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WNBA Star Candace Parker Gushes Over Her Spouse & Children & Talks Next Moves
The out basketball star opens up about how her daughter inspired her big move to Las Vegas.
Candace Parker truly has it all!
She spent 13 years playing professional basketball for the LA Sparks, another two with Chicago Sky and won a championship with both teams. She's also out, proud, and married to fellow basketball player Anna Petrakova with whom she is raising a family.
Now Parker is making the move to Las Vegas to play for the Aces, who she will take the court with for the first time in May.
Along with her gig as an analyst of Inside the NBA alongside, hosted by NBA great including Shaquille O’Neal. She’s also made history as the first woman to commentate for the NBA. And she credits this latest decision to following her daughter for a change.
Speaking with Essense she gushed about her daughter and how she gets to be close to her. “As I’ve gone on this journey, my family has always been first and foremost,” she began. “Lailaa, my daughter, she’s 13. She’s followed me everywhere. She’s followed me to Russia, China, Turkey, to Chicago, everywhere. It’s time that I follow her. So I think this was the best of both worlds. I’m close enough where I can get home on an off day when she’s still in school. I’m close enough where I won’t miss her first high school volleyball game or I won’t miss taking her to school every now and again. And she can come out and live with me in Vegas this summer until school starts back again. I made that decision with her in mind first and foremost.”
She also took a moment to gush about her wife Petrkova. “My wife is unbelievable, taking care of Lailaa who’s her bonus daughter, and our son who’s 13 months now. I think it’s amazing to be able to be at peace at work and know things are running smoothly at home. Also, I just think it’s about giving yourself grace. You are doing the best that you can; learning from your mistakes, learning from things you need to do better. But it’s also about knowing that you’re doing the best you can and you need to take time for yourself sometimes. That’s not selfish, that’s actually going to help you be better at work and a better parent at home.”
Good to see that happily ever after is still, well, ever aftering!
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Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq, and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq, and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
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