Dearica

Hamby

Hamby tied a team-high in points in Thursday’s loss to the Aces. She shot under 50.0 percent from the field, but still tallied at least 15 points for the 34th time this season. The veteran forward made contributions in other areas as well — notably, she added a trio of steals, which led the team, while also serving as a reliable facilitator. While the Sparks fell short of reaching the playoffs, Hamby had another very strong individual season. She’ll likely be in line for another impactful fantasy basketball season in 2026.

While Sparks did what they could to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, Seattle’s win over Golden State means Los Angeles’ postseason drought will continue for another year. Hamby was excellent against the Mercury and has scored 21 points or more in five of her last six appearances. After finishing second in Most Improved Player award voting last season, Hamby increased her scoring average by more than a point per game while shooting nearly 58 percent from the field in 2025. She’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and should command significant interest on the open market.

Hamby only needs 25 minutes of game action to stuff the stat sheet and provide a great impact on Sunday. The veteran forward shot inefficiently but tallied a three-pointer to finish as one of the Sparks’ top two scorers on the afternoon. She also finished only a couple of rebounds shy of a double-double, while tying a team-high in assists. With the insignificant amount of minutes played against Dallas, Hamby should be rested enough and ready to produce against the Mercury on Tuesday as the Sparks continue to battle for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Plum wasn’t her most efficient on Friday night, shooting 40% from the field and struggled to convert looks on drives to the rim that she typically makes. Plum was guarded well by both the Dream’s Jordin Canada and Maya Caldwell. Plum hit two three-pointers on Friday night and passed Nicole Powell for 14th on the WNBA’s all-time three-point makes list. She facilitated the ball well and found Dearica well spaced on the perimeter for a drive to the basket in addition to on a pick-and-roll action. Plum also kicked the ball out to Julie Allemand with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter for a wide open three-pointer.

Hamby was super efficient on Friday night, shooting over 73% from the field against the Dream. Her performance marked the fourth time in a row where she shot over 50% from the field and it was her fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points. Hamby did an excellent job of taking advantage of the mismatch she posed at the center position. She blew past both Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner multiple times on drives and took advantage of her size advantage when the Dream were switching, and as a result there was a smaller defender on her. Hamby was on triple-double watch also finishing the game with seven rebounds and five assists to three different teammates including Rickea Jackson, Julie Allemand and Kelsey Plum.

Hamby did all that she could on Wednesday on the offensive end to try to help the Sparks to a third straight win, but even her third consecutive 20-point game was not enough. She scored efficiently and remained active on the glass, falling one rebound shy of a 13th double-double. Still, the veteran forward had a productive night for the fantasy managers who are alive in their league’s fantasy playoffs. Given that Friday’s rematch against the Dream is important if the Sparks want to prevent falling behind in the playoff race, Hamby should be counted on to play a lot of minutes and put up big numbers.

Despite not securing a third game-winning shot this season against the Storm, Hamby had another greatly productive outing on Monday. She dominated the paint, where she scored all 13 of her baskets, and shot efficiently. Additionally, the veteran forward provided her usual production on the glass en route to her 12th double-double and tenth game of the season with at least three steals. Hamby finished as the Sparks’ leading scorer on the night and should continue to play a major role down the home stretch of the regular season as they battle for a playoff spot.

Hamby was incredibly efficient to begin the game. She outran the Mystics’ defense in transition and took advantage of every time she was cross-matched on a smaller Mystics defender. The Aces forward made three straight shots in the fourth quarter, all on passes from Kelsey Plum during clutch time. Plum made sure to get Hamby the basketball when she was mismatched on a smaller defender rather than on Shakira Austin who was primarily defending Hamby in the second half. Hamby and Azurá Stevens combined to represent 60 percent of the Sparks’ total rebounds.

Hamby had difficulty on both ends of the floor on Friday night. Defending and scoring against Aliyah Boston, one of the strongest and deceptively quick centers in the league has been a challenge for her this entire season. Lead guard Kelsey Plum tried to hit Hamby running the floor in transition multiple times, but either Plum’s pass was to long or Hamby was a little behind in being able to catch the ball. While scoring the basketball was harder to come by for Hamby, when she did score it came on different big-to-big passing actions from her front court partner Azurá Stevens. Hamby did lead her team rebounding the basketball, hauling down seven rebounds on a night when the Sparks were out rebounded 40-30 by the Fever.

Stevens led the Sparks in scoring and served as a point forward on Friday night especially with Kelsey Plum being rendered less effective by the Fever defense. Stevens hit a trio of three-pointers, and moved well off the ball to score at the rim. She hit an-one on driving on a mismatch while being guarded by Odyssey Sims with 2:51 left in regulation to give the Sparks a 70-68 lead. Stevens’ five assists were mostly off high low actions with her front court partner Dearica Hamby along with a Plum three-pointer and a cut to the basket from Julie Allemand. Stevens also moved past WNBA legend Candace Parker for the most games registering at least two three-pointers and two blocks in a game in a single season. Stevens has nine of them with just seven regular season games to go.