It sounds like they are pissed she got pregnant because they want to win so they traded her. She is pissed they traded her. End of story.

Looks like the Sparks got themselves a real winner and team player.

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You’d think if anyone would be understanding about maternity leave, it’d be the WNBA.

Is this a new thing that women get pregnant? Damn... an amazing fact.

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Why though? They're a business like any other and a struggling one at that.

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Cuz its ran by women...so they would understand maternity leave

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Regular season runs May to September. That’s 5 months. Add in pre-season and post season and you’re going to get 2+ more months for a total of 7+. Clearly not a 3 month season and clearly not structured so the players can get pregnant and have a baby in the off-season.

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Her feelings hurt. Wahh. She cry.

Was hoping Hamby would be a pink Gumby

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May your guitar be forever out of tune.

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Hopefully the fan(s) would get it too?

It’s not necessarily run by women. It’s not like because it’s the W…NBA that it’s all women all the time. Plus, women can be profit-focused too and not really care about the players’ personal well-being. The NFL is run by people who don’t really seem to care that their sport badly damages all the players’ brains and shortens their lifespans. These people run a business and having players miss an entire season+ to have a baby is bad for business. The players union had to specifically negotiate this issue into their CBA, in fact.

I’m pretty sure having a baby is more than just a 9 month process in terms of training for basketball. You don’t just pop the baby out and go back to balling like nothing happened.

It’s pretty much a lost season for the player. They have to get back in game shape. You can understand why Vegas (who is the defending champion) wouldn’t be thrilled about this.

You can also understand why the player isn’t happy they traded her for getting pregnant.

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WNB…..and I stopped reading.

They may understand it full well, but it may still not fit into their business plan as well as trading her for someone else. Both can be true.

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Sounds from her end that they attacked her character, and she is also pissed about that.

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Being pregnant is a medical condition. If you are an athlete and develop a medical condition that prevents you from playing, your team will probably get rid of you. It happens in men’s sports all the time. I don’t understand why being pregnant should be any different.

Tupac cares

Actually. He doesnt. He dead.

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Because unlike rare medical conditions that prevent them from playing, like with men, most women will get pregnant in their lives. Multiple times. Likely close together in time.

But medical conditions don’t prevent women from playing with men, the biological ceiling does.

I don’t understand your comment or what it has to do with anything.

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These comments are a cesspool - Reddit is such a funny place man… a circle jerk of progressive ideas - but at the same time a bunch of 20 something dudes waiting to shit on women

When you understand that the reason for the liberal circlejerk is mostly just a bunch of 20 something dudes trying to get laid, then it makes more sense.

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Team sports trade injured players all the time. While she may not be injured, her body is certainly going to go through some trauma that will put her in the hospital and leave her with life-long issues.

why would they attack her character? doesnt that depreciate her trade value?

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That's not how pregnancy works. You could have unprotected sex every day of the month and it's not a guarantee you get pregnant.

That’s taking it too far

Not true in the least.

You obviously aren’t a woman or a man who knows women who have had kids.

Bone structure changing probably isn't the best thing for an athlete.

Absolutely false. Wtf.

BREAKING!!!! WNBA STORY NO ONE CARES ABOUT!

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That’s pretty much what I got from it too. I think that in general if we want people to care more about the WNBA shouldn’t we stop giving shit to teams who want to win and are trying to do so? (Not saying you’re doing this)

Anybody here actually watch the WNBA, be honest

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Makes comment

Reddit: REEEEEE LETS GO THROUGH YOUR POST HISTORY

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We see professional athletes come back from pregnancy all the time.

You are making it sound like she is guaranteed to be washed as a basketball player when she returns.

Right it’s a sticky situation because women should be able to have kids and keep their job. However from the Aces standpoint you can understand trading her. That player could be the difference between winning the championship or not which is the ultimate goal.

>But medical conditions don’t prevent women from playing with men, the biological ceiling does.

I don't understand what this statement has to do with anything.

Owner Mark Davis is super weird.

No. Not at all. She was traded. Not banned from the sport.

I’m not too sure if their fan is here.

I mean she is still keeping her job, just doing it in a new location.

Everyone obviously just wants to date her.

Read the comments here. You think this sub is where WNBA fans are going to discuss the sport???

Might as well go to the conservative sub and ask if anyone even likes AOC.

You read that wrong...

Right. I understand. Most jobs wouldn’t force you to relocate for having a child. This is professional sports though.

>Cuz its ran by women...so they would understand maternity leave

You must be young lol

No one hates women more than other women.

That is a completely different statement than your previous comment. My wife didn’t have complications during pregnancy but she developed easily triggered nausea after being pregnant. She now has a higher risk of heart attack due to pre-eclampsia also from pregnancy. Again - totally fine pregnancy without any major complications.

>She is pissed they traded her.

It literally says...

>"Being traded is part of the business," Hamby said in a statement posted on Instagram. "Being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against is not."

...in the second paragraph. Did you not make it that far into the article...?

>why would they attack her character?

Open the article. They didn't do that publicly.

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For real. I hate people who say they love basketball but shit on the WNBA.

That sounds like a major complication. Again, OP indicated the trade was justified because it's a guarantee the player will develop health issues.

Lol exactly

No I read it…I’m just reading between the lines.

I don’t see how she was lied to or manipulated based on what she said. You could argue she was discriminated against for getting pregnant I guess.

Bottom line is they didn’t think she’d be ready to play. She disagreed and said they were questioning her work ethic. They traded her for someone they thought was ready to play.

She says she is not upset about getting traded but it seems like that simply isn’t the case. What else exactly is she upset about? It doesn’t make sense to me.

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There are many, many major complications that are entirely common due to pregnancy. None are by choice and none guaranteed. The trade justification is bollocks as well but that wasn’t what I was responding to. The nausea my wife experiences would definitely cause havoc on the court though.

>I’m just reading between the lines.

*just ignoring what she said so you can substitute in your own version.

>It doesn’t make sense to me.

Yeah, I can see that. Lol. This is exactly what I expected everyone in the comments to say. Yall are too predictable.

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It’s one fan with multiple Reddit accounts that make up WNBA fan base

I think more people would watch if all the women on the court were pregnant.

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She provides zero information that shows us anything other than she’s mad at being traded.

These “allegations” came out hours after being traded. But I can’t make sense of what the allegations actually are. Could you elaborate perhaps?

She was promised things to entice her to sign her contract? What kind of things? Cuz you know that’s kinda the reason for a contract in the first place.

She was accused of signing the contract pregnant? That makes sense to hide when they are going pay you 2 years worth of pay for one year of work. Maybe she was unaware at the time either way it’s inconsequential because she signed the contract that Vegas had to honor.

“I was asked if I planned my pregnancy. When I responded, 'no,' I was then told that I 'was not taking precautions to not get pregnant.' I was being traded because 'I wouldn't be ready and we need bodies.'"

This is factual but somehow seems like her main gripe. She thinks she is ready. They don’t think she is. If she actually was ready they would have no reason to trade her in the first place.

Seems like she thinks she is better than she is in reality. Then she got reality checked by getting traded. Then she started throwing out vague ass accusations as payback.

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It’s not like a nightly viewing in season, but yeah if I see the Sky are playing and I’m not doing else then I’ll flip the game on

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Did the WNBA start playing basketball?

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There are many womens sport leagues that rock, make money and are fun to watch like tennis golf and soccer. The WNBA is a joke. It wouldn't exist if they had to generate their own revenue. More akin to a local little league being sponsored by their AA team than a league in its own. Most people can only name one player, B. Griner, because of her time in prison and not for her skills on the court. Thats a failure.

Advanced stats people fawning over Hamby's contractions/36

No one cares

Ha ha. Such a funny joke. I’ve never seen comedy executed this well. So original. You should go on tour.

Who and what trade?

Hey hey hey. I only knew her because she socked that girl in the mouth at Baylor.

And of course everyone knows Sue Bird is Larry Bird’s forgotten love child.

Sadly, not a joke my friend.

Stick to painting toys, my guy

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Sure thing Rick and Morty lol, stick to watching cartoons! LOL

Some of these girls can't play, and it has nothing to do with their sex.

As a pro, wide-open air balls should never really happen. Multiple shot clock turnovers in succession should never happen. Multiple turnovers in a row shouldn't really happen. I have League Pass and I barely watch any of the games, but the ones I do watch are pathetic. Those girls need to practice their skills, be aware of the shot clock, understand the value of a possession, etc.

Why are they complaining about $75,000? Their product is not good. Also, they make a good living! To play basketball! If they want to make NBA money, they need to show it on the court. WNBA shooters should be as efficient as NBA scorers, due to the smaller ball and closer 3-point line. I'm assuming they don't put in the practice that NBA players do. If somebody paid me $75,000 to play ball on TV, I'd practice my a** off so I could show off and kick some a**. That's what sports were to me when I played, so I don't think the girls should give less effort just because they feel underpaid.

It's hard to make $75,000 in your 20's, even if you're responsible and make good decisions. Go practice, play the game with intelligence, and more money will come.

It's their fault the league isn't more successful after 20+ years. Try harder.

They questioned and/or criticized her honesty, commitment, and work ethic. Do you really not comprehend how that would bother a long-term employee?

>Seems like she thinks she is better than she is in reality.

You literally didn't know who she was before seeing this headline. Lol. How would you know?

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Yep! Big Liberty fan, watch regularly, own a Sabrina Ionescu jersey, hoping to get to a few games this year.

Bro ik, was just asking since I saw a lot of downvoted comments

They do understand. WNBA employees getting pregnant is bad for the WNBA, just like it is for every other business. The fact that it's a women's league doesn't change that. They're already struggling financially. Personally I love the irony here. Maybe men and patriarchy aren't the problem. Maybe reality is, and we all need to figure out how to navigate it together...or maybe it's just me.

Yep. Most jobs don’t exactly have the risk of you having to relocate out of nowhere. This is simply part of the business.

Air balls happen in the NBA all the time. Just say you don’t watch basketball and move on.

Also their demand for more money is wanting a bigger % of the revenue. WNBA players get a much smaller percentage of revenue the league brings in compared to the portion NBA players get.

You’re coming off as a moron

Also loved how your response to them not really playing basketball …instead was a comment on toys. My guy lol

The most severe, yet still not unethical allegation is them asking her if this was planned, and then telling her she should have been proactive about not getting pregnant. That to me is outside the bounds of what an organization should really say.

Regarding some of the other things, like them saying she didn’t look like she would be on the verge of returning based on workout… that’s a criticism and/or statement that they are absolutely within their rights to say.

Cause it’s clear your responses are rooted in misogyny and not valid criticisms of the sport

You win the gold in mental gymnastics, incel.

I think fewer people would watch if all the women on the court were pregnant. But those who liked it would really like it...

It makes sense to question these things. If you don’t want to get criticized or questioned professional sports is not the job for you. People question these things in their employees all the time. Sometimes it’s warranted sometimes it’s not.

She is a role player. She averaged 1 point and rebound per game in the WNBA finals. Of course I had no idea who she was until now but it took me all of 10 seconds to realize she is not a star.

As a role player you aren’t going to get treated like a star player. If you can’t play it makes sense to trade you to a team that is on a different timeline of being competitive, for a player that can help you now.

Do you think we ever would have heard these complaints had she not been traded?

Negatory. I clearly stated such. But STILL doesn’t explain your high schoolish response.

How do you shit on women in this story? There is the irony of pregnancy being bad for a a women-only business just like it's bad for any other business, coming off of decades of "this is because of men!". That's not shitting on women at all. That's appreciation of irony.

Pregnancy, child-rearing, etc being "bad for business" is something that we all have to wrestle with together. Without sexism, to the extent possible. We all benefit from children, so let's all figure it out without "it's bad because of men" or the vice versa.

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> Might as well go to the conservative sub and ask if anyone even likes AOC.

That is not at all an apt comparison. /r/sports leans pretty damn far left. It's possible to go lefter, but not by too much. This is by no means a "conservative sub". And "watching the WNBA" equating to liking AOC is curious as well. If you're solely making an unrelated analogy, then great, no problem. But if this is kinda how you equate things in your head, I def find that interesting.

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Air balls don’t happen all the time in the NBA and certainly way less then the WNBA. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t watch basketball on any level.

The league is subsidized and ultimately comes from taxpayers dollars. They very simply don’t sell tickets, cause sadly it’s not an exciting sport to watch. No way around that really.

Your coming off as …well….you know….

Pretty much this. Assuming she didn’t know she was pregnant, the Aces still signed her with the intention of her competing as the player they thought they were getting for two seasons.

After their signing, they came to the conclusion that she wasn’t this player and didn’t take the precautions they would have liked her to to ensure this. To me the most crude thing is them telling her she didn’t do anything to prevent getting pregnant, but that’s not exactly illegal.

End of the day, you have an athlete who thinks they’re more ready than the team thinks they are, and then they traded her for a different player. She’s unhappy because her pregnancy played a role in this, but that’s business.

This sub is way too political. Just like almost all of the major sports are. It's turning me off of these sports and pushing me happily towards UFC, who generally doesn't engage in this stuff. It's gone from "is taking a knee OK or not" to sociopolitical/racey stuff being brought into damn near every game I watch. That's just not what I watch sports for. Crazy, I know...

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Yeah, and I really enjoy it. Admittedly it does help that my team is one of the best all time and had one of the greatest female athletes of all time for 20 years.

You’re insufferable and wrong. I’m not going to argue with someone who keeps making shit up.

Unprofessional Compared to whom? The male athletes that get to abuse their partners with ZERO accountability ?

Right telling her she didn’t do enough to prevent this is not necessary. It’s not that big of a deal either. It seems rather obvious. It is her choice to do what she pleases and she chose to have a child.

In this job you know that you won’t be able to help your team for a year. You know that could have consequences for your career just like missing a season with an injury would.

You don’t choose to get injured but you can choose to have a kid. It’s cold but as a woman in this setting you have to be prepared to have your commitment questioned.

Your family should be more important than your job. However in this competitive of a career you have to realize there are other people willing to make sacrifices that you are not.

There isn’t anything wrong with either choice but it is a choice she made. It seems she just didn’t expect these consequences and now she’s lashing out.

Why is it that every time someone on the internet starts with “so…” what follows is obviously bullshit?

Sorry buddy, I’m not wrong and you’ve not really argued anything so it’s all good.

But you don’t need me to validate anything, just turn on the TV and watch for yourself.

If you enjoy that particular three ring circus, then chow down on your particular yum.

I just happen to like basketball at full speed.

I think the closest male correlate is tearing an ACL or UCL. Happens routinely. Known recovery period. Most come back at or near full strength. These male athletes are generally not traded for purposes of replacement but are sometimes traded in the usual course of things.

No, but I was always curious how they handled pregnancies. Just from a business standpoint, it seems financially questionable to sign someone to a 2 year contract, when they are going to be unavailable for most of it because of maternity leave.

WNBA runs in a negative, so all financial set backs matter. I’m sure not going to watch games, but how they keep themselves afloat actually interests me.

Good god give it a rest

She got pregnant at the very end of the season. That’s about as considerate to the team as you can be in that situation. She could potentially be back mid season.

But you took the time to comment and that really shows how much of a weirdo you are.

>That is not at all an apt comparison. /r/sports leans pretty damn far left.

Not when it comes to anything related to women. This sub, like many others, is a cesspool of sexism.

>And "watching the WNBA" equating to liking AOC is curious as well.

Yeah, you just entirely missed the point. Sports subs here hate women's sports. The conservative sub hates AOC. That's it.

Mmm k

Oh, they love AOC. Totally unable to express those feelings in healthy or pro-social ways, but they’re obsessed with her.

Yes, this one instance here is good proof that there is no problem with “men or patriarchy.” That’s exactly the sort of astute observation I expect when I stumble upon r/sports. Very insightful.

*edited to add quotation marks for those who may have difficulty with reading comprehension

And where did you learn that? Med school, right?

No one cares.

> that there is no problem with men

Yes. And this is the kind of binary, this or that, on or off response that I expect from simple people in 2023. No nuance whatsoever. Just this or that. Carry on.

I'm a long time sports watcher. I don't hate women's sports. Women's sports is just on nowhere near the same level as men's sports. I don't watch most women's sports for the same reason I don't watch Junior hockey. If that's your thing, power to you. No hatred involved. Just: I like watching the best humans battle in sports. That is not hatred in any way shape or form, and I'm the majority.

I was quoting your comment, you absolute cabbage. Just for clarity, since reading obviously isn’t your strong suit, let me quote you directly:

> Maybe men and patriarchy aren’t the problem.

I’ve also added quotes to my original comment to further clarify what is going on here for you.

This is just the sort of hare-brained crap that I expect from simple people in 2023. No reading comprehension or self-awareness whatsoever. Just react without thinking. Carry on.

PS that last bit was also me quoting you, in case you missed that as well.

"Yes, this one instance here is good proof that there is no problem with “men or patriarchy.”"

You said that, dripping with sarcasm. Perhaps if I'm speaking about "this one instance", that doesn't mean I'm speaking about everything in totality ie "there is no problem with".

There are problems with everything. Painting pregnancy and how we deal with it as a men/patriarchy problem (certainly as only one, like so many do on so many topics) is ridiculous thinking. And this example does highlight that. And other examples may highlight it more.

I did not say there are no problems with men or patriarchy ever anywhere...which is what you seem to be representing my position as. Do you agree with this or not?

>and I'm the majority.

Not based on the mocking and vitriol for women get every time the WNBA is mentioned.

When I don't follow a sport, I skip those threads. When the WNBA comes up, it's usually full of men talking about how trash it is and how no one watches it.

I'm an incel because I haven't immediately dismissed her athletic abilities because she had/is having a baby?

> When the WNBA comes up, it's usually full of men talking about how trash it is and how no one watches it.

Is that hatred though? "trash" may be an overstatement and a value judgment based on preference, but the WNBA is definitely not the NBA. It's definitely not NCAA either. It's not unwatchable, but I devote a very little bit of my life to watching entertainment. If I'm watching sports, why would I watch lesser sportsters doing the sports? If you want to, then by all means do so. Most clearly do not want to. And that's OK, not hatred, not sexist, etc.

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Same here I don’t watch more the 5 to 10 games a year but if you like college basketball you probably would enjoy the wnba. The is a lot more defense and team play.

I don't think you actually read my comment. Can you just....try again or something?

You win the gold and are an incel because you are an incel who can’t recognize that women can have lifelong issues from pregnancy that have no effect at all on their athletic ability.

Well that's just wrong. Maybe you don't care, maybe a the majority of people don't care. But to say "no one" cares is incorrect.

You ever killed an animal before? Like say, squashed a cockroach, swatted a fly, hunted a deer? Maybe slaughtered a pig or a chicken? Shot a varmint?

Did you explain yourself to the animal?