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. Their second child, a boy, Yoshua, was born July 1, and Parker-Tyus announced his birth on Instagram on July 15. 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.
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.
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