WNBA Coach Becky Hammon Refutes Dearica Hamby’s Lawsuit: ’Didn’t Happen’

UPDATE, 8/19/24 at 2:35 p.m. ET:

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon has spoken out after former player Dearica Hamby accused her of discrimination while being pregnant. 

“Here’s some facts,” Hammon, 47, said during her postgame press conference on Sunday, August 18. “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.”

Hamby, 30, was traded from the Aces to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023. According to a lawsuit filed on August 12, Hamby alleged it was a result of her becoming pregnant. 

She also said there were “notable changes in the way she was treated” by Hammon and the team after announcing her pregnancy. 

“It’s also factual that nobody made a call about trading her until Atlanta called us in January [2023]. That’s a fact,” Hammon continued. “So, it just didn’t happen. 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.”

Original story continues below:

Dearica Hamby filed a federal lawsuit against the WNBA and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, alleging she faced discrimination and unlawful retaliation while she was pregnant.

Hamby was “subject to repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination and retaliation from the Aces,” according to court documents filed on Monday, August 12, and viewed by Us Weekly, which led to her January 2023 trade to the Los Angeles Sparks.

In the lawsuit, Hamby, who began playing for the Aces in 2015, noted that she signed a two-year contract extension with the team in spring of 2022. Less than a month later, she discovered she was pregnant with her second child, however, she “experienced notable changes in the way she was treated by Las Vegas Aces Staff.”

Hamby also recounted a January 2023 phone call between herself and coach Becky Hammon where the player was allegedly told that “by signing the contract extension, Hamby implicitly agreed she would not get pregnant during the two-year extension period.”

Hamby’s lawyers alleged that she asked, “You’re trading me because I’m pregnant?,” to which Hammon responded, “What do you want me to do?”

While Hammon and the Aces have yet to make a comment, a WNBA spokesperson shared in a statement on Monday that “they are aware of today’s legal filing and are reviewing the complaint.”

In January 2023, after her trade to the Sparks, Hamby made a statement on social media claiming that the Aces discriminated against her.

“Being traded is a part of the business. Being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against is not,” she shared in a lengthy Instagram statement at the time. “I have had my character and work ethic attacked.”

Following her statement, the WNBA launched an investigation into her claims and ended up rescinding the Aces’ 2025 first-round draft pick for “violating league rules regarding impermissible player benefits” and suspended Hammon for two games without pay. However, the lawsuit claims the WNBA “provided no meaningful redress” for Hamby.

“[Her pregnancy] wasn’t a problem, and it never was why we made the decision to move Hamby,” Hammon shared with CNN reporters in May 2023 following her suspension. “We made the decision to move Hamby because we could get three bodies in for her one contract … It was never an issue, and it was never the reason she was traded. It just wasn’t.”

Hammon noted that it “came down to math and business” and was “nothing personal.”

“I had a great relationship with Hamby the whole time, which is why she probably felt the way she did, you know?” she shared.