Becky Hammon is defending her name.
The Las Vegas Aces head coach used the team’s Aug. 18 postgame press conference to publicly address the allegations against her in Dearica Hamby‘s lawsuit against the WNBA.
“Here’s some facts,” Hammon said. “I’ve been either in the WNBA or the NBA for 25 years now. 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,” Hammon said.
Hamby’s lawsuit against the Aces and the WNBA is that she was discriminated against for getting pregnant again after signing a contract extension with Las Vegas in 2022. Hamby, who claimed to previously have had housing provided by the team and full tuition coverage for her daughter, Amaya, in private school, suddenly lost both of the aforementioned benefits from the team after publicly announcing her pregnancy during the 2022 WNBA Championship parade in Las Vegas.
In January 2023, Hamby was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks and immediately made a public statement on Twitter, now X, exposing the Aces for allegedly mistreating her. In Hamby’s lawsuit, she claimed Hammon called her in the offseason and claimed Hamby wasn’t dedicated to off-season workouts, that she got pregnant on purpose after signing an extension, and she would be traded because the team needed bodies ready for the 2023 season. According to the lawsuit, when Hamby asked Hammon if she was getting traded, Hammon asked her, “What do you want me to do?”
On Aug. 18, Hammon responded to the alleged call claim.
“It’s also factual that nobody made a call about trading her,” Hammon said, “until Atlanta called us in January. That’s a fact.”
In Hamby’s lawsuit, she claimed Hammon told her she could express her preference of where she wanted to get traded, like Los Angeles or Atlanta. Los Angeles is a four-hour drive from Las Vegas, and Hamby is from the metro Atlanta area.
“It just didn’t happen,” Hammon said. “I’m sorry. The bullying? 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. Over-the-top care. That’s the facts.”
“I’ve been in either the WNBA or the NBA for 25 years now; I’ve never had an HR complaint—never, not once. I still didn’t actually ‘cause Dearica didn’t file any. She didn’t file with the players' union.She didn’t file with the WNBA. Those are the facts.” Becky Hammon on lawsuit pic.twitter.com/C0K1cLkpVw
— Khristina Williams (@Khristina) August 19, 2024
Hamby birthed her son, Legend, in March 2023. She returned to the court after giving birth and played the entire 2023 season with the Sparks. This season, she’s averaging a career-high 18.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game for Los Angeles. As of Aug. 19, the Sparks are 6-21, and the Aces are 17-9. In her lawsuit, Hamby claimed the trade to a younger, developing team in the prime of her career lowered her national exposure and career prestige, which affected her brand and promotional opportunities, in addition to playing in a more competitive sports market than Las Vegas. Hamby also previously had a PMA deal with the WNBA, which allowed her to get paid to stay in America during the offseason to appear at community events and continue to promote the league. After she was traded, she no longer had a PMA deal.
