Los Angeles basketball fans have another reason to look forward to the 3×3 basketball competitions at the Paris Olympics: Dearica Hamby of the LA Sparks is playing for Team USA as the women’s team is set to face China in a final qualifying match Saturday.
The three-time WNBA All-star forward may be a seasoned professional athlete, but she had to adjust to the rules of 3×3.
“It’s a different sport in a sense. It’s still basketball, but it’s very physical. It’s very fast paced. You don’t really get much time to breathe,” Hamby said. “But it’s something that I’ve enjoyed, and I picked up pretty quickly. I’ve only done a couple tournaments in it. But I’m excited.”
Hamby said she will tap into her experience as a nine-year veteran of the WNBA as well as her patience, something she’s familiar with as she raises two young children, Amaya and Legend.
“(Patience) comes a lot easier, maybe not as much with my first child, but I would definitely say the second one – it’s carried over through other aspects of my life,” she said.
Competing in the Olympics for Team USA is also a product of her patience as the 30-year-old said she made her Olympic dream into reality through affirmation in her own style.
“3×3 this year was one of my goals. It was on my basketball,” Hamby said, explaining she had written the word out. “I manifested it.”
Hamby, who replaced her Sparks teammate Cameron Brink after she tore her ACL in June, was counted by her Sparks head coach, Curt Miller, for Team USA.
“(There’s) no better substitute than her teammate and mentor”, Miller said. “Dearica has really earned it.”
Hamby said she hopes to win the second consecutive gold medal in 3×3 for the nation.
“I’m excited to represent our country.