First pregnant athlete to grace ESPN magazine cover

Candace Parker is wearing a simple white dress and the biggest smile imaginable. She is cradling her belly, which carries her unborn child, as she poses for this cover of a magazine aimed at readers who expect to see LeBron or Manny.

"We don't do a lot of female athletes on the cover," Belsky said. "Candace has made it more interesting. She's got Adidas, McDonald's and Gatorade as sponsors; that's a pretty strong big three. But it's still tough to put a woman on the cover for us.

"But ESPN is participating in women's sports month in March, so we thought this would be a good way. But when we found out she was pregnant we had to call and say, 'We can't run these pictures in March.' "

So photo editor Catriona Ni Aolain reconceived the photo and spoke to Parker. "She was a little nervous," Ni Aolain said. "She wanted to know we wouldn't make fun of her in any way."

"Response to my pregnancy from people in my circle of WNBA fans has been positive. I hope the readers see the cover and then read the story."

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