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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesOne of the most famous duos in sports came to Dearica Hamby’s defense after Las Vegas Aces fans booed her during the Sin City team’s game against her Los Angeles Sparks.
WNBA great Sue Bird and her wife, former US women’s national soccer team captain Megan Rapinoe, discussed Hamby’s return to Las Vegas on their “A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe” podcast in an episode they released on Wednesday, August 21.
“She’s not just a player for the Sparks who used to play for your team,” Rapinoe said. “She’s a mother, she’s an athlete, she was discriminated against, or feels that she was, she’s filed a federal lawsuit … I couldn’t believe that.”
Hamby was part of the Aces organization from 2015 to 2023, dating back to when they were the San Antonio Stars. The Aces traded her to the Sparks last January while she was pregnant with her second child.
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Hamby filed a federal discrimination complaint against the WNBA and Aces that September, claiming the team traded her away because of her pregnancy and the league did not adequately investigate. She alleged the Aces subjected her to “repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination and retaliation” before the trade.
Hamby sued both parties last week.
Dearica Hamby Kirby Lee/Getty Images“We are aware of today’s legal filing and are reviewing the complaint,” a WNBA spokesperson told the AP.
Aces coach Becky Hammon said in May 2023 that the team traded Hamby because they could get three players for the same cost as her contract and wanted to “bring more people in.”
Hamby was named to three All-Star teams with the Aces organization, won two WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year awards and was a member of their 2022 WNBA championship team. She recently returned from Paris where she won the 3×3 women’s basketball bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics.
The Aces have been measured in their public response as the process unfolds, but Hammon addressed the lawsuit briefly after their game Sunday, an 87-71 win over Hamby and the Sparks.
“I’ve been in either the WNBA or the NBA for 25 years,” Hammon said on Sunday. “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 also denied Hamby’s description of the events, adding, “It’s also factual that nobody made a call about trading her until Atlanta called us in January [2023]. That’s a fact. So … it just didn’t happen.”
It’s a messy situation, but Bird believes fans booing her crossed a line.
“This to me crossed whatever line exists, because now we’re talking about everything that you just touched on,” she told Rapinoe. “One thing I’ve learned with all legal matters is you have to let it play out … the booing just felt icky.”
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