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Aces coach Becky Hammon insists bullying allegations from Dearica Hamby’s lawsuit ‘just didn’t happen’

Dearica Hamby was traded to Sparks in January 2023, a few months after she revealed she was pregnant with her second child

ryan young
Staff writer
·3 min read

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon spoke out against allegations that former player Dearica Hamby made against her and the organization on Sunday night.

Hammon addressed the lawsuit shortly after the Aces' 87-71 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena — which marked the first time Hamby, who plays for the Sparks, took on her former team since filing her lawsuit against the Aces and the WNBA. The allegations of bullying, Hammon insisted, aren’t true.

“It just didn’t happen … the bullying,” Hammon said, via The Athletic. “I spoke with her every day. If she wanted to practice, she practiced. If she didn’t, she didn’t. Over-the-top care, actually.”

Hamby filed a civil rights lawsuit against the league and the Aces earlier this month, claiming that both organizations discriminated and retaliated against her during her time with the franchise in 2022.

Hamby first filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last fall and claimed the Aces and Hammon traded her because she was pregnant. Hamby announced her pregnancy in September 2022, and she was then traded to the Sparks in January 2023.

Among other things, Hamby said in her lawsuit that Hammon asked her if she planned to get pregnant and then told her that she didn’t take proper precautions to avoid being pregnant. She also claimed that she asked Hammon twice if she was being traded because she was pregnant, and she said that Hammon replied, “What do you want me to do?”

Hamby said she discovered she was pregnant with her second child three weeks after signing her new contract with the Aces. After she announced her pregnancy, she said the Aces started being evasive about tuition payments for private school costs for her first child, which was included in her deal, and that she was told to vacate team housing.

Hamby’s initial claims led to multiple investigations. Hammon was suspended for two games as a result, and the Aces had to forfeit a 2025 draft pick. Hamby’s lawsuit said the WNBA did nothing to rectify the harm against Hamby, and that it didn’t interview players who could have corroborated key details.

Hamby said the trade situation was “traumatic,” and that she was “lied to, bullied, manipulated and discriminated against.”

Becky Hammon addressed the lawsuit that former Aces player Dearica Hamby filed against her, the franchise and the league on Sunday night.
Becky Hammon addressed the lawsuit that former Aces player Dearica Hamby filed against her, the franchise and the league on Sunday night. (Candice Ward/Getty Images)

Though Hammon didn’t get into specifics about the lawsuit on Sunday night, she brought up her track record working in the WNBA and NBA.

“Here are some facts,” Hammon said. “I’ve been in either the WNBA or the NBA for now 25 years. I’ve never had an HR complaint, never, not once. I still didn’t actually, because Dearica didn’t file any. She didn’t file with the players union. She didn’t file with the WNBA. Those are facts. It’s also factual that nobody made a call about trading her until Atlanta called us in January [2023].”

Hamby has averaged 18.5 points and 10.1 rebounds this season with the Sparks. She had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the loss on Sunday night, and was booed repeatedly by Aces fans in Las Vegas throughout the contest. She also won a bronze medal with the Team USA 3x3 basketball team at the Paris Olympics earlier this month.

The Sparks hold a 6-21 record after Sunday’s loss, which is tied for the worst record in the league. The Aces sit at 17-9 on the season, which is 1.5 games back from the first-place Minnesota Lynx in the Western Conference.