Tag: Becky Hammon

Becky Hammon’s mishandling of the Dearica Hamby allegations might be the end of her time in Las Vegas

Becky Hammon should be ashamed.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you. I hope you had a fantastic weekend.

Becky Hammon certainly didn’t. I’m not telling you that so you can feel sorry for her — she brought this on herself.

Let’s start with the news, though.

Hammon took a portion of her post-game press conference on Sunday to tell anyone who would listen that she did no harm to current Sparks All-Star Dearica Hamby when she was a member of the Aces.

Hamby filed a lawsuit last week against the Las Vegas Aces and the WNBA, alleging that because she was pregnant after signing her contract extension in 2022, she faced “repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation from the Aces” before the team shipped her to Los Angeles. The details are brutal. Hamby alleges that after Hammon and the Aces found out she was pregnant in July 2022, they reneged on certain agreements in the deal.

More crucially, Hamby also claims to have been bullied by Hammon.

Hamby detailed Hammon’s questions about her dedication to the team during her pregnancy. Hamby said Hammon told her that she “didn’t hold up her end of the bargain” by getting pregnant and that, by signing the extension, Hamby implicitly agreed not to.

It’s jaw-dropping stuff that, if true, would be more than reasonable enough to result in Hammon’s firing. But, according to Becky, none of this ever happened.

“Here’s some facts,” Hammon told reporters. “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.”

You want to talk about facts? Let’s talk about facts.

Hammon claims the bullying “didn’t happen,” yet, somehow, after a months-long investigation spearheaded by the WNBA itself, the league found enough wrongdoing by Hammon to suspend her for two games last season. That’s a fact. Hammon can’t tell us that she didn’t do anything wrong here when we know that to be true.

It’s not unreasonable to believe that it’s true, either. The WNBA has been shaky in the past when handling player pregnancies. All we have to do is look back on how the Mercury treated Skylar Diggins-Smith during her pregnancy last season. It sounds pretty similar.

That might surprise you, but it shouldn’t. The WNBA might be a highly visible league, but we’re still dealing with simple workplace dynamics here.

On one end, you’ve got a coach in Hammon who makes $1 million per year and led her team to a championship (with Hamby included!) in her first season as a head coach. On the other, you’ve got a player who doesn’t even make a quarter of what her coach makes and wasn’t the best talent on the roster.

Given those facts — since, again, Becky says we’re talking about facts — whose side do you think the Aces chose? Whose side do you think the WNBA chose? It’s easy math.

You can’t help but feel like Hammon just put her foot in her mouth. What she’s telling saying is so easy to pick apart.

At best, what she’s doing here is downright irresponsible. There’s a reason folks don’t talk about pending litigation. What she says here will be used in court, and when the parties go into discovery, I’d bet this moment will somehow look worse than it does today. It might even lead to the end of her tenure in Vegas.

At worst, this is sinister and downright ghoulish. Hammon is gaslighting Dearica by telling her that what she had to endure was somehow “over the top care” from her former head coach.

And that, folks, is precisely what workplace bullying looks like. We’ll see how this plays out in court.

Bo Nix … Is that you?

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

If you asked people who they thought was the best bet out there to win Offensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL this season, you’d probably hear a lot of Caleb Williams. Maybe Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye. Maybe even Rome Odunze or Marvin Harrison Jr.

You probably wouldn’t hear much about Bo Nix, but the guy has looked solid so far in a couple of preseason games for Sean Payton and the Broncos.

Prince Grimes says Nix is the hottest bet for OROY today. He makes some sense of it here:

“To start, the Denver Broncos rookie almost certainly locked up the team’s starting job with his preseason play, which already gives him an edge over at least two and maybe three of his classmates who won’t see the field. J.J. McCarthy was ruled out for the season after knee surgery. Michael Penix Jr. (+6600) is stuck behind Kirk Cousins for the foreseeable future. And Drake Maye (+3500) is backing up Jacoby Brissett for the time being.

That leaves Caleb Williams (+140) and Jayden Daniels (+500) as the most immediate competition at QB, and both have much shorter odds than Nix at +1200.”

This is impressive stuff from Bo Nix — especially considering how little time he’s had in Denver. That starting spot is up for grabs and he seems to want it.

Am I impressed because my expectations were at 0? Maybe. But who cares! I’m still impressed, nonetheless.

Do the Soto Shuffle

It’s hard not to get excited when you see Juan Soto come up to bat. Not only do you know there’s a solid chance you’re about to see something special, but you also know the Soto Shuffle is coming.

I get just as excited as these kids do every time I see it.

I hate that he’s doing this for the Yankees these days, but this still gets me just as hype as ever.

Soto Shuffle, forever.

READ MORE: These little leaguers imitating the Soto Shuffle is everything

Quick hits: Your first fantasy football pick … It’ll be OK, Vikings fans … and more

— Here’s Charles Curtis with more on who you should use your first pick on in fantasy football this year.

— The Vikings will have a rough season, but Christian D’Andrea has more on why that’s OK.

— This technical on Caitlin Clark was so silly. Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more.

— Lamar Jackson is somehow a sleeper to win MVP again. Here’s Prince Grimes with more.

— Christie Sides and Noelle Quinn getting into it was not on my bingo card. Here’s Meg Hall with more.

— Tyreek Hill doesn’t really want to race Noah Lyles. Let’s be serious.

Thanks for reading, gang. Appreciate you. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Talk soon. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Becky Hammon was visibly frustrated at ESPN’s broadcast interviewing her during the Aces’ season opener

Well, this is really awkward.

In-game interviews have been happening for quite some time. They are meant to give hoops fans an inside look at what is going through a coach’s mind in real time and offer additional insights that fans might not otherwise have access to. Becky Hammon’s interview with ESPN during the Aces’ season opener Tuesday started that way but quickly became awkward.

During the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth game between the Phoenix Mercury and the Las Vegas Aces, Hammon was connected with ESPN’s broadcasting crew to answer some questions. Everything was going seemingly well until Becky was asked about the team’s offense on certain parts of the court — as Diana Taurasi was simultaneously scoring and getting a foul call against the Aces.

Becky’s face quickly changed to bewilderment and frustration, and she went silent, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The broadcast tried to get through the awkward exchange by saying the arena was probably too loud for Hammon to hear the question, but things were still obviously uncomfortable.

Knicks fans have a new top-tier nickname for Jalen Brunson after recent criticisms about his game

Many fans, including Ben Stiller, are calling Jalen Brunson by a new nickname.

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was recently the subject of debate when Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon spoke about his potential.

Hammon and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins went back and forth about whether or not Brunson was capable of playing like the best player on the best team in the league.

There is no doubt that Brunson is playing at an elite level right now and he has now scored 30 or more points in eight games so far this season. That now includes a very impressive 36-point performance on Christmas Day during a victory over the Bucks, led by two-time MVP and former NBA Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Despite his accomplishes, though, there are concerns. As a former small guard herself, and as an experienced basketball coach, Hammon wondered if someone his size could lead his team to win a title in the NBA.

We don’t know if Hammon’s criticism of Brunson’s limitations is accurate and we won’t know until we see if he can keep this success for the Knicks in the postseason.

But some fans and teammates are latching on to one of the phrases used in the ESPN debate about whether or not Brunson could become a “1A” player. It seems that his teammates, including Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein, think he is already there.

RELATED: Becky Hammon shouldn’t have to shrink herself for the comfort of basketball fans

History says Becky Hammon’s take about Jalen Brunson’s size with a title-contending team is correct

Becky Hammon told no lies about Jalen Brunson’s limitations.

Jalen Brunson is one of the NBA’s more electric scorers. He’s a guy who can take a game over on a whim and lead the New York Knicks to a big win on any given night. But for as special as Brunson can be, there are probably limitations on how far he can actually take the Knicks in the playoffs if he’s their focal point.

On Thursday, during an NBA Today discussion on ESPN, Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon shared an incisive take about Brunson’s ceiling. As the panel debated whether the slightly above-average Knicks are stuck in Purgatory, Hammon took it a step further. She proclaimed that New York lacks the true No. 1 superstar necessary to win a championship. When Kendrick Perkins pushed back and highlighted Brunson, Hammon explained that the 6-foot-2 guard is simply too short to be the fulcrum of a team that can win four consecutive best-of-seven series in a postseason.

Honestly, based on years of NBA history, Hammon isn’t wrong. At all:

At any point in the NBA’s history, almost every single championship team is built around someone with considerable size and length.

There are a few outliers, of course — namely, Steph Curry (the best shooter of all time), Isiah Thomas (arguably the finest pure point guard ever), Dwyane Wade (an arguably top-three shooting guard all time, who was also 6-foot-4), and Chauncey Billups (more a cog in a team system than an outright superstar) — but they are all exceptions. All of them.

There is also usually a stark cut-off in height for a true No. 1. We can probably use the 6-foot-6 Michael Jordan (who won six championships with the Chicago Bulls) as the bar. If your top player isn’t at least that height, you’re probably not winning it all in June. Recent history especially says as much.

Here’s the list of best players and their respective heights on the last 10 NBA champions:

  • 2014 San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard (6-foot-7)
  • 2015 Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry (6-foot-3)
  • 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James (6-foot-8)
  • 2017 Warriors, Kevin Durant (6-foot-10)
  • 2018 Warriors, Kevin Durant (6-foot-10)
  • 2019 Toronto Raptors, Kawhi Leonard (6-foot-7)
  • 2020 Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James (6-foot-8)
  • 2021 Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo (6-foot-11)
  • 2022 Warriors, Steph Curry (6-foot-3)
  • 2023 Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic (6-foot-11)

Again, you might counter with Curry, but he is literally the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history. At the time of this writing, Curry has made over 500 more threes than the next-best on the NBA’s all-time list.

Put another way: Curry is the outlier of outliers.

This isn’t to say that Brunson can’t win a title with the Knicks.

After all, 25-point scorers don’t just grow on trees. And history isn’t necessarily empirical. The modern NBA presents a different game and a different challenge. The league is more built than ever to allow smaller players to thrive. But when combining the current landscape of skyscraper stars with history, it’s abundantly clear that New York would be better off turning Brunson into a loyal sidekick for another alpha with more size. Jamal Murray in Denver is a perfect example of that reality in present terms.

Hammon knows what she’s talking about. Brunson is talented, but the Knicks still have a lot of work to do — maybe the hardest work in acquiring a No. 1 superstar — before they’re ready to compete for a championship.

3-time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray joins Kings broadcast team

Gray is also a current ACC Network college basketball analyst for the 2023-2024 season.

Three-time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray adds another role to her ever-expanding résumé, joining the Sacramento Kings broadcast team as a pre and postgame analyst. She joins hosts Kyle Draper and Morgan Ragan and analysts Matt Barnes and Mike Bibby on NBC Sports California for the remainder of the 2023-24 NBA season.

Gray won back-to-back WNBA championships with the Las Vegas Aces in 2022 and 2023 while also snagging a championship in 2016 with the Los Angeles Sparks. She is an Olympic gold medalist and five-time WNBA All-Star, among many other accolades.

This will not be her first foray into basketball analysis. She is a current ACC Network (ACCN) college basketball analyst for the 2023-2024 season. Gray isn’t the only Aces team member analyzing the game this season. Candace Parker works for Turner Sports as a basketball analyst and even head coach Becky Hammon is an ESPN analyst.

In addition to her analyst role, it was announced earlier this year that Gray will be a founding member of a new professional basketball league in the United States. Unrivaled was founded by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier. The league will run from January through March and “feature 30 of the top professional women’s players on six teams, playing games of 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 at a soundstage in Miami.”

The offseason is shaping up to be quite busy for Gray, but there isn’t a true offseason in women’s basketball. So, instead, she joins numerous other players who head to their secondary or tertiary jobs when the WNBA season ends.

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Becky Hammon predicts A’ja Wilson will be ‘the GOAT of the GOATs’ in epic parade speech

What was in Becky Hammon’s tumbler?!

Becky Hammon was the best part of the Las Vegas Aces’ championship parade, and it’s not even close.

On Monday, the Aces held their parade to celebrate their stellar WNBA Finals victory over the New York Liberty. In the best way possible and to the shock of absolutely no one, it was one of the most chaotic scenes I’ve ever witnessed.

There were shirts with petty phrases on them, crazy amounts of unhinged dancing, and lots of spirits and libations. (I’m convinced whatever was in everyone’s red cups — and Hammon’s tumbler — was of the strong variety.)

With the liquid courage flowing, several members of the Aces took a moment to address the fans.  But Hammon stole the show with a legendary expletive-heavy speech as she paid tribute to A’ja Wilson.

Warning: NSFW language.

In what feels like a moment Hammon has been waiting on for quite some time, she gives Wilson her flowers.

“I’m an old [expletive] [expletive],” Hammon said boldly. “I played against all the GOATs. I’m gonna put it out there…this gon’ be the GOAT of all GOATs.”

I’m not going to lie; that’s a bar. What Wilson can do doesn’t even feel real. She is extraordinary. Points were made.

Ultimately, this is completely unserious behavior by Hammon, but when you win consecutive championships, you do what you want.

Gregg Popovich joked he almost got ejected to watch Becky Hammon’s Aces win WNBA title

Hammon coached with Popovich in San Antonio from 2014 until 2022.

Since Becky Hammon took over as head coach and general manager, the Las Vegas Aces have now won back-to-back WNBA championships.

Before accepting the gig with the Aces, though, Hammon was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs. The former WNBA star worked under Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich from 2014 until 2022.

During his postgame press conference following a San Antonio preseason game on Wednesday, the head coach joked that he considered getting tossed from the exhibition so he could watch Las Vegas play against the New York Liberty to win the title.

Here is the full quote from Popovich, the winningest coach in NBA history:

“I gotta go celebrate. Becky Hammon and the Aces! It’s like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. It’s Becky and the Aces. Fantastic. I thought about getting booted tonight because it was exactly the same time. But I just thought this has to be my priority. But it was close. It was close. Congrats, Becky! Yeah, baby. Good stuff.”

He added that he needed to answer any questions quickly so he could go get some wine.

Popovich, who has won five titles of his own in the NBA, was clearly thrilled to see Hammon add another championship ring to her collection.

Last season, the first Hammon spent with the Aces, Popovich visited the Las Vegas locker room during the WNBA Finals. He issued a statement when she was named WNBA Coach of the Year as well.

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Investigation finds Aces promised ‘impermissible benefits’ and violated league rules

The investigation started after Dearica Hamby brought up misconduct she experienced from the Aces.

The WNBA found that the reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces, violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and violated league and team respect in the workplace policies.

Head coach Becky Hammon has been suspended for two games without pay for violating respect in the workplace policies related to “comments made by Hammon to (Dearica) Hamby in connection with Hamby’s recent pregnancy.” Hamby was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January after announcing her pregnancy during the Aces’ championship festivities.

The league has also rescinded the Aces’ 2025 first-round draft pick.

“It is critical that we uphold the values of integrity and fairness, which create a level playing field for our teams,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “The Aces failed to adhere to league rules and regulations and have been disciplined accordingly. We are also disheartened by the violation of our Respect in the Workplace policies and remain committed to ensuring that enhanced training is conducted and standards are followed across all WNBA teams.”

The investigation started after Hamby brought up misconduct she experienced from the Aces. After the Instagram post on Jan. 21 where Hamby alleges misconduct, the league and the WNBPA began an investigation into the alleged misconduct. After league interviews with 33 people and reviews of numerous written communication, the investigation found the Aces had violated team and league rules and policies.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnsXXblSRPN/

The Aces released a statement after the WNBA investigation concluded. They shared they were “deeply disappointed by the outcome of the WNBA investigation.”

The Sparks and the Aces will play each other in Los Angeles on May 26.

If Hammon serves her two-game suspension during the first two regular-season games, she would not be on the bench for the game against the Sparks. However, she would be back for the second meetup on May 28 in Las Vegas.

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The WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces investigation and suspension of Becky Hammon, explained

This is not a great look for Becky Hammon.

When the Las Vegas Aces – the reigning WNBA champs who are favored to retain their title – tip-off their season on Saturday against the Seattle Storm, Becky Hammon won’t be on the bench.

The WNBA announced the conclusion of a months-long investigation into the Aces on Tuesday. The result is a two-game suspension without pay for Hammon, the team’s head coach, and the loss of a 2025 first-round draft pick.

“It is critical that we uphold the values of integrity and fairness, which create a level playing field for our teams,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “The Aces failed to adhere to league rules and regulations and have been disciplined accordingly. We are also disheartened by the violation of our Respect in the Workplace policies and remain committed to ensuring that enhanced training is conducted and standards are followed across all WNBA teams.”

The Aces’ situation is equal parts messy and complicated, and began months ago.

Here’s what we know.

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