that the first time. So whatever happens, I’ll be prepared mentally and physically. I think that’s a huge deal.

I don’t feel any pressure to snap back after I give birth.

That’s the one thing the Aces remind me almost every day. They didn’t even expect me to come to training camp. But I’ve been a pro so long that even if I’m not feeling my best, I’m still going to show up. They’re telling me to take my time after the baby. There’s no rush. There’s no expectations—and I appreciate that. But as a pro, I like to hold myself accountable. I have an expectation to play this season for myself.

I especially want to play for Becky [Hammon]. Becky is dope. I want to win for her, and I want to be able to play with A’ja Wilson. I know I’ll have a chance to do that next season, hopefully, and down the line. Something about having a kid, it just does something to you. Dearica literally said to me—when I told her I was pregnant this time, she was like, “Oh, well, you get better after the second one.” And I was like, “I knew it.” I just knew. It’s a powerful thing.

I remember being a rookie like it was yesterday. Looking back at my mindset then, I’m amazed at how far I’ve come. I literally grew up and grew into womanhood. Becoming a mother unleashes another level you don’t know you have until you do it, and you’re like, “I’m pretty badass.”

“I have a right to reproduce as a woman.”

I’ve always spoken up for the moms in the WNBA, because there’s things that can be better for them. One of the concerns I’ve raised was around per diem—when I had Naomi, I was nursing, so she had to come with me everywhere, and then I would have either my mom or my husband as my caregiver. But even for one person, the per diem right now is pretty low. I would also love to see a three-bedroom option for player housing to support caregivers, and designated spaces to nurse your baby in every facility on game days. I’ve had to nurse in a conference room on the road before. Little things like this for moms will go a long way when the players renegotiate our collective bargaining agreement at the end of this year.

I have a right to reproduce as a woman. Just like men have a right to start families, so do we—but we’re women, so sometimes we have to carry [the baby]. If that’s our choice to do that, we have that right. It’s the same concept as a player who has to miss a whole season due to an injury. If I make a choice to have a child, I have a right to say, “This is God’s plan, and this is what’s happening this year, but I’m going to come back 10 times stronger.”