Dearica Hamby 'Fought Back Tears' While Dealing With Boos From Aces Fans in Return

The Sparks forward filed a lawsuit against the WNBA and the Aces a few days before the game.

Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby is announced before a game. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby emotionally opened up about her return to her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, last month when speaking on Good Game with Sarah Spain this week.

The Aug. 18 matchup happened just days after Hamby filed a lawsuit against the WNBA and the Aces, in which she claimed that the team discriminated against her while she was pregnant with her second child in 2022. The Aces traded her to the Sparks in Jan. 2023, and she gave birth on March 6 that year. The complete 18-page lawsuit can be read here.

When Hamby returned to Las Vegas last month, the Aces crowd apparently booed her almost every time she got the ball. It made for a tense situation in the Michelob Ultra Arena.

“I fought back tears the entire game,” Hamby told Spain. “It was heartbreaking, but people don’t fully know and understand, they’re just going off the sport aspect of it. I understand that.”

Hamby did a lot for the Aces during her five seasons with the organization, including helping them win the franchise's first WNBA title in 2022. She also won the Sixth Woman of the Year award in 2019 and '20.

“I don’t know if they were new fans, I think a lot of the old fans probably weren’t participating in that,” Hamby said. “But, just the love and heart that I poured into being a part of that, and I didn’t ask to leave, so to say.”

The Aces won 87–71 over Hamby's Sparks that night.

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