Basketball Star Dearica Hamby Takes the WNBA to Another Kind of Court
WNBA star Dearica Hamby has leveled serious allegations against the WNBA and the Las Vegas Aces, claiming discrimination and retaliation related to her pregnancy. She’s just filed a lawsuit against her team and the Association in a federal court. Let’s take a look at how she got here.
Meet Dearica Hamby
Hamby is a bit of a legend in the world of professional basketball. Hailing from Georgia, she rose to stardom at Wake Forest University as the Demon Deacons' all-time leading scorer. Selected by the San Antonio Stars with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft, Hamby quickly evolved into a pivotal player for the Las Vegas Aces, the team to which the Stars relocated in 2018.
By age 30, Hamby has already earned several accolades including two WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year awards in a row, and most recently, a bronze medal at the Olympics this year. Halfway through the 2022 season with the Aces, she signed a two-year extension of her contract with the team. They offered her benefits as part of her contract to entice her to stay, which included an agreement that the Aces would cover the tuition for Hamby’s daughter to attend private school, in the form of a “donation” to the school. Another perk was that the Aces agrees to let Hamby live in team housing accommodations so as to allow for Hamby’s family to provide her daughter's childcare while she was on the road for away games.
She seemed to be having a very successful career with Los Vegas. Until one day in 2022, when she was suddenly traded to the Los Angeles Sparks.
Hamby’s Big News
You might be thinking, “so what? People in professional sports get traded all the time, no bid deal.” This is generally true, but Hamby thinks that this particular trade was not your run-of-the-mill sports business deal. She thinks it was in bad faith because it came on the heels of some news she shared with her team.
According to Hamby, in August of 2022, she informed Aces that she was pregnant with a second child, telling the head coach Becky Hammon along with other coaching and training staff. After that, Hamby continued to play well for the Aces, helping them win their first WNBA championship in September of that year. A couple of days later, at the team’s victory parade, Hamby publicly announced her pregnancy to the press and her fans.
But the good times didn’t last long for Hamby. She claims that after she announced her pregnancy, she started being treated differently by the Aces staff.
Pregnancy Discrimination?
At some point in September, Hamby’s daughter’s school tuition became due. Hamby inquired with General Manager Natalie Williams and Las Vegas Aces President Nikki Fargas about it. They informed her they were “working on it,” but provided no specific date by which the payment would be made.
Then, Hamby claims, General Manager Williams informed Hamby that she must vacate the team-provided housing without giving any reason for this decision. Hamby followed up again regarding the tuition payment for her daughter. She was told they were “still figuring it out,” but no date was provided for the payment.
During a phone call, Coach Hammon allegedly asked Hamby if she planned her pregnancy. When Hamby said she did not, Hammon criticized her for not taking precautions to avoid pregnancy. Hamby claims that the coach questioned her commitment to the team, calling her a “question mark” and stating that the team “needed bodies” and that Hamby would not be ready to play by the start of the next season. Hamby assured Hammon of her commitment and her readiness to play by the preseason in April 2023.
Hamby claims that Hammon falsely accused her of signing her contract extension while knowingly pregnant, which Hamby denied. She says the coach suggested that it was believed Hamby would get pregnant again for a third time and accused her of not taking her off-season workouts seriously, despite Hamby working out regularly as permitted by her medical doctors. She claims that he implied that by signing the contract extension, Hamby implicitly agreed not to get pregnant during the two-year extension period.
In January of 2023, Hamby claims that Hammon informed her that her time with the Aces was over and suggested that she could choose to be traded to another team. Soon after, the Aces publicly announced that Hamby had been traded to the Los Angeles Sparks. Hamby soon issued a public statement via social media expressing her feelings about the trade.
"Being traded is part of the business," she posted on Instagram. "Being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against is not."
From One Court to Another
Effectively benched for life by the Aces, Hamby took the issue to a higher bench. This past Monday, her attorneys dropped a lawsuit in a federal court in Nevada on Monday against not only the Las Vegas Aces, but also the WNBA. She alleges unlawful workplace discrimination and retaliation.
Hamby contends that the decision to trade her was motivated by her pregnancy. Hamby further alleges that after publicly speaking out about her treatment, she faced retaliatory actions from the Aces, including directives for team members to cease communication with her and exclusion from team events.
The WNBA conducted an investigation, which resulted in penalties for the Aces, including the loss of a draft pick and a two-game suspension for Hammon. However, Hamby argues these measures were insufficient and failed to address the harm she suffered, which is why she’s including Association as a co-defendant.
Hamby’s lawyers are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, claiming the actions of the Aces and the WNBA violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws. While it’s not unlikely that the suit will result in a settlement, it’s still too early to know how things will shake out in the courts – both in law and basketball.
Related Resources:
- It's Ladies Night (In Court) for the Fresno Grizzlies (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
- Avoiding Pregnancy Discrimination (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)
- Northwestern Coach Fired Over Hazing Allegations Sues School (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)