Aces head coach Becky Hammon is adamant that her two-game suspension for violating league and team Respect in the Workplace policies is unfounded.

The WNBA handed the 2022 Coach of the Year a two-game suspension without pay on Tuesday in relation to Las Vegas’ trade of Dearica Hamby back in January. The league’s investigation also found the Aces had made promises of “impermissible benefits” when negotiating a two-year contract extension with Hamby last June and stripped the organization of its 2025 first-round draft pick.

Hamby was pregnant at the time of her trade to the Los Angeles Sparks and said in an Instagram post that the Aces organization “bullied, manipulated, lied to and discriminated against” her due to her pregnancy.

“I was told that I was ‘a question mark’ and that it was said that I said I would ‘get pregnant again’ and there was a concern for my level of commitment to the team,” Hamby wrote. “I was told that ‘I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain’ (because ‘no one expected me to get pregnant in the next two years’).”

Hammon says those claims are false.

“I handled Dearica with care from day one when she told me (about the pregnancy), and she knows that,” Hammon said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Hamby never specified who within the Aces organization made the discriminatory statements, though she did say in interviews following the initiation of an investigation that it was an individual and not a group of people.

The league investigation revealed that the individual was Hammon.

“The Respect in the Workplace violation was related to comments made by Hammon to Hamby in connection with Hamby’s recent pregnancy,” the WNBA statement reads.

The WNBA added that the investigation included interviews of 33 players and the review of texts, emails and other documents. Hammon denied texting or emailing Hamby anything negative regarding her pregnancy.

“Those are completely false,” Hammon said of the allegations. “I never had one bad text between me and Dearica Hamby. Completely false. Or email. First of all, I don’t email my players, I talk to them directly. But we do exchange texts, and anything that is less than the up-and-up I can tell you is adamantly false from any person in this organization. That’s not how we do business. That’s not who we are.”

Hammon also said that she and Hamby had a “great relationship” and that the trade was “nothing personal.”

In her statement at the time of the trade, Hamby acknowledged that “being traded is part of the business” and specified that she did not take issue with the trade itself but rather the way she was treated throughout the process.

According to Hammon, the trade came down to “math and business.” Dealing Hamby to L.A. created enough cap space at the time for the reigning champion Aces to sign Candace Parker in free agency and form what many have dubbed a superteam.

Hammon went on to say that no one on the current Aces roster was interviewed in the investigation.

“I know that because none of the girls told me they were interviewed or asked to be interviewed,” she said, without acknowledging whether it was possible that players were interviewed and elected not to tell their coach.

In response to the league’s decision on Tuesday, the WNBA Players Association said that the punishment does not do enough to uphold the 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

“The League had an opportunity to send a clear message that it abides by and protects the provisions of the CBA, particularly those that we were most proud of — the provisions meant to support player parents,” the statement reads. “Today’s decision regarding penalties, however, misses the mark.”

The Aces organization pledged its support to Hammon in response to the penalties.

“The WNBA’s determinations about Becky Hammon are inconsistent with what we know and love about her,” the team said in a statement Tuesday. “Becky is a caring human being who forges close personal relationships with her players. We stand behind Coach Hammon as she continues to lead the Las Vegas Aces.”

The Aces open the 2023 regular season against the Seattle Storm on Saturday. Hammon will return to the sidelines for Las Vegas’ third game at home against Hamby and the Sparks on Saturday, May 27.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

The Orlando Pride have taken a turn, with the reigning NWSL champs skidding to No. 4 in the NWSL standings after losing decorated forward Barbra Banda to a season-ending hip adductor injury last week.

According to a Saturday release, the 2025 Ballon d'Or nominee suffered a "full thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon" in the 14th minute of the team's August 16th draw with the No. 1 Kansas City Current.

The Zambian international's absence loomed large over the Pride's loss to No. 10 Angel City on Thursday, when Orlando fell 1-0 to LA behind an 86th-minute Alyssa Thompson dagger — raising their NWSL winless streak to five straight matches.

"Barbra has been instrumental to our success and losing a player of her caliber is heartbreaking for the entire organization," said Orlando Pride sporting director Haley Carter.

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After joining Orlando in 2024, Banda made an immediate impact for the Pride, scoring 25 times in her 41 total appearances across all league competitions and earning 2024 NWSL Championship MVP honors behind her title-clinching game-winning goal.

The reigning Shield-winners saw another departure on Monday, as 32-year-old two-time World Cup winner Morgan Gautrat announced that she was retiring from the NWSL with plans to play out the rest of the 2025 season on loan to WSL2 side Newcastle United.

The Pride's downturn could be temporary, however, with Orlando officially signing Tigres UANL star Lizbeth Ovalle on a world record $1.5 million transfer fee late last week.

The NWSL lit up the baseball diamond on Saturday, claiming a new attendance record as the No. 2 Washington Spirit defeated No. 12 Bay FC 3-2 in MLB's Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The 40,091-strong crowd not only shattered the prior NWSL record, when 35,038 fans watched Bay beat Chicago inside Wrigley Field in June 2024, Saturday also set a new attendance mark across all US professional women's sports leagues.

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"The players deserve it. They've worked so hard and this league has come such a long way," Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya said following the historic loss. "When you get football like that, I think every single person that watched that game can leave and say 'Hey, I'd do this again,' because it was entertaining. It was good quality football all around."

The victory marked the Spirit's sixth road win this season, as Washington climbs the table behind midfielder Croix Bethune's first goal of 2025 — and forward Trinity Rodman's first start since April.

"The atmosphere was fantastic," Spirit manager Adrián González said. "The setup, the fans, and having the opportunity to have an experience like this, I think, is just something unique."

Washington now sits 12 points behind league-leaders Kansas City, while just six points separate the Spirit from No. 7 Racing Louisville in an increasingly congested top of the NWSL standings.

The No. 7 Golden State Valkyries refuse to give away their shot, as the first-year expansion side split their weekend results to maintain positioning above the WNBA postseason cutoff line on a 19-18 overall 2025 record.

With seven regular-season games left, the Valkyries are courting history, vying to become the first-ever expansion team to reach the playoffs in their debut year.

Golden State guard Veronica Burton is leading the Valks' charge, registering 25 points and 13 assists against the already-eliminated No. 13 Dallas Wings in Sunday's 91-80 victory to further her squad's postseason dreams.

Despite losing players to injury, the Valkyries remain on track for playoff contention, performing just well enough to fend off fellow mid-table strivers like the No. 9 Los Angeles Sparks and No. 8 Indiana Fever from ascending the WNBA standings.

"This is nothing new for us," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said of her team's consistency. "What I like about our players is we are always continuing to try to help each other."

How to watch the next Golden State Valkyries games

Golden State have earned a rest, with the Valkyries currently sitting out the week before hosting the No. 10 Washington Mystics at 8:30 PM ET on Saturday and the No. 8 Indiana Fever at the same time on Sunday.

Saturday's clash will air live on WNBA League Pass, while NBA TV will carry the Valkyries' Sunday matchup.

The NWSL has reportedly threatened to fine the No. 1 Kansas City Current for delaying their August 16th kick-off against the No. 2 Orlando Pride due to unsafe field-level heat ahead of the planned CBS broadcast.

The Athletic wrote late last week that the NWSL could fine Kansas City for "breaking protocols by asking for a heat check after the league decided to go forward with the game."

"Internally, we flagged that a 3 PM kickoff in Kansas City in August was probably going to have a problem with the extreme heat issues that we're seeing this summer," NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) executive director Meghann Burke said.

"While forecasts guide planning, we primarily rely on real-time, on-site weather data to make informed decisions in accordance with our inclement weather policies and protocols," the NWSL responded in a statement.

The league signed a four-year, $240 million US media rights deal with CBS, ESPN, Prime Video, and ION in 2023, with this month's Kansas City vs. Orlando showdown marking the seventh of 11 regular-season CBS matches on deck for 2025.

The heat delay caused the network to shift game-time coverage to its streaming app while CBS switched back to regional programming.

While both teams' medical and technical staffs cited dangerous playing conditions, the NWSL prioritized broadcast commitments, adding to rising concerns about player safety amid the league's rapid growth.