Professional Motherhood: Mother’s Day Around the W
Does having a child make W players better?
It is that time of year again.
No, not the WNBA season that is mere days away from kicking off in an exciting fashion — I’m talking about the yearly reminder to call your mom and thank her for all she has done for you over the years.
Mother’s Day is a special 24 hours where we get to appreciate the people who birthed us, but as a sports fan, I will also be taking a moment to show gratitude to those who birthed my favorite athletes and my favorite athletes who have birthed.
In the W, this day not only falls around the season opener each year, but also acts as a nod to the mothers who also happen to be some of the best athletes in the world. This list includes high profile players such as Candace Parker, who gave birth to her daughter, Lailaa, after her rookie season playing for the Sparks nearly 15 years ago. It also includes superstars like Breanna Stewart, who welcomed her daughter, Ruby, back in August 2021. The list goes on, but today I want to focus on Parker, Stewart, and three other elite athletes — Napheesa Collier, DeWanna Bonner, and Skylar Diggins-Smith — to see if being a mother created an advantage on the court.
It turns out that it kind of does! Of these five mothers, four of them averaged a higher plus-minus after having children compared to before. Let’s dig deeper into what changed for these players when motherly instincts kicked in.
Candace Parker
The recently-retired veteran player began her career in Los Angeles playing for the Sparks in 2008. In her rookie season she made waves when she became the only player in league history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors in the same season. Late into the off season, Parker made a different adjustment — instead of going from the college landscape to the W, she went from regular person to superhero mother with the birth of her daughter in May 2009. Parker would miss just eight games for the Sparks due to the pregnancy and was already back in action by early July.
Despite the small sample size of games before becoming a mother compared to the 15 seasons afterwards, Parker still improved in many aspects of her game, statistically speaking. Not only did her plus-minus increase from +3.5 to +4.4, she also shot better from the free throw line (+4.4%), averaged fewer turnovers per game (-0.3), and fouled less (-0.83).
Regardless of what the stats say, one thing that Parker is known for that will not show up on paper is her leadership. There is no way to quantify the impact that Parker had on the bench, in the locker room, or vocally on the court, but it might be safe to say that her motherly skills also made for a fantastic captain and teammate (and perhaps vice-versa).
Breanna Stewart
The Syracuse, NY native arguably already had three babies (her two WNBA Championships and one MVP trophy) before her daughter was born, but she wasn’t officially a mother until Ruby touched down in August 2021. Her illustrious career has been consistently dominant over the past eight years despite an empty 2019 season after an achilles tear overseas left her sidelined and jumping into a new team for the 2023 season.
With off-the-court changes making her family a bit bigger, Stewart’s on-court statistics got a bit bigger as well. Her impact on the floor improved, showing itself in a two-point bump in plus-minus following her promotion to motherhood. Not only that, Stewart also averaged more offensive rebounds (+1), free throw attempts (+15), fewer turnovers (-0.5), and fewer player fouls (-0.7) per game after the change.
For all of the life changes in Breanna Stewart’s career, the essence of her game has prevailed and motherhood has yet to change that. Since her first child, Breanna Stewart has added another MVP trophy and a son, Theo, to her household which both came in 2023.
Napheesa Collier
From one former Husky in Breanna Stewart to another, Napheesa Collier became a mother during the 2022 season. She returned to the Minnesota Lynx for the last four games of the season to share the court with the legendary Sylvia Fowles a few more times. The turnaround from giving birth to gracing the court again took Collier just 74 days — a recovery period that sounds more reasonable for a high ankle sprain than bringing a new life to this world, but this is Napheesa Collier we’re talking about.
Ignoring the season where she played just four games, Collier experienced an uptick in performance when it came to her points per game (+6.4), free-throw percentage (+1.3%), and rebounds per game (+1.1) following the birth of her child. Now more than ever, the reins of the Lynx have been handed off to Collier as her stardom and court presence evolves. Entering her sixth season in the league, the 2024 run with the Lynx will mark Collier’s second as team captain and second full season as a mother.
DeWanna Bonner
The soon-to-be 15 year veteran will lace up yet again for the Connecticut Sun this season after using the off season to re-sign with the team. It was just six years ago, in 2018, that Bonner was awarded the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year title after giving birth to twins in July of 2017. The young duo pairs well with Bonner’s other two prized possessions — WNBA Championships with the Phoenix Mercury in 2009 and 2014.
The motherly milestone marked a turning point for Bonner both on and off the court. Since being a mother, Bonner has seen improvements in her plus-minus (+3.5 / game), points per game (+3), free throw percentage (+3.2%), and assists (+1), among several other stats. There is no question that Bonner’s role has changed over her career, including her presence as a veteran on both teams she has led.
As her twins turn seven years old this July, Bonner can be looked at as a veteran in basketball and in motherhood. Despite being eighth on the list of players with the most WNBA minutes played (13,978 minutes), Bonner has logged more than 35 million minutes as a mother. Both numbers can be followed by the phrase “and counting”.
Skylar Diggins-Smith
The former Notre Dame Irish star and current mother of two sat out in 2019 and 2023 in order to grow her family. The savvy guard is dynamic on all sides of the ball, frequently providing points, assists, and steals to any team she is rostered on. As she returns to action in 2024 with a new team, she will look to remind people of her prowess.
Diggins-Smith is no stranger to returning to the floor after a pregnancy. Following the birth of her son in 2019, she came back in fantastic form. Her overall plus-minus per game improved by 0.2 points to go alongside increases in points per game (+2.4), field goal percentage (+5.7%), three-point percentage (+3.4%), and rebounds (+1.1).
With the birth of her daughter and a new team where the point guard spot will always be big shoes to fill, Diggins-Smith will have a new challenge to face. Something tells me she is up for it.
Professional Motherhood
Although the statistics are fun to look at (at least in my bias opinion), the true message here is that the ability of these players to continue their dominance in a league of elite players while juggling the responsibilities of parenthood is truly impressive. Each of them, as well as the many other mothers scattered throughout professional sports, deserve the spotlight that shines on them this Mother’s Day.
Days like today remind us that these players are both athletes who happen to be women and women who happen to be athletes. They are not defined by one thing or the other. As fans, we are exposed to these player’s lives and the growth that comes along with that.
Only a few years ago, Candace Parker was still learning from Pat Summit as a Tennessee Volunteer. The image of a younger version of Parker in that orange and white is simply a memory of a time when we didn’t know exactly what her professional legacy would be. Since then, we have had the absolute privilege of watching her become a WNBA Champion and a league MVP on the court while witnessing her become a mother, a wife, and a retiree off of it.
These players — these superheroes — are ones that we should never take for granted and the same can be said about mothers everywhere.
Happy Mother’s Day.
To my own mother — thank you for being you. You don’t have to play basketball for me to think you’re an absolute champion.
