Former Cal Star Layshia Clarendon the Subject of ESPN Cover Story

Former Cal basketball star Layshia Clarendon is the subject of a long ESPN cover story about her impact on the WNBA and sports in general.

The story is titled “The Power of Layshia Clarendon,” with a subhead of “Player. Parent. Activist. Pioneer. Faith is the driving force for the WNBA’s first openly nonbinary and transgender player.”

Cal Sports Report did a story on Clarendon’s influence earlier this year, and this cover story expands on that subject.

The story opens with these paragraphs:

Layshia Clarendon wrapped their hand around the back of the fussy newborn looking up at them in the maternity recovery room at a Bay Area hospital. A nurse had just shown Layshia how to cradle the baby in a football hold, and Layshia rested the soft skin of the baby's back against her own left forearm and held the baby's head in her hand.

Baby C (they/them) gurgled and squirmed at Layshia's touch. Layshia accepted shampoo from the nurse, silently wondering if it would be appropriate for Black hair. With her right hand, she gently rubbed her fingers through the silky curls of Baby C's full head of hair.

It was Dec. 21, 2020, Baby C's birthday and first wash day. Layshia's wife, Jessica (she/her), had just given birth to Baby C by cesarean section after a 29-hour labor after carrying the baby for just over 41 weeks. As Jessica recovered, Layshia found himself alone with his first child. He never expected to have these first moments alone with Baby C. Layshia and Jessica had planned for a vaginal birth and for these moments to be shared.

"For me to get that opportunity right away was powerful," says Clarendon, a one-time WNBA All-Star who plays for the Minnesota Lynx. "It was so beautiful."

Clarendon attended Cal from 2009 through 2013, and was a key member of the Bears' 2012-13 team that reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

Cover photo of Layshia Clarendon by Ned Dishman, NBAE via Getty Images

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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