WNBA eyes leaguewide talks after Aces case, commissioner says

The WNBA will continue to work with its teams and coaches regarding its respect in the workplace policies following the punishments levied on the Las Vegas Aces and coach Becky Hammon, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert told ESPN’s Malika Andrews on Thursday.

“We’ll be talking with all of our teams, all of our coaches, with our respect in the workplace policies around the sensitivity, especially in a women’s league,” Engelbert said during an appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today.” “Really important to tailor those trainings to make sure everybody understands discussions that are held one-on-one with players or with a player group have to be in compliance with our policies.”

The WNBA suspended Hammon for two games without pay and took a 2025 first-round draft pick from the Aces after ruling that the team had violated league rules in its treatment of former player Dearica Hamby.

The league said the violations came from promises of impermissible benefits during contract extension negotiations with Hamby, while a respect in the workplace violation was regarding comments from Hammon to Hamby related to the player’s pregnancy.

During the offseason, Hamby alleged in social media posts that she had been traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January because she was pregnant and that the Aces acted unethically toward her. Hammon countered Wednesday that the trade was “a business decision” based on the Aces’ needs and denied any harsh statements were made to Hamby.

Asked about the investigation process, Engelbert defended the inquiry as thorough, noting that two former prosecutors interviewed more than 30 people.

“They reviewed text messages, emails, kind of an independent review, thorough investigation to come to the conclusions we came to around both the draft pick and Becky’s suspension,” Engelbert told Andrews.

Both the Aces and Hammon have said they were disappointed in the league’s decision. Hammon on Wednesday said the investigation did not speak to any current Aces players who were with the team last year.

Andrews asked Engelbert about what conversation she may have had with Hammon.

“I let the lawyers do their work and get all the facts to us at the league office,” Engelbert said.