In a postgame media availability early in the 2023 season, Dream head coach Tanisha Wright was asked about the scant playing time for the team’s rookies. As Wright responded, Cheyenne Parker chimed in, “I didn’t play as a rookie at all. Just throwing that out there.” Wright then emphasized, “She’s nine years in.”
The exchange serves as an appropriate encapsulation of Parker’s progress toward her first All-Star honor. Although selected in the first round of the 2015 WNBA Draft, she was not a product of a Power 5 blue-blood program and, therefore, not automatically slated for stardom. She instead exemplifies how to carve out a career in the WNBA, exhibiting the persistence and malleability necessary to survive — and then thrive — in this cutthroat league.
As Atlanta’s other All-Stars — fellow first-timer Allisha Gray and second-timer Rhyne Howard (named as a replacement for the injured Elena Delle Donne) — have received frequent attention in our Dream updates, it is time to pause and praise Parker, not only for her career accomplishment but also for her essential contributions to the ascendant Dream.
Parker’s persistent career path
The fifth pick in 2015 out of Middle Tennessee State, Parker saw little on-court action for the Chicago Sky,…
