After Putting Dearica Hamby Through the Wringer, the WNBA’s New CBA Includes a Pregnancy Clause

When Dearica Hamby first called out the WNBA and the Las Vegas Aces for alleged pregnancy discrimination in 2023, she told the Washington Post that all she really wanted was “an apology.” That didn’t happen—and in August 2024, she filed a federal lawsuit against the league and her former team. (She and the Aces mutually agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in December.) 

But on Friday, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association (WNBPA) reached a tentative and historic seven-year collective bargaining agreement that includes a pregnancy clause, ensuring pregnancy can never again be a factor in a player’s trade. THE WNBPA ratified the deal on Monday, calling it “transformational” and “bigger than basketball.”

To recap: Hamby had been part of the Aces since 2015, when the team was known as the San Antonio Stars, and where she won at least four major accolades. She signed a two-year extension of her contract with the team in June 2022, but after finding out she was pregnant, she was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023. (This was particularly surprising news at the time, as her performance had been stellar all season.) Believing the decision was “motivated” by her pregnancy, Hamby filed an 18-page complaint in August 2024, claiming that when she confronted her coach about it (“You’re trading me because I’m pregnant?”) her coach replied, “We didn’t expect you to get pregnant in the next two years…What do you want me to do?” Her claims led to a months-long investigation that resulted in a two-game suspension of her coach and the team losing its first-round draft pick in 2025. 

Flash forward to now, and the new CBA—which the WNBPA has been fighting for for months—includes a clause that says, “Teams must obtain player consent before trading a pregnant player.” The contract doesn’t explicitly name Hamby, but it’s been referred to as the “Hamby Clause.” 

Dearica Hamby getting some justice for her and future pregnant players in this new cba makes me so happy. Proud of her for standing strong on her own against the whole wnba. That was beyond brave!!!

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— lilmisstraci.bsky.social (@lilmisstraci.bsky.social) March 21, 2026 at 2:29 AM

Under the new contract, pregnant athletes can veto their trades, and thus be protected from having to travel, change doctors, or exert themselves physically and emotionally during an already stressful period. Also included in the agreement is a “pregnancy and childbirth salary cap exception,” meaning the pregnant players can get their full salaries without it counting towards the team’s salary cap (or how much a team spends on its players); and “expanded family planning benefits for players and their spouses/partners.” 

Alongside its newfound protections for pregnant players, the agreement also boosts players’ salary caps from $1.5 to $7 mil.; provides housing for all players from 2026 through 2029; and guarantees a $60,000 bonus for championship team players—nearly three times what the last champions won. 

Now, all that’s left for the agreement to go into effect is for the WNBA’s Board of Governors to give the final OK. And, well, let’s just hope it isn’t the same group of people in charge of managing Dildogate.

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