Tag: Dearica Hamby

Las Vegas Aces report: Becky Hammom Suspended 2 games Over WNBA Violations; Hammon to miss opener in Seattle Saturday

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Former Las Vegas Aces Dearica Hamby left, looking up and smiling and below seated on the right Aces head coach Becky Hammon who starts her suspension on opening night Sat May 20 when the Aces are scheduled to face the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle ( 2022 photo from TMZ file)

Becky Hammom Suspended Over WNBA Violations

By Barbara Mason

There have been a number of issues surrounding the Las Vegas Aces since February. The allegations that the defending champs had circumvented the WNBA’s salary cap making under the table payments to players. This violation, if proven, could lead to the stiffest discipline in the league since the New York Liberty was fined $500,000 in the 2021 season for chartering of unsanctioned flights to away games.

It doesn’t stop there; the Aces have also been under fire lately after former Ace Dearica Hamby posted some news on social media surrounding her trade to the Los Angeles Sparks. She claimed unprofessional and unethical treatment revolving around her pregnancy that she has claimed was traumatizing.

The WNBA has been investigating Hamby’s claim of being lied to, bullied, manipulated and discriminated due to her pregnancy. The Aces have been cooperating with the WNBA. It has been a tough road for the team because of the friendships that have evolved season in and season out.

Last season, the Aces won their first WNBA title under first-year coach Becky Hammon. This team looked to be ready and primed to repeat with their latest signing of Candace Parker and defender Alysha Clark. Both of these players took pay cuts looking to join this team and work towards numerous titles, in fact core players from last year took the same pay cuts.

Today the verdict came down on the comments made by Becky Hammon. The former Spurs assistant coach will miss two games without pay and will lose their first-round draft pick in 2025. It was decided that the team had violated the WNBA’s league and team respect in the Workplace policies.

While Hamby did not single out anyones name to the comments made, she did say that she was told that she was not taking precautions and that she was traded because it was stated that she would not be ready for the new season. The team also claimed that she was not taking her workouts seriously. They did tell her that it was best for her career that she move on from Las Vegas.

The league’s investigation was comprised of 33 people who were interviewed as well as texts, emails and other documents. So now the Aces are being disciplined for not upholding the values of integrity and fairness. The loss of their first-round draft pick in 2025 is the first time this has been done in league history. The Aces are not done; they are also facing other questionable conduct charges. We will have to wait to see if anything comes of these additional charges.

Aces have that championship look in 95-79 win over Dallas preceding the Olympic break

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By Morris Phillips

ARLINGTON, TX–What’s not to like? The Las Vegas Aces were the trendy title pick before the WNBA season started, and entering the Olympic break, they still are.

“We’re a super talented team,” Dearica Hamby said. “Really one through 12. Talented, talented roster.”

The Aces were flawless even without Liz Cambage, who has already joined the Australian national team in Vegas of all hot places. Without her, A’ja Wilson dominated in the paint, scoring 22 points as her shiftier teammates spread the floor and moved the ball in a fast moving attack.

Hamby added 22 points, Jackie Young had 17, and Kelsey Plum 16 as the Aces broke open a close game after halftime and led by double digits for the majority of the second half. The key may have been eschewing 3-point attempts and attacking the Wings in the paint with their quickness and passing ability despite Dallas’ advantage in size. The Aces attempted just eight shots from distance, making three while going 31 for 59 from two, and 24 of 30 from the free throw stripe.

The Wings, a surprise with their presence in the postseason chase, fell to 9-12, and they appeared to lose focus offensively after the break, missing 17 3-pointers in all, and allowing too many transition opportunities to their opponent. Three Wings–Satou Sabally, Tyasha Harris and Marina Mabrey–failed to make a shot, combining to go 0 for 17 and 0 for 5 from three. Dallas’ leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale was pestered throughout by Riquna Williams and finished 4 of 19 shooting for 10 points.

Moriah Jefferson and Allisha Gray each had 14 points to pace the Wings.

The Aces will see five of their players depart for the Tokyo Olympics, and with a 15-6 record trailing only Seattle at 16-5, health will be the primary concern for the team over the month long break. Cambage, Wilson, Plum, Chelsea Gray and Ji Sun Park have earned the distinction of being 2021 Olympians.

“We got through the first half healthy, and that’s a huge bonus for our basketball team that we have a full roster,” Coach Bill Laimbeer said.

Dream turns Aces’ finale into a nightmare 93-78 loss

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

ACESDREAM 1q
Atlanta led 20-19 after the first quarter Photo: @LVAces

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Las Vegas Aces (14-20) knew the game on Sunday was their last game of the 2018 season. The Aces had been eliminated from the playoffs on Friday night in Dallas. They hoped to put on a good show for the crowd in their finale and keep the Atlanta Dream from earning a double bye in the first round of the playoffs.

The Aces did put on a good show for the fans–at least for three quarters–but they came up short on their plan to beat the Dream. Atlanta (23-11) beat Las Vegas 93-78 handing the Aces their 20th loss of the season.

The Dream held just a 64-62 lead at the end of three quarters. It looked like the Aces were well positioned to make a run to win the game in the final quarter, but it was not meant to be. Atlanta outscored Las Vegas 29-16 in the final period and ran away with the game. When the final buzzer sounded, the Dream had won the game 93-78 and earned a double bye to escape the single elimination games in the playoffs.

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The Aces trailed by just two points after three quarters Photo: @LVAces

“Games like this are always tough,” said Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer in his postgame comments. “You get eliminated from the playoffs and have to go out there and find the motivation to keep working. We are professional basketball players, so I told the team before that we are going to play a lot of people tonight.  I want to compete – to win the game – and for the most part, I think we did for a half. We came out in the 3rdquarter and you could see we just didn’t have it anymore, mentally, they didn’t put forth the effort to win the game. [Atlanta] needed it badly, they did the job, they got the win.  I told [the team] after the game – be proud of this year, it was a great year for the Las Vegas Aces. We launched a franchise.  We competed and showed who we were – individually and collectively – and our franchise and our fans got to come out and enjoy a great product and a great sport, and MGM did a wonderful job launching this franchise. So, I told them to be proud of themselves.  Yeah, we didn’t make the playoffs, but we are really looking forward to next year.”

Aces Postgame Notes

  • A’ja Wilson put up 21 points to score in double figures for the 33rd time to start her career. She also scored 20-plus points for the 18th time in 2018.
  • Dearica Hamby–14 points–posted double figures for the 12th time this season.
  • Kelsey Bone scored nine points, which was one off of her season-highs.
  • The Las Vegas Aces won six more games (14 to 8) this season than they did as the San Antonio Stars in 2017.

Atlanta Postgame Notes

  • The Dream finished the season with a franchise record 23 regular season wins.
  • Elizabeth Williams led the Dream in scoring with 20 points–her 14th double-digit scoring game of the season.
  • Renee Montgomery posted 16 points and dished out a season-high nine assists on Sunday.
  • Atlanta’s record is now 16-3 when they score 80-plus points in a game.
  • The Dream swept the season series with the Aces.

Aces beat Sparks 94-78 Friday night to knock LA out of first place

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

ACES Drive Lane
The Aces won by driving to the basket and taking mid-range shots Photo: @LVAces

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The 10th place Las Vegas Aces played like World Champions on Friday night as they shocked the league-leading Los Angeles Sparks with an offensive barrage that led the underdogs to an impressive 94-78 victory on their home court. The Las Vegas (6-11) win not only surprised the Sparks — it knocked Los Angeles out of first place in the WNBA into a tie for second place.

The Sparks (11-5) are a team that has feasted on their opponents at home in LA. They own a 7-1 record at home, but entered the contest on Friday night with a road record of 4-3. The Aces knew about that road record and wanted to take advantage of it.

There was only one lead change in the game. The Sparks jumped out to an early lead, but the Aces kept chipping away at that lead until they erased it. The Aces’ Kayla McBride hit a 3-point basket with 2:05 remaining in the first quarter to give Las Vegas a 16-15 lead. The Aces would never trail the Sparks again in the game.

A’ja Wilson led the scoring attack for the Aces. She put up 29 points shooting 50 percent (10-for-20) from the field and converting 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) opportunities from the free throw line. Wilson also grabbed nine rebounds, added four assists and made three steals in her 35-plus minutes of playing time.

Las Vegas point guard Kelsey Plum came up big for her team, scoring 14 points while hauling in nine rebounds to go with five assists. She did not commit a turnover while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Plum was also the Aces’ leading 3-point shooter who hit 2-of-3 attempts from downtown.

ACES Hamby
Dearica Hamby was very effective coming off the bench for the Aces Photo: @LVAces

Dearica Hamby was productive coming off the bench for Las Vegas. She scored 13 points, had four rebounds, dished out five assists, made two steals and blocked a shot in her 25 minutes on the floor.

Kayla McBride scored 12 points, recorded seven rebounds and had three assists. Tamara Young put up five points and had five rebounds.

The Aces shot 51.6 percent (33-for-64) for the game and hit 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from behind the arc. Las Vegas went to the free throw line 31 times and converted 23 of those chances.

Las Vegas also had to be proud of their defense in their big win. They held the Sparks to just 39.7 percent (29-for-73) shooting overall in the game. Los Angeles did excel at 3-point shooting by hitting 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from long-range, but the Aces defense stopped the Los Angeles mid-range shooting game, which kept them from making a comeback.

The other area that really hurt the Sparks was their inability to get to the free-throw line. They had only 12 chances from the line in the game and made only seven of those opportunities. LA attempted just two free throws in the first half.

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Graphic: @LA_Sparks

Chelsea Gray led the Sparks in scoring with 22 points. Essence Carson added 17 points and six rebounds. Odyssey Sims came off the bench to record 11 points for LA.

The Aces will have very little time to savor their victory as they will have to face the Sparks in Los Angeles this Sunday. Remember — the Sparks are 7-1 at home this season.

Tipoff on Sunday is scheduled for 1:00 PM PDT.