Sparks’ Dearica Hamby replaces injured Cameron Brink on US Olympic team

FILE – Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby dribbles down the court during the first half of a WNBA basketball against the Minnesota Lynx, game Sunday, June 11, 2023, in Minneapolis. Hamby is replacing Los Angeles Sparks teammate Cameron Brink, who suffered a torn ACL last week, on the US Olympic 3×3 basketball team. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

LOS ANGELES – LA Sparks forward Dearica Hamby has been selected for the US Olympic women’s 3×3 team, replacing her injured teammate Cameron Brink, USA Basketball announced Monday.

Hamby was selected as the MVP of the 2023 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup after helping the US to the gold medal.

The 6-foot-3-inch Hamby is in her ninth season in the WNBA and second with the Sparks. The former Wake Forest standout was the sixth overall selection in the 2015 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars. The team moved to Las Vegas before the start of the 2018 season.

Hamby was the league’s Sixth Women of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and a WNBA all-star in 2021 and 2022, helping the Aces to the WNBA championship the latter year.

Brink suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in last Tuesday’s 79-70 Sparks loss to Connecticut in Uncasville, Connecticut, that will cause her to miss the Olympics and the rest of the WNBA season.

The 3×3 format is played with a 12-second shot clock on a half court. Baskets inside the arc and free throws are worth one point and baskets made from outside the arc are worth two points.

The winner is the first team to score 21 points, or the leading team at the end of the 10-minute game clock.

Hamby joins Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick and Rhyne Howard on the squad that will compete at the Paris Games next month. The US won the inaugural 3×3 Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.

It’s the second consecutive Olympics that the US team had to replace one of its original players. Katie Lou Samuelson missed the Tokyo Games after she caught COVID-19 right before the Olympics. She was replaced by Jackie Young, who helped the team go on to win a gold medal. (With CNS report)

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