The Complex Situation with the Las Vegas Aces and Dearica Hamby's Allegations | WNBA News

so so we have a a real serious and real complex situation unfolding in the in the WNBA right for the Las Vegas Aces Becky Hammond this story is is really not about the game of basketball to be honest this is about allegations of mistreatment discrimination now there's some legal battles now that's about to be a part of this whole thing it's about die Hami she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023 she has alleged that she was mistreated by the aces during her pregn and these claims has led to a federal lawsuit now against the WNBA and her former team accusing them of discrimination and retaliation so this actually kind of cuts deep into the Integrity of the sport of basketball and also the responsibilities of those in these these leadership positions because listen L these accusations are are not just a matter of us talking about it but it's now a legal process she's claiming that the aces traded her because of her pregnancy a move that she thinks that was rooted in discrimination and we know who Hami is her time with the aces two time Six Women of the Year Olympic bronze medal this year and now she's fighting something that she thinks that is Injustice right Becky Hammond another one well-respected player figure in women's basketball she's going public with it after the aces win over the the Sparks and Becky Hammond refuted all of Ham's allegations she said that with emphasis there was no form of complaints foued by hammy through the the usual channels basically HR and the players union Becky she's insisting that she wanted to trade hamy was because of a strategic move and it wasn't related to her pregnancy so the defensive Clay on both sides for Becky she's basically saying that there's no HR complaints and there was only trade talks that started when um Atlanta reached out and she was saying that the move was about positioning the aces to sign a player like Candace Parker rather than anything being personal but the League's investigation found some fault which led to begy Hammond being suspended for two games and they lost to 2025 first round pick but despite those actions by the W de' she's not satisfied with the outcome so she's taking her fight further she f a complaint with the the um the EOC which gave her that right to sue in federal court and everything but this is one of those situations where the stakes is high not just for Derica not just for for Becky but for the entire w real quick right and the outcome of this case can have kind of a lot of implications on how the league handles business now in regards of player treatment concerning pregnancy and the rights of women's athletes to be honest it's just a reminder to everybody that with sports as much as it is about competition it's about ethics responsibility and and really how we kind of treat one another I know K got a a quote from Becky Hammond about her answer from the from the press conference go ahead and play it brother I can give you some facts I can give you some facts want some facts I do want facts and I also want to know what would you to tell people about your integrity as a coach and the Integrity of the organization you work for here's some facts 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 it's also factual that nobody made a call about trading her until Atlanta called us in January that's a fact okay and so to me I mean there's it just didn't happen I'm sorry The Bullying I spoke with her every day she wanted to practice she practiced if she didn't she didn't Over the Top Care actually Over the Top Care yeah so a lot going on right but honestly and I know I'm talking too much lo I apologize this is this is a real real serious thing right and I know I can't go through what women go through but as somebody that has six sisters it does kind of bothers me because it underscores the importance of the League's role in protecting its players ensuring that all these actions are taken by all these teams and the management make sure everything is just fair and just to be honest so as this story continues to develop we're going to be following it closely everybody because the truth will need to come out in court but it's just it's just really sad to be honest this is one of those moments where Sports obviously intersects with the broader societal issues and everything and that we got to pay attention so we definitely going to keep you updated but I know that I was talking a little bit too much my my apologies Lauren nor that's you loo and lo the king and Loa parks and lamed Ali and everything but I really had to get that get that off because it's it's definitely it's it's sad and I hope if if it's if it's true heads got a roll I don't care who you are people you can't have a job no more go ahead I'm sorry no I agree it's a very serious situation I'll start with Becky first who the hell are their PR people like why would you volunteer this information when it's literally a a case going on like an open case like even if you believe that that's the truth like who's advising her because she was extremely eager to share her thoughts about what were facts I just think it was very Tri trivial for her to say I've been in the WNBA and on the NBA side for 25 years and never had a HR complaint how long did it take for R Kelly to go to jail how long did it take for people to admit that Bill Cosby was was was ruy in them like like I'm sure people weren't saying that when they were at the peak of their career either just because you have no complaints doesn't mean that you didn't do like what like I I just thought that that was a a a poor way of expressing your innocence I guess is the best way because just because you don't have a complaint year one doesn't mean that year 25 something can't happen and you could you know be offensive to somebody so that's that's that's my whole thing on Becky this situation is near and dear to my heart because most of you guys know of course I am a mom I'm out a two and a half year old and just as a woman in general and as a black woman which dear is we are at a three times like a three times higher chance of dying from childhood child birth so not only do we H not only do we not know if we're going to survive having children but then you have to deal with the from your employer like it's ridiculous I mean I I spoke about it on Spaces I have personally been discriminated against for you know being a mother people say certain things like I'm not going to go into detail but you know when I told my supervisor I was pregnant people say certain things that you don't have the Liberty to say as my employer because guess what in America we have maternity leave we have these things that are supposed to be granted to us so I can see both I can see both sides right the aces are organization they're business and they thrive on winning championships and making money so if someone is pregnant or cannot play the person is not useful to them essentially but that's just that's just a l that you're gonna have to take because these women are literally playing during their childbearing years what the hell you think gonna happen dear is dear and Skyler are not going to be the last two women that are pregnant during the WNBA season or just pregnant in general in the WNBA so I think aside from the aces aside from Phoenix I think it's a foundational issue in the WNBA that needs to be solved like these women are like I said during their childbearing years whether you need to extend the roster so that it won't affect teams as much if someone goes out with pregnancy I don't know which I need to do however it needs to be fixed like if dear is truly saying that she feels discriminated against like it's silly when people say retaliation like are y'all not smart like you this lady makes what let's say I don't know how much she makes but I would say it's between 175 and 220 a year right she has two kids that ain't when you have two kids I'mma just let y'all know that now that's not a lot of money when you have two kids and especially as a professional athlete you think she's going to go up against a big entity like the WNBA for retaliation you know how much money it's going to cost her to go to do this to see this court case through like so that's the irritating part to me another irritating part is people pick and choose because people don't like de' they don't give a about her complaints about her her lobbying for women to be treated correctly people were up in arms two years AO ago when everyone found out that Phoenix treated Skylar poorly but why is it not the same energy for de'arra if she feels like she's truly been discriminated against like anyone that feels like they've been discriminated against whether it's aism for your sex whatever the case may be like I just don't stand for that and I know the aces are like a popular team and a popular franchise so people don't want to call them out but I am because that's ridiculous if it did happen it's ridiculous like me reading court case reports that are that that said that they allegedly looked at her medical charts or asked her what kind of birth control methods were she was she using bro that's none of your business that's Hippa it's literally illegal like that is Hippa like it's just for me it's frustrating because it's such a stigma around women or athletes that become mothers where they feel like these women are now going to deprioritize their Sport and be less qualified to compete at a professional level when that's not true I mean you can even look at the Olympic runner Allison Felix who's run won multiple Golds gold medals she dealt with this in 2009 Nike literally cut her pay in half because she was pregnant like look at it's just unfair when you look at how women just persevere and show resilience and they're still just held back like Serena Williams she literally won a grand slam eight weeks pregnant Carrie Walsh won Olympic medal in volleyball at five weeks pregnant so these women can perform and the thing is dear literally said that she would be back for the start of the season and she kept her word and was back at the start of season for the Sparks so I just say all this to say that the language in the CBA needs to be changed the players need to be protected it you know that's just what it is like I it's hard for me to it's hard for me to side with the WBA or the aces in this case because if this young lady truly feels like she's been discriminated against and you taking your time you taking your money you know you going to get harassed like and you still are pursuing this lawsuit something happened that's all I'm gonna say something had to happen because no lawyer is going to tell you that this case can actually like you can actually see this case through if they don't believe that you have a chance at winning and then last thing I'll say is deo Peters who played for the Minnesota links and also Notre Dame I don't know if y'all got a chance to see it but if you haven't check out her thread that she did today and just basically saying how she had an encounter with the WNBA as well and because of because her dad is the attorney she found out that some of the things that they were doing were illegal so she basically went to the union and told them like hey I want to have a case against the WNBA but the key that I didn't know is that the the lawyer that you can have has to be a WNBA representative so it's the WBA against the WNBA that needs to change they're always to look out for the wba's best interest that has got to change and she also made a good point that a lot of illegal stuff goes on people just don't report it because they don't think anything's gonna happen so for Becky to sit there and say I haven't been reported to HR girl stuff has probably been going on but people just has haven't reported you like so I just feel like we think that athletes are robots and they're supposed to put their life on hold so they can play a sport if she's telling you hey I'mma be back in I'mma be back to my best ability in shape whatever the case may be this is what it is these women are child childbearing ages I it's just a hard concept to understand hell they before this 2020 CBA they made these women buy an additional hotel room for their child because they were sharing rooms with players like players were sharing rooms so you had to buy an additional room for your child like they have to change they have to change the the maternity um protocol they have to change the maternity rules for these women the I I am happy that they at least get a full maternity leave before 2020 they only got I think 50% of their pay or 60% of their pay so we're moving in the right direction but we're not where we are my I'm just a little bit disappointed in people's reaction to all of this because yeah it just doesn't make sense to me yeah also you know you got these people on social media talking about why certain players like when Aces is not saying nothing to defend their coaches listen this is an active investigation they're noted supposed to say they you can't say nothing trying to call players out for being quiet they absolutely have to be quiet we all got to be better when it when it comes to situations like this and it's just unfortunate but like I said before I pass it to youo you know when stuff come out and if it's ugly ugly then you know people got to be held accountable heads got to roll coaching part of ownership part of leadership whoever was involved man he might be curtains for you and that's that's my that's just my opinion because this this defin can't go down can't be preaching talking about Sisterhood and all this other stuff and you know y doing some other stuff this is wild man I'm sorry