“I forgot to tell you a really important story about the seventh baby.”
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus gave birth just nine weeks ago. Now she has championship aspirations.
The 33-year-old WNBA veteran was pregnant when she signed a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Aces in February — and she knew that meant missing most of the season as she recovered from childbirth.
That recovery process began on July 1 when she gave birth to her newborn son Yoshua, per Instagram.
On Sept. 9, Parker-Tyus did the improbable when she made her season debut with the Aces just 68 days after becoming a mom for the second time — against the team that drafted her, nonetheless.
And she didn’t skip a beat once stepping on the court.
The 6-foot-4 forward clocked in with 2:23 left in the first quarter and scored her first basket one minute later, according to ESPN.
“I did the research to see how quickly people came back,” Parker-Tyus told The Associated Press ahead of her season debut. “Can it be done? I always have the mindset that I’m built differently.”
She finished the game with eight points in just eight minutes, per ESPN, and helped her team win their 15th straight game — something that has only been done three other times in WNBA history.
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“Most of the time you have to wait six weeks to start training, but I started at four weeks, so I think that kind of gave me a little bit of an edge,” she told the AP of her recovery.
“I was able to start a little sooner to just do the little things like getting back to my core,” she added.
After the game, Parker-Tyus spoke with the Las Vegas Review-Journal (LVRJ) about her return to action.
“It felt really good,” she said of her season debut. “Honestly, just putting my jersey on, being with my teammates, being able to be in those huddles — it meant the world today.”
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus says her son gives her ‘another level of strength’
Parker-Tyus is no stranger to the WNBA as an 11-year veteran.
She was drafted fifth overall in 2015 and spent the next six seasons with the Chicago Sky before signing with the Atlanta Dream ahead of the 2021 season. After four years in Atlanta, she signed with Las Vegas.
The Aces had (and still have) big plans for her upon joining the team — which came to fruition on Sept. 9.
“We just said, ‘we’ll wait for you.’ We look at her as a long term piece,” Aces’ head coach Becky Hammon told the AP of signing Parker-Tyus.
“It wasn’t just for this year. Like, we want to build that relationship with her, and give her an environment that she can really flourish in,” she added.
Now that her season debut is behind her, Parker-Tyus is ready to help the team win their third title in four years.
The Aces became the first team in 21 years to win back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023, per the AP.
“Just being a mom,” Parker-Tyus told the LVRJ after her debut. “Being able to be a pro, still be there for my children and just to go hard. It gives me another level of strength, and I just try to show that.”
That strength was evident at halftime — when she was pumping breast milk for her son.
“It is not easy to get out there. She was pumping (breast milk) at halftime. It’s remarkable for her to be out there right now, almost miraculous,” Hammon told the LVRJ after the game.
In addition to her newborn son, Parker-Tyus is also a mom to her daughter Naomi, born in 2021.
The Aces were 14-14 after a loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Aug. 2. They’re now 29-14 after winning 15 straight games and have one game remaining in the regular season, per ESPN.
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Parker-Tyus will be available on Sept. 11 when they play the Los Angeles Sparks and is expected to play a big role in the Aces’ playoff run, which begins next week.
