Cheyenne Parker-Tyus didn’t shed a tear, she recalled, until her coach did.
The 10-year WNBA veteran forward, who signed with the Aces as a free agent in February, has played plenty of overseas basketball seasons — none of which ended as emotionally as her most recent campaign for the Beijing Great Wall in China.
This time was different: 34 games with averages of 16.3 points and 6.8 rebounds, all while holding onto a major secret, which she said sent coach Yunsong Zhang into shock and awe once she shared it.
“I was super sick. Throwing up and having to hide it because I didn’t want anyone to hear me and know that I was pregnant,” Parker-Tyus said.
In an exclusive interview with the Review-Journal, Parker-Tyus revealed publicly for the first time that she is expecting her second child and will miss at least the first three months of the Aces’ season. The former All-Star, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft, is due to give birth in late June.
“I’m determined to return late in the season,” said the 32-year-old Parker-Tyus, who is on a one-year, nonguaranteed training camp contract. “(The Aces) have gone above and beyond to show their support.”
The Review-Journal is seeking comment from the Aces.
Parker-Tyus was limited to 13 games in the 2021 season before her daughter, Naomi Sernina Tyus, now 3, was born Dec. 27. It was her first season with the Atlanta Dream. She returned in 2022, made the All-Star team in 2023 and became the team’s highest-paid player last season.
She described her current pregnancy as “scarier” because of the timing, but credits the Aces for easing her nerves.
“The signing period was just super, super stressful. At the end of the day, teams don’t have to sign you as a free agent,” Parker-Tyus said. “But early on in the conversation that I had with (Aces president Nikki Fargas) and (coach Becky Hammon), I was very honest and up front. It was a hard conversation to have, but it was so fulfilling because their response and reaction was just so surprising. I had a serious feeling of relief when they were really understanding and figured out how to get it done.”
Fargas praised Parker-Tyus’ skill and compatibility with a “championship-caliber team” in the release that announced her signing.
Parker-Tyus said the Aces’ front office has already arranged for her to be in touch with the strength and conditioning staff and connected her with the “best doctors” ahead of her arrival in Las Vegas, even doing research to ensure she’d have a pediatrician.
“They’ve shown that they genuinely care and they want me there for the long run,” she said.
The right to reproduce
As much as Parker-Tyus expressed her gratitude for what she described as the Aces’ “investment” in her, she’s aware the situation could have played out differently on both sides — which illustrates a larger need for change in the WNBA.
“It shouldn’t be such a stressful process to go through the signing process or just even overseas,” she said. “The reason I didn’t say anything (in China) about my pregnancy is so I can get my full salary, because there was a risk. There’s just no telling what the rules are and how you’re really protected. And it’s the same thing as in the (WNBA).”
She was afraid to disclose her pregnancy to the Aces, but she said it’s simply not in her “character to try to pull a fast one.”
“It’s just unfortunate that there’s such a stigma behind it in women’s sports. It’s like we’re not allowed to start families,” she said. “There was a time in the previous (collective bargaining agreement) where players didn’t even get their full salary in this situation. There were things that just weren’t fair for mothers. That’s why it’s a scary conversation for me, because my livelihood is by playing basketball for a living. As far as benefits, my 401(k), all those things stop if a team chooses not to sign a player because of (pregnancy).”
The CBA was ratified in 2020. WNBA players opted out of it in October and are negotiating a new one that could take effect for the 2026 season.
Although the current agreement was lauded for offering guaranteed maternity leave with full pay, it also includes language that allows teams to cut certain bonuses and nonsalary perks for those players. The CBA also characterizes pregnancy as an “injury, illness or condition” and requires players who expect such a development to interfere with their work to notify the team before entering new contracts or extensions.
Some lawyers say this could be considered a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
In the deal with the Aces, Parker-Tyus said there were certain hiccups in which Fargas wasn’t sure what support the CBA would allow or how the contract should be constructed given her pregnancy.
“Our right is to reproduce,” Parker-Tyus said. “As a human being with that right as a woman, naturally, that can happen.”
With respect to that, she doesn’t need to defend her pregnancy, but disclosed that it was unplanned and “wasn’t just irresponsibility.”
Last year, she said she found her weight fluctuating rapidly, which isn’t ideal for performance. A doctor determined that the birth control she was taking as a “responsible pro” was causing the issue.
“I was in the process of figuring out my health, and in my process of switching my birth control, I ended up conceiving,” she said. “As soon as I got to China, I was waiting for my cycle to start, and it never came.”
Coming back better
Parker-Tyus’ husband, Keevin Tyus, is her primary trainer. They’re even working out now in preparation for her return.
“I’ve done it once, so I kind of know the process of recovering and getting back to 100 percent,” she said.
To say that she’s done it before would be an understatement, as she recorded career highs in the 2023 season, not long after Naomi’s birth. She said she “didn’t become an All-Star until she had her daughter.”
She acknowledged that it might seem “frivolous” to some that she’s reporting to training camp so close to her due date.
“But I want them to know that I’m 100 percent committed,” Parker-Tyus said. “I’m still a basketball player. I still plan on playing. I’m just having a baby, so I still have my mind and my ability to have the impact that I have as an energy player, supportive player.
“I’ve always been very team-oriented. So I’m excited to just be there with my teammates, and I am going to train with them. I’m going to uplift them. But obviously it just has to look a little different.”
Hamby parallels
For the most recent example of what Parker-Tyus is looking to accomplish, look no further than former Aces Sixth Player of the Year Dearica Hamby.
Hamby, whom Parker-Tyus has known since before they entered the league. is suing the Aces and the WNBA, alleging discrimination after the team traded her while she was pregnant with her second child.
With the Los Angeles Sparks last year, Hamby recorded arguably the best season of her career after the birth of her son, Legend.
“She just was like, ‘You get better after the second one,’” Parker-Tyus recalled of Hamby’s reaction to her pregnancy.
Hamby and Parker-Tyus have spoken about their experiences as women’s basketball players and are workshopping ideas to influence some kind of change, she said.
“She had her own experience with (the Aces),” Parker-Tyus said. “It’s something that does need to be talked about in general. We’ve talked about how the league in general needs to protect its players who decide to become moms.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
