The WNBA is currently facing a federal lawsuit.
Los Angeles Sparks All-Star Dearica Hamby filed a discrimination and unlawful retaliation lawsuit against the league and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, on Monday. She accused them of treating her unfairly when she was pregnant with her second child, including getting traded to the Sparks in January last year.
The 30-year-old alleges that the trade was prompted by her announcement of her pregnancy after she signed a contract extension with the Aces. After she was traded, Hamby accused her former team of wrongdoing, claiming on social media that she’d been “lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against” by the team before it traded her.
“After making her pregnancy public, plaintiff Hamby experienced notable changes in the way she was treated by Las Vegas Aces staff,” the lawsuit says.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was a guest on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, and she talked in length to host Robin Roberts about the lawsuit.
“I just saw that the complaint was filed and we’re reviewing it obviously. We’ll let our lawyers take a look at it,” the commissioner said.
“Dearica is such a great player in this league. She just represented our country in the 3×3 in the Olympics and won the bronze. Dearica is great. She has two children, great mom. Spent a lot of time with her for the past couple of years and we’ll obviously review this,” she added.
Hamby’s legal team is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Meanwhile, the Aces coach Becky Hammon responded that they traded Hamby not because of her pregnancy.
“We made the decision to move Hamby because we could get three bodies in for her one contract,” Hammon told reporters. “It was never an issue, and it was never the reason she was traded. It just wasn’t.”
WNBA season continues despite Dearica Hamby’s lawsuit
Dearica Hamby may be currently fighting a legal battle against her former team and the WNBA, but it doesn’t mean the second half of her season will have to stop.
The three-time WNBA All-Star is fresh off a bronze medal win in the 3×3 basketball tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and is looking to continue her winning ways with the Sparks when the season resumes.
The two-time Sixth Woman of the Year has played in all of the Sparks’ 24 games so far, and leads her team in points (19.2), rebounds (10.0), and steals (1.4) in spite of an unimpressive 6-18 record. She will be looking to lead the charge when Los Angeles hosts the New York Liberty (21-4) on Thursday.
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