It's difficult to imagine Candace Parker topping winning a WNBA championship in her hometown, but she did on Tuesday afternoon. Parker and her two-year-old wife, Anna Petrakova, announced their pregnancy on Instagram.
Parker added in her article, "We've always dreamt of increasing our family." "It's strange that we're expecting a baby!" Lailaa is overjoyed at the prospect of being a big sister."
Parker, who will return to the Sky in 2022 for the second year of her two-year contract, has been open about her wish to have additional children in recent months.
She gave birth to her daughter, Lailaa, a year after being selected first overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Since then, Parker has shared every moment of her profession with her daughter, who is now 12 years old.
Parker returned to the WNBA six weeks after Lailaa's birth in May and proceeded to Russia for her international obligations the following January. Sara, Lailaa's mother, accompanied her on her trip and attended every game with her. At halftime, Parker would nurse her daughter.
Sara told the Sun-Times in a previous interview that her daughter had played some of her finest games on little to no sleep. Lailaa was at every game and celebration when Parker won her second WNBA championship in October. Parker congratulated Lailaa in her championship post-game news conference after defeating the Phoenix Mercury 80-74 in Game 4.
"In Minnesota [where we won the title in 2016], I have a photo of Lailaa," Parker remarked. "'Mom, we did it!' she exclaims. That photograph hangs on my workplace wall. I asked her whether it was okay if I came to Chicago before I chose to come here. 'I want another photo like that,' she remarked. It's incredible because she walked back out on the court and said, 'We did it.'"
“I owe everything I am to her.”
Parker and Petrakova were teammates at UMMC Ekaterinburg, where Parker's Sky colleagues Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley are now. During the 2012 Olympics, Petrakova was a member of the Russian national team.
Parker didn't mention a due date for their new baby in his message, which commemorated the couple's two-year wedding anniversary. She did express gratitude to her wife for treating Lailaa as if she were her own child and for being a regular source of support.
Parker remarked, "I can't wait to begin on this new chapter of life with you."