The Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby was a part of the US women's basketball team that won bronze in the 3x3 game after defeating Canada 16-13.
Hamby said that the best part of her Olympics experience has been being able to share the experience in Paris with her 7-year-old daughter.
“Even starting from her flight here,” Hamby said. “My mom was telling me how the whole plane ride she was like, ‘My mom’s an Olympian! We're going to Paris to watch my mom play!’”
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Hamby, who was selected as the Olympics replacement for fellow Sparks player Cameron Brink after she suffered a knee injury, is in her ninth season with the WNBA and second with the Sparks.
The US team got off to a rough start in the 3x3, losing the first three rounds. Hamby admitted that there was a moment there when she thought the team wouldn’t be able to bounce back.
“Being a part of USA basketball, the standard is gold so I think once we kind of released that pressure. We were able to just kind of have fun,” Hamby said. “When we were down 0-3, we were kind of like, at this point we have nothing to lose.”
The team bounced back, rolling into the knockout stage before a loss to Spain in the semifinal. Hamby and teammates Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick and Rhyne Howard bounced back against Canada for bronze.
Hamby said that throughout all of the ups and downs, her 7-year-old daughter has been beaming with pride over her mother’s accomplishments the entire Olympics.
“Everything I do is for my kids, so the fact that she can see and experience this at her age means a lot to me,” Hamby said.
