It’s hard to top a year that includes becoming the first woman to grace the cover of NBA 2K, dropping a new dope-ass footwear and apparel collection with Adidas, and bringing your hometown Chicago Sky its first WNBA title. But would Candace Parker be Candace Parker if she didn’t continue to outdo herself?
On Tuesday, the two-time WNBA MVP took to Instagram to reveal that not only has she been married for two years to her wife, Anya Petrakova, but the happy couple is expecting their first child together, per People. (Parker has a 12-year-old daughter, Lailaa, from a previous relationship with former NBA player Sheldon Williams.)
“Happy Anniversary Моя жена! 2 years ago, I got to marry my best friend in front of our close family and friends. My heart could have exploded. I cried like a baby,” she captioned pictures of their wedding. “To know me or you is to know our love. This journey hasn’t been easy. I am proud of us and what we have built and who we have grown to become both individually and together.
“Thank you for always loving Lailaa as your own, being my calm, my support, my voice of reason, my laughs, my cuddles, my dance in the rain, my happy, my home. Thanks for constantly challenging me and telling me when I’m wrong 🙄. I LOVE YOU🐞 I appreciate you, I value you and what we have.”
She continued, “We’ve always dreamed of growing our family….it’s surreal that we now have a baby on the way! Lailaa is pumped to be a big sister! You couldn’t be more beautiful! Glowing, while understanding that I have to constantly love, kiss, and talk to your belly AND yes… play Jay-Z for the baby (Goose knows “Song Cry” already by heart😜 !) I can’t wait to embark on this next chapter in life with you!”
As People notes, the WNBA legend, who in recent years has lent her basketball expertise to TNT’s popular NBA programming, has always made it a point to acknowledge the role that motherhood plays in pushing her to be the best version of herself.
“I owe everything I am to her, just because she’s been my motivation and my reason for everything,” she said in 2016 after winning her first WNBA championship with the Los Angeles Sparks. “We’ve gone through this together, you know? She sacrifices her mom so that I can live my dream. I just am so thankful for her, that she’s here for the big moments, but she’s also here when I don’t want to get up and go work out, she sees those moments. So I just am so over the moon at how amazing she’s grown up to be, and I know I’m partial, but she’s an amazing young lady.”
Congrats to Candace and Anya.