Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon was “disappointed” in the WNBA investigation findings, according to USA TODAY, while Dearica Hamby, the player who made the accusations against Hammon and the organization, wants “to move forward and focus on where I am today.”
The aftermath of the league’s decision — with Hammon suspended two games without pay and the Aces docked a 2025 first-round pick — continued in the hours and the first day following the WNBA release, which revealed the reasons behind the decision.
Hamby alleged in an Instagram post soon after the Aces traded her to the Los Angeles Sparks in January that she was “discriminated against” while pregnant.
Hamby made her complaint on Jan. 23, according to the WNBA statement, and the investigation that followed included 33 interviews and the review of communication.
Hammon was suspended for “violating league and team Respect in the Workplace policies,” according to the WNBA statement, and the Aces lost their future first-round pick because of “promises of impermissible benefits” during negotiations for a contract extension.
Hammon addressed the situation in a press conference Wednesday and claimed that trading Hamby was based on “math in business,” according to ESPN.
Hamby, speaking to a group of reporters at a Sparks press conference Tuesday, opted to express gratitude for her son, Legend, being healthy and the opportunity to play basketball again so soon after Legend’s birth.
In the press conference, Hammon also claimed that she “handled Dearica with care from Day 1” and that “everything kinda fell apart” when the Aces decided to trade Hamby.
Hammon also claimed that she was told the violation was “asking about her pregnancy in a private conversation that I was having with Dearica.”
“When you’re dealing with a really tough conversation, I think things can get twisted real quick,” Hammon said, according to Yahoo! Sports. “But I don’t think there was like any cursing or anything derogatory. That’s my opinion. Obviously, she has a different opinion, and she’s allowed to have that opinion, but that’s not how I saw things go down with my conversation or anybody else’s.”
Hammon also claimed that she never had “one bad text” with Hamby and that anything that alleges otherwise is “completely fabricated by somebody on the outside that doesn’t know what the hell is going on.”
Hamby recalled crying — and started to tear up during her press conference — when her 6-year-old daughter asked if the Aces were making the trade “because of Legend.”
“For my son, he’ll be able to see it, and I don’t think this is the end of it,” Hamby said. “Just moving forward, being progressive for working moms, and I think the league has been incredible in what they’ve done. But we still have a long ways to go in this league and in the world. I know he’ll see it.”
Hammon, Hamby and the Aces won the 2022 WNBA title to cap Hammon’s debut season as head coach.
Hamby had played for the Aces since 2015, when they were still the San Antonio Stars, and they were her only WNBA franchise since entering the league as the No. 6 overall pick out of Wake Forest in 2015.
“I had a great relationship with Hamby the whole time, which is why she probably felt the way she did,” Hammon said. “It feels like a betrayal, but like I said, it’s a crappy part of my job but somebody’s gotta be the bearer of bad news. As much as I could sit there and say that’s not how I deemed the conversation going, she deemed it another way, and for that, I do feel bad.”