Wake Forest Professional Athletes

No Wake Forest alumna generated more headlines in the WNBA this week than Dearica Hamby — and not all of it was about basketball.

Flagrant Foul, Ejection, and a $1,000 Fine

The week began with fallout from Aug. 22, when Hamby was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul during the Los Angeles Sparks' game against the Connecticut Sun and ejected in the fourth quarter. The WNBA followed up with a $1,000 fine — a consequence that comes automatically with a Flagrant 2 assessment. The timing stung, but the result on the court didn't: the Sparks won 77-68, snapping a six-game losing streak, with Hamby posting 10 points, 5 rebounds, and a standout +19 plus-minus before her exit. Rae Burrell led the team with 20 points, but Hamby's presence in the win was undeniable.

Racist Text, Public Response, and a Suspension

Days later, the story turned far more serious. Hamby publicly shared a racist text message she had received, and the fallout was swift. Acclaro Medical of Rhode Island confirmed it suspended the employee identified as the sender. Hamby's decision to go public with the message rather than absorb it quietly turned a private act of harassment into a public accountability moment — and it worked. The incident drew widespread attention across the league and beyond, making Hamby one of the most visible figures in the WNBA this week for reasons that had nothing to do with the box score.

On the Court: A Mixed Bag

Hamby's on-floor week was uneven. After the high of Sunday's win over the Sun, she put up 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block in a Tuesday loss to the Atlanta Dream — a strong individual effort wasted in a 71-78 defeat, with a brutal -20 plus-minus reflecting the team's struggles without her carrying the load. She followed that with 9 points and 4 rebounds in a Saturday loss to the Washington Mystics, 88-82.

The Sparks (13-24) remain one of the league's harder-luck teams, but Hamby has consistently been their most dependable two-way presence. This week, she proved she's also willing to use her platform beyond the game — a quality that tends to define legacies more than stat lines.

For Wake Forest fans, Hamby's week was a reminder that she's one of the more consequential players in the league right now, in every sense of the word.

Dearica Hamby — the former Wake Forest forward now in her seventh WNBA season — isn't letting franchise turbulence slow her down. Over a three-game stretch from Aug. 2–7, the LA Sparks power forward put up consecutive double-digit scoring performances that would have made noise on any week, let alone one that opened with a blockbuster trade rocking the locker room.

Carrying the Load After the Plum Trade

The Sparks woke up on Sunday, Aug. 2, to the news that Kelsey Plum — already sidelined since June 21 with a leg injury — had been shipped to the Phoenix Mercury the night before. Any reasonable observer might have expected a flat performance. Hamby had other plans.

She posted 23 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal in a 106-101 win over the Portland Fire, helping Los Angeles snap a six-game losing streak. Nneka Ogwumike delivered the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:25 to play, but it was Hamby's sustained pressure on both ends that kept the Sparks in position to close. The Sparks, now 3-9 without Plum, needed a performance like this — and one of their own delivered it.

A Double-Double That Couldn't Stop the Sky

Three days later against Chicago, Hamby was even better statistically: 22 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, a block, and a steal. The Sparks still fell 95-88 to the Sky, sliding back to seven games under .500. Hamby's plus-minus of -6 tells the team story — LA didn't have enough around her — but it doesn't diminish the individual output. A 22-point, 14-rebound line in a loss is a reminder of what the Sparks would be staring at without her.

Snapping Minnesota's 10-Game Streak

Friday's game against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx delivered the week's signature moment. The Sparks entered as heavy underdogs against a Minnesota squad that had reeled off 10 straight wins. Hamby and Rae Burrell orchestrated a fourth-quarter rally, and when the dust settled, Los Angeles had pulled off an 89-82 upset. Hamby finished with 16 points and nine rebounds — quieter than her two prior outings, but consequential in the biggest game of the stretch.

The Bigger Picture

Three games. Scoring lines of 23, 22, and 16. A double-double against Portland, a monster 14-rebound night against Chicago, and a winning role in knocking off the Lynx at the peak of their winning streak. For a franchise navigating Plum's departure and a well-below-.500 record, Hamby is the clearest sign of life on the roster.

For Wake Forest alumni tracking their own, this week offered plenty to appreciate: a former Demon Deacon playing the best stretch of basketball on her team, in the league's biggest market, when the stakes were at their highest.