Las Vegas Aces Investigated By WNBA Over Allegedly Mistreating, Trading Pregnant Player

The WNBA has some explaining to do after a veteran player alleged that the Las Vegas Aces mistreated her and traded her for being pregnant. On Tuesday, the Association announced that an investigation had been launched looking into claims made by former Ace-turned-LA Spark Dearica Hamby.

Less than a year after winning the WNBA Finals with the Aces, Hamby was traded to the Sparks (Jan. 21), which the 29-year-old alleges had to do with her current pregnancy with her second child.

According to the WNBA's statement via The Next:

“The WNBA is currently conducting an investigation involving the Las Vegas Aces in connection with allegations raised in a recent social media post by Dearica Hamby.”

The WNBA launched their investigation roughly two weeks after Hamby posted a message on Instagram, thanking the Aces fanbase for their support while calling out the team for supposedly factoring in her pregnancy in the January trade that sent Hamby to LA.

(Chitose Suzuki/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Las Vegas sent Hamby and a first-round pick in exchange for a 2024 second-rounder and trading rights to Amanda Zahui B., who was shipped to the Washington Mystics for a pair of second-round picks.

“Being traded is a part of the business. Being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against is not,” Hamby's message read, in part.

She also noted that the team had questioned her knowledge of her pregnancy when the Aces signed her to a contract extension in June and whether she had plans to get pregnant in the upcoming future.

Hamby added, “the unprofessional and unethical way that I have been treated has been traumatizing. To be treated this way by an organization, BY WOMEN who are mothers, who have claimed to ‘be in these shoes,’ who preach family, chemistry and women’s empowerment is disappointing and leaves me sick to my stomach.”

The trade involving Hamby was seen as a salary-cap-clearing move by LV to eventually land two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker, who signed with the team for a one-year $100,000 deal. News of the investigation detailed that the league will also look into hidden deals facilitated between the Aces and their free agents.

Parker's cheapened deal with the Aces, which is $95,000 less than what she made in 2022, prompted speculation from the WNBA as to whether LV offered under-the-table payments.

Parker will be co-headlining a superteam in Las Vegas. The Aces will now feature four former No. 1 overall picks on their roster, including Parker, reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.