Dearica Hamby announced a few months ago that she was expecting her second child. News that did not please the front office of the Las Vegas Aces. Result ? She was traded along with a 2024 Draft first-round pick to the Los Angeles Sparks. Afterwards, the player said in January that she had been “bullied” and “manipulated” by the franchise because of her pregnancy.
The league therefore carried out an investigation, including interviews with 33 people and a review of numerous texts, emails and other documents. The WNBA has thus come to the conclusion that Becky Hammon, coach of the team, had made inappropriate remarks towards Dearica Hamby in relation to her pregnancy.
As a result, the former assistant to Gregg Popovich was suspended for two games by the WNBA. The Las Vegas Aces also lost a first round of the 2025 Draft in the case for not respecting the rights of their player.
“I knew the decision from the day before, the league announced it the next day. I don’t have much to say about it.” said the player. “ I want to move on and focus on who I am today. I am healthy, I am happy. My son is healthy and I will be playing basketball this season. So I want to focus on the future, that part of the story is over”.
But here it is, this Saturday evening, Dearica Hamby is making a comeback in Las Vegas, where she was drafted in 2015 but, this time, she will wear the Los Angeles Sparks tunic. As a reminder, the Aces were WNBA champions last season. Which means that the player will receive her champion ring.
“I will probably cry when I pay my respects to the crowd and the supporters. That’s what this moment will mean to me.” she admits. “I know it will be an important moment for them too. I’ll do it for them and then I’ll just play basketball.”.
It should also be noted that she could have chosen not to play this 2023 season and to benefit from paid maternity leave. She would then have received her full salary, but she absolutely wanted to play her ninth consecutive season in the league, despite giving birth last March.
“Because I can” she explains. “I was physically fit to play four weeks after giving birth. I started resting and as time passed I was sitting at home and thinking to myself that this was kinda boring and I wanted to get back to playing basketball. I called Karen Bryant, the Sparks general manager, four or five days before training camp and told her I would be there. The first day, I was supposed to train without contact and I ended up doing contact, so I feel good. Every day I feel stronger and stronger and more and more in basketball mode”.
