The Las Vegas Aces are riding high on back-to-back championships, and star players A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum are fresh off another Olympic gold, Team USA’s eighth straight.
However, behind the scenes the team has had its share of turmoil and alleged attempts at rules-skirting that raises a few eyebrows.
The WNBA has always handled most of its cultural drama internally and now that the league has an elevated platform, the PR team has ramped up its game to present the league as all-encompassing.
LA Sparks All-Star Sues League For Pregnancy Discrimination
Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby filed a federal lawsuit against the WNBA and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, on Monday regarding her treatment from the Aces after revealing her pregnancy to the team.
Hamby, a WNBA All-Star and bronze medalist in Paris with the women’s Olympic 3×3 squad, alleges that she was subject to repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination and retaliation from the Aces, leading to her January 2023 trade to the Sparks.
Hamby was a vital part of the Aces’ 2022 WNBA championship team and had been with the organization since being drafted No. 6 in 2015, when the Aces were still called the San Antonio Stars. The franchise moved to Las Vegas in 2018.
Hamby re-signed with Las Vegas in June 2022 during the season.
In the lawsuit, she said along with the two-year contract extension, the Aces offered her a series of perks, including use of team-provided housing and an offer to cover the private school tuition costs for Hamby’s daughter, Amaya.
In the lawsuit, Hamby said she found out in mid-July 2022 that she was pregnant and told coach Becky Hammon and the Aces in early August, but they were extremely unhappy with her decision. After the 2022 season, according to Hamby, the use of team-provided housing was rescinded and her daughter’s school tuition bill was not paid.
Hamby was traded for what the team says was a basketball-related “business decision.”
She gave birth to her son, Legend, in April 2023 and played all 40 games last season with the Sparks, who fell short of the WNBA playoffs.
Now in her second season in Los Angeles, Hamby is averaging 19.2 points and 10.0 rebounds.
Hamby also accuses the WNBA of failing to “properly investigate” the issue and Hamby is seeking economic losses, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney’s fees, according to the lawsuit.
Did The WNBA Investigate Hamby’s Claims?
According to reports the WNBA took several months to investigate, including conducting interviews with 33 people and reviewing numerous texts, emails and other documents before handing down a punishment in May 2023.
Hamby took to her social media in January after she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks. The sixth overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft claimed the Aces bullied her after the team signed her to an extension before finding out she was pregnant.
Her Instagram post read in part, “I have had my character and work ethic attacked. I was promised things to entice me to sign my contract extension that were not followed through on. I was accused of signing my extension knowingly pregnant. This is false.
“I was told I was a ‘question mark’ and that it was set that I would ‘get pregnant again’ and there was a concern for my level of commitment to the team. I was told that ‘I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain’ (Because ‘no one expected me to get pregnant in the next two years’). Did the team expect me to promise not to get pregnant in exchange for the contract extension? I was asked if I planned my pregnancy.”
She continued the post by saying that the team questioned her commitment and told her that she “was not taking precautions to not get pregnant.”
Hamby signed a two-year extension in June before she was traded in January. The players union reportedly pushed for the investigation to be launched to see whether Hamby’s rights were violated under the league’s 2020 labor agreement as well as state and federal laws.
League Dropped The Hammer
The WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert issued a statement in response to Hammon’s suspension.
“It is critical that we uphold the values of integrity and fairness, which create a level playing field for our teams,” said Engelbert in the WNBA statement. “The Aces failed to adhere to league rules and regulations and have been disciplined accordingly. We are also disheartened by the violation of our Respect in the Workplace policies and remain committed to ensuring that enhanced training is conducted and standards are followed across all WNBA teams.”
The league gave Aces coach Hammon a two-game suspension for what it deemed “a violation of league and team ‘respect in the workplace’ policies.”
The league at that time also rescinded the Aces’ first-round draft pick in 2025 for a different violation, this one regarding impermissible player benefits involving Hamby.
Why Didn’t Hamby Like The League’s Decision?
Hamby felt the decision was a rush to just get her issue out of the way, claiming the punishment was inadequate for the offense, continuing to voice her displeasure with the WNBA’s process and discipline decisions.
According to reports, last September, Hamby filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On May 23, she received her “Notice of Right to Sue” from the EEOC and had 90 days to file a lawsuit — which she did Monday.
A spokesperson for the WNBA told ESPN on Monday, “We are aware of today’s legal filing and are reviewing the complaint.” The Aces have not yet responded to ESPN’s request for a comment.
Her legal team claims that the league failed to speak with other Aces players as part of the investigation.
Also that the league didn’t dispense adequate punishment to the Aces or Hammon.
“[Hamby’s pregnancy] wasn’t a problem and it never was why we made the decision,” Hammon said then. “We made the decision to move Hamby because we could get three bodies in her one contract, and we wanted to get three more people in. I think it’s very evident [with] who we signed on why we made the move.”
Candace Parker was one of those bodies brought in to help win the 2023 championship.
“It came down to math in business. That’s all it was. Nothing personal,” Parker confirmed.
The most scathing accusation is that Hammon asked her if she planned the pregnancy and questioned her dedication to the team.
Hamby might have thought it more likely to see this type of behavior to come from a male coach who wouldn’t understand the stress a woman endures while she is pregnant and still trying to work. Not only was it a female head coach, but Hammon also is a former player. Women have spoken out for years about how getting pregnant affects their careers.
Inevitably, situations pop up that expose some possible shortcomings in the way the league tends to handle situations that are biologically common to heterosexual women, such as giving birth.
Skylar Diggins-Smith revealed in 2019 that she played the entire 2018 season pregnant without the Dallas Wings’ knowledge, well aware of attitudes toward pregnant players.
Sheryl Swoopes’ baby and her absence from the game at her peak was a big deal back when she was a married superstar in a fledgling league trying to build its name. Plenty of people questioned her decision. Swoopes would miss the first 19 games of the season due to pregnancy before making her WNBA debut on Aug. 7 vs. Phoenix. Then the league tried to market her as an Alpha mom.
When LA Sparks star Candace Parker took a break from the WNBA in 2009 to give birth to her daughter, Lailaa, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Sheldon Williams, she was coming off a ROY and MVP season and was becoming the face of a WNBA that was ascending to new heights.
People were very critical of that and reportedly the Sparks were not happy, and it affected the relationship between Parker and the franchise and Team USA for some years after that. Former WNBA commissioner Donna Orender told The New York Times in 2009 that Parker’s pregnancy was a “quiet sigh of resignation.”
Related: The WNBA Is Deeper Than The Score And Transcends Basketball
To her credit, she returned to play later that same season, setting a new standard for Black Girl magic. Proving that active mothers could surely be great athletes.
Hamby’s lawsuit hasn’t affected her being selected for the Olympics or her contention for 2024 league MVP. It does highlights issues of possible pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. And how sports culture, whether executed by men or women, have different standards that are ever-evolving.
