In No Offseason, The Athletic follows the paths of women’s basketball players after their WNBA seasons’ end and their travels begin. From Turkey, Israel, Italy, Czech Republic, Mexico and even here in the U.S., our reporters tell the stories of these players as they chase their dreams and try to shape the future of the WNBA.

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BOLOGNA, Italy — Naomi Sernina Tyus isn’t feeling 100 percent, so she’s resting at home as Virtus Segafredo Bologna and ZVVZ USK Praha take the court on a rainy night in mid-December. It’s Naomi’s first time having the flu, and while she’s getting over her bout with it, some international travel in the weeks preceding the game has led her to feeling a little under the weather.

At least that is what her mother, Cheyenne Sernina Parker, believes.

During this midseason EuroLeague contest, Parker’s daughter is just over a week away from celebrating her first birthday. Almost everything is still new for Naomi. And so much of it is equally new for Parker, too. “It’s been a journey just learning to be a mom,” she says.

Parker was picked fifth in the 2015 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky and played six seasons with the franchise to start her career. She’s spent the last two years with the Atlanta Dream. Each WNBA offseason, the 30-year-old forward has darted across the world — initially to China, and eventually to South Korea and France. Her time in Italy this winter, she says, has been “so different” from those; she’s now a first-time parent. With motherhood comes a changed mindset: “Ball is life, but there’s more to life than ball,” Parker says. “Now that I have that perspective, the pressure, it goes away.”

Whether Naomi recognizes it, basketball is already very much part of her life. She spent the summer going to Dream games — Parker played in every contest last season, months after giving birth on Dec. 27, 2021. During Parker’s time in Italy, she has been a regular at Bologna’s contests as well, both at home and on the road. She’s often stationed courtside with Parker’s mother, Verna Bryant, who has been in Italy helping with her granddaughter’s childcare as she has since Naomi’s birth.

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Parker says she reflects often on the sacrifices it has taken to maintain a high level on the court, whether that is having to be away from her baby for hours at a time to work on her game, or that her family has adjusted their lives so she can live out her professional dreams, or the physical and mental toll on her body from simultaneously breastfeeding and playing. “But that’s what keeps me going, honestly,” she says. “It’s my fuel. Hearing my teammates give me props or just call me amazing for being able to handle it all. It lets me know that, yes, what I’m doing is tough, and even at times challenging. But it’s so worth it and makes it that much more of an amazing journey that I can one day share with her.”

Adds Keevin Tyus, Parker’s fiancé: “She’s a strong woman. Not every woman can do what she’s doing.”

Before a Dec. 4 road game against Passalacqua Ragusa, Naomi wasn’t feeling her best and needed comfort. Parker, though, needed to begin loosening her muscles. On the court, and dressed in her No. 32 uniform, she took her baby into her arms and rocked her as she did squats.

In the days that followed, Naomi’s condition worsened (she has since recovered), so while Parker and her teammates traveled to Athens on a two-day trip to play Olympiacos, Naomi stayed home. It marked the first extended period of time Parker was away from her daughter. “It was hard. It was crazy,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do with myself.”

Bologna returned to Italy after its 79–63 win in Greece, but it had two more upcoming road games. Bryant was dealing with her own battle with the flu, and as a result didn’t travel with the team to Campobasso, a city in southern Italy, and to Szekszárd, Hungary.

In the Italian league contest, Parker entrusted Naomi into the hands of Angela Gianolla, Virtus’ sporting director. Anxiety crept in before the contest about how Naomi would feel during gameplay. Parker says she tried to meditate and pray beforehand. “I don’t know why, [but] it was emotional,” she says. She scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds with Naomi next to Gianolla at the end of the bench.

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Four nights later, Naomi was asleep as Bologna entered Szekszárd’s arena. When it came time to warm up, she arranged some chairs together and laid Naomi on them, with team manager Roberta Resta keeping a close eye. Once action tipped, whenever Bologna was at the free-throw line (or during other stoppages) Parker glanced toward her baby. She resisted the urge to walk over, though, because, she says, “If I get too close, she’s gonna want me.”

In juggling motherhood with her playing career, Parker says it helps that Naomi has “always been very adaptable” — a quality, she notes, stems from herself. Naomi has taken to eating pasta with red sauce; spaghetti is a favorite. She quickly got on European time, and wakes up two or three times per night to be breastfed before going back to bed. “I don’t waste the opportunity to sleep,” Parker says. “If she’s asleep, I’m definitely going to be.” Unlike players without newborns, napping with her daughter “is probably my best bet” for any midday rest, she adds.

Teammates still invite Parker to hang out, and she says she occasionally still goes to dinners with them. The dynamic, though, “is different for sure,” she says — she’s not only the second-oldest player on Virtus, but the lone parent on the roster.

Parker says her daughter is already the size of a 2-year-old and that Naomi is fond of playing with people. At games, Parker says, she’s made a few friends, including the children of assistant coach Jordan Losi. Naomi knows how to throw and pass, her mother says. Her shooting form, however, “that’s a little backward right now,” Parker says.

Because of Italy’s visa rules, Tyus spent the first part of Parker’s overseas season in the U.S. He arrived in Italy in mid-December and brought not only more support, but more breast pumps, Infants’ Tylenol and Pampers diapers. Parker traveled to Italy stocked with the latter — she also made sure to bring Aveeno Baby wash and shampoo, and baby Dove lotion, wanting to use products that both she and Naomi were accustomed to — and she loaded up while stateside during the Thanksgiving break. Nevertheless, she says motherhood “changes the whole dynamic of just me being prepared, being responsible.”

After a full WNBA summer, Parker considered sitting out the overseas campaign entirely or playing only a half-season as a way to recover and spend more time with her baby. She explored a possible return to China, where the season is shorter than it is in Italy. But with Bologna, she says she has a good basketball opportunity and a worthwhile financial offer. Plus, she had never been to the country before and heard positive reviews about the city in which she is currently settled.

Against Praha, Parker is tasked with trying to match the production of star bigs Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones, who spend their WNBA offseasons with the Czech team. Tyus, who played both collegiately and professionally overseas, calls out “heart of a lion” as Parker is introduced to the crowd. He shouts pointers and encouragement from a seat near the team’s bench throughout the game. Like Parker, he hopes her repertoire continues to develop while abroad — she is, after all, there to perform for a team aspiring to be the best in Europe. Making an imprint in the EuroLeague was another draw in the first place.

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As Parker has entered motherhood, she’s received advice from colleagues in the WNBA community. She’s spoken most with Candace Parker, a veteran All-Star and mother of two children, who has offered wisdom about raising a daughter, the postpartum snapback process and the importance of treasuring time with a newborn. So far, Cheyenne hasn’t been shy about capturing as many memories as she can — in photos and videos. She also looks forward to one day telling Naomi of the many places she’s already visited.

Parker says all of this the evening after her team’s 81–65 defeat to Praha. Alongside Tyus, she’s seated on a utility bench in the weight room of Virtus’ practice facility. Naomi is at home resting with Bryant, who helps not only cook and clean around their Italian apartment, but also relays plenty of tips her daughter might not otherwise think of, like researching foods before digesting them because she is breastfeeding. The brief break from Naomi can also explain Parker’s response when asked if there’s anything she wants to add about being a playing-parent.

“Just that she’s the GOAT,” she says of her mother. “I couldn’t ask for a better helpful hand.”

Minutes later, Parker and Tyus enter their white Mercedes to eventually make their way home. Their baby’s bedtime is only a few hours away.

The “No Offseason” series is part of a partnership with Google Pixel. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; Photo from left of Cheyenne Parker, Naomi Tyus and Verna Bryant: Courtesy of Virtus Segafredo Bologna)