Who Is Candace Parker's Wife? All About Anna Petrakova

Candace Parker and Anna Petrakova met on the same professional Russian basketball team

Candace Parker and Anna Petrakova went from teammates to wives to soon-to-be mothers of three.

The pro basketball players first met in 2012 when Petrakova joined UMMC Ekaterinburg in her home country, Russia. At the time, Parker was already on the team playing overseas during the WNBA offseason. They formed a close friendship before things turned romantic.

Parker proposed to Petrakova in early 2019 before they tied the knot in December of that year. They kept their relationship private until two years later when they announced that they were married and expecting their first child together. They welcomed a son named Airr in February 2022, who joined his big sister Lailaa, Parker's daughter from a previous relationship, and in December 2023, they announced that they're expecting again.

"It's been amazing to go through this again, and then obviously with my beautiful wife and my daughter [by my side]," Parker told PEOPLE of raising their son. "Being able to see her as a sister, it's been amazing."

So who is Candace Parker's wife? Here's everything to know about Anna Petrakova and her relationship with the professional athlete.

She learned English after moving to the U.S. for college

In early 2002, Petrakova came to play basketball at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, knowing only what little English she had picked up from her elder sister Marina, who moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2000.

"She'd just turned 17 the month prior, and it was my job to get her registered and enrolled in classes for that semester," former academic coordinator Danny Cottonham recalled to the Daily Advertiser in 2018. "I was not very optimistic about Anna's future. She spoke fluent Russian, but most of her other communication was with a smile."

Nearly four years later, she had one of the most successful women's basketball careers at the school. She was the first-ever athlete to be named the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year.

"I learned everything I know about work ethic there," Petrakova said of her time at her alma mater. "I learned you can pave your own way and make your own mark if you work hard and mean well."

She continued, "Lafayette was the perfect place for me. I didn't know if I would feel welcomed or would I feel like an outcast, but that all went away that first day in Mr. [Cottonham]'s office."

She was a professional basketball player in Russia

Petrakova has basketball in her blood. Her father, Viktor Petrakov, played on the EuroLeague's CSKA Moscow and for the then-Soviet Union's national basketball team.

"Since I was 8, I played basketball almost nonstop, and it definitely paid off for me," she told the Daily Advertiser. "I feel like I got really lucky. I never had any major injuries and I chose when to finish my career and wasn't forced to stop."

"Lafayette and the Cajuns were a huge step for me. I loved all of it. I would do it all over again and wouldn't change a thing," Petrakova added.

After she left the University of Louisiana, she went pro with the club Nur in Kazan, Russia. According to the International Basketball Federation, she played for several teams in her career, including Spartak, CSKA Moscow, Chevakata Vologda, Dynamo Kursk and UMMC Ekaterinburg.

She retired as a player after the 2016–2017 season and later became an assistant coach for the Russian National Team.

She met Parker while playing basketball

In 2012, Petrakova joined UMMC Ekaterinburg, where Parker had been playing during the WNBA offseason. The couple later told TIME that they kissed for the first time one night after practice. They regularly posted photos together on social media from their team functions.

"There were some drunken nights," Petrakova told the outlet. "And it would just go further than we would think."

Of their first kiss, Petrakova recalled, "We're scared, and we're like, 'What the hell was that?' You are kind of scared to look each other in the eye and then you're like, 'Okay, well, what are we? We're lying to ourselves here.' "

She is a mother

Parker and Petrakova are also parents. Parker and her ex-husband, former NBA player Shelden Williams, share a daughter named Lailaa Nicole. (Parker and Williams married in 2008 and split in 2016, citing "irreconcilable differences.")

In addition to parenting Lailaa, Parker and Petrakova welcomed their first child together on Feb. 11, 2022. Petrakova gave birth to their son, Airr Larry Petrakov Parker.

"We are in absolute love and utter appreciation that Goose chose us. Welcome to the fam SON🥺🥰❤️😭😭😭," Parker wrote on Instagram.

She and Parker are expecting their third child

In an Instagram post the couple shared on Dec. 14, 2023, Parker and Petrakova revealed they're expecting baby No. 3 with a set of basketball-themed photos that included the whole family, along with a tiny onesie. It was a particularly special day for them: their fourth anniversary.

"After four years in the game we are focused on building our roster. We know this rookie will add to our depth chart and contribute versatility to our team," the caption on the post said. "The rookie will join our current roster consisting of a shooter, point forward, rebounder, and little Tikes rim attacker! The team as a whole struggles with clock management and a little bit on the defensive end. We are hoping the young buck will play their role, bring iQ, hustle, length, athleticism and passion to this team."

She is an Olympian and EuroLeague champion

Petrakova played on Russia's Women's National Basketball Team in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where they took fourth place. She later participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics torch relay on the way to Sochi, Russia, for the opening ceremony.

In 2015, she was honored with the Player of the Year award in the Russian Premier League and is considered one of the most successful female players in the country.

In 2012, she won the EuroCup Women's Championship on Dynamo Kursk. With UMMC Ekaterinburg the following year, she became a champion in EuroLeague Women before taking home the FIBA Europe SuperCup Women title.

She has other athletic passions

Although basketball is one of her passions, Petrakova regularly partakes in other athletic activities. She has posted photos of her hobbies, including yoga, pilates, swimming, beach volleyball and aerial silk work.

In 2016, she tried paddleboarding for the first time. She thanked her fellow teammate Ticha Penicheiro for introducing her to the hobby and was proud that she didn't fall on her first try.

"What do you call #paddleboarding in Russian? Serfing s veslom? Learned, practiced, recommended!! Especially in warm water and at sunset in #miami," she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her in the water. "Paddleboarding with the best crew!"

She and Parker wed in secret

In April 2019, Petrakova took Parker to Mexico for her birthday. Parker proposed to Petrakova in front of 15 family members and friends while out on a boat together, with daughter Lailaa bringing out a cake that read, "Will you marry us?"

"She knows that Lailaa is the center of my entire universe," Parker told TIME. "So we come in a package deal. It was important for the dynamic duo to be upgraded to the Big Three."

The pair married in December 2019 and managed to keep their engagement and nuptials a secret until two years after the ceremony.

On Dec. 14, 2021, they announced that they had married and were expecting.

They came out publicly after marrying

Petrakova told TIME that she and Parker were surprised by the romantic turn their relationship took. "We literally denied it to ourselves for three years, I think," she said. "Then we just finally accepted it. That was a long, hard process."

The couple decided to come out publicly because they wanted to set an example for their daughter Lailaa.

"I always tell my daughter to be herself. I always tell my daughter to be proud of who she is," Parker explained. "And I always tell my daughter to speak for herself and speak up for those that she loves. And I can't say that to her if I'm not doing it myself."

She continued, "I don't want her to ever think that I'm ashamed or not proud of our family. That was a step that we had to take. But we had to take it on our own terms."

In regards to coming out publicly, "I felt like in this society, in this day and age, you shouldn't have to do that," Parker said — but she and Petrakova decided to do so in order to "open up the door of conversations" and remind people "how valuable it is to have support."

"Society had a way of putting this pressure on people to come out. And I don't think it should be that way," she added. "I think there were a number of media members who knew about my family. And they supported it. They didn't out me. Or they didn't put pressure on me to expose my living situation."

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