Drafted by the San Antonio Stars in 2015, Dearica Hamby looks to add another gold medal to her collection on the 3 x 3 team in Paris. Let’s look at five facts of this 2024 WNBA All-Star and first-time Olympian from Marietta, Georgia.
Hamby was an aspiring softball player before high school
Entering high school at 5 foot 7, basketball had never crossed the softball player’s mind until a growth spurt pushed her to 6 foot 3. “I heard, ‘You should play basketball! You’re tall,’” she said in a 2015 interview with WNBA.com. She earned first-team All Metro Selection honors in her junior year at Norwood High School. In her senior year, she led Norcross High School to the 5-A state title in 2010-2011.
She’s is Wake Forest’s all-time leader in points and rebounds
In her junior year at Wake Forest University, she led the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring (22 points per game) and rebounding (11 rebounds per game). In her senior year, she led the conference again in scoring (20.3 ppg) and was second in rebounds (10.7 rpg). Hamby is the all-time leader in both for Wake Forest and was named All-ACC twice.
Hamby has won multiple awards and a WNBA championship
Hamby is a two-time WNBA Sixth Player of the Year with the Las Vegas Aces in 2019 and 2020. She is also a three-time all-star, twice with the Aces in 2021 and 2022, and this year with the Los Angeles Sparks. Hamby also helped the Aces team win its first WNBA title in 2022.
She made one of the more memorable shots in WNBA history
During the 2019 WNBA playoffs, the Aces were down to the Chicago Sky 92-90 in a single-elimination, second-round matchup. With seven seconds left, Hamby stole a pass from Sky point Courtney Vandersloot, took one dribble past half court and made the game-winning shot from 35 feet with five seconds left to ultimately send the Aces to the WNBA semi-finals. WNBA.com dubbed the play “the shot of the year.”
With two daughters, she wasn’t expecting to play for Team USA
Hamby’s daughter, Amaya, was born in 2017, while Legend was born in March 2023. Hamby was not expecting to go to Paris this year for Team USA, but when her Sparks teammate and rookie forward Cameron Brink tore her ACL, Hamby stepped in as her replacement. Hamby is no stranger to 3 x 3 competition, as she made the game-winning buzzer beater to beat Brazil in the gold medal game of the 2023 FIBA 3 x 3 AmeriCup. Hamby also won MVP honors for that tournament as well.