Each time Dearica Hamby substitutes out of a recreation or goes right into a timeout, she tells Rae Burrell the identical factor:
Keep prepared.
“She’s playing behind two of the best guards in this league, so it’s very hard to find consistent minutes, especially with the format of the league,” Hamby mentioned. “… But I try to remind her every game, because for me, I’ve been a role player. I’ve been that player that wanted to fight for more and felt like they deserved more.”
And on Feb. 21, Burrell bought the chance she had been ready on ever since she signed to Unmatched, the three-on-three girls’s basketball league began up by WNBA gamers Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Vinyl Basketball Membership, the group that includes Burrell and Hamby, had blown a fourth quarter result in the Mist. Hamby instantly bought the lead again on a quick break layup and from there, Burrell took over.
Vinyl’s Dearica Hamby catches a rebound in entrance of teammate Rae Burrell and Rose’s Azura Stevens throughout an Unmatched recreation on Jan. 17 in Medley, Fla.
(Marta Lavandier / Related Press)
She went coast-to-coast off the inbound, slashing her method to the rim and hitting a floater. Throughout the subsequent possession, Burrell froze her defender with a head pretend that opened up simply sufficient area for her to put it up. Then, she drained a 3. Hamby tried to ice the sport with a layup on the Vinyl’s ensuing possession, however her shot banked off the glass and bounced off the entrance of the rim. The Mist’s Stewart ran the ground, however her layup try rimmed out and landed proper into the palms of Hamby, who launched a wonderfully positioned cross from one free throw line to the opposite for Burrell’s ninth consecutive level — the sport winner.
“I just feel like that was like the perfect ending to the game,” Burrell mentioned. “Especially because I feel like I was hitting her throughout the game, and then for her to give me that assist to my first win in Unrivaled as well, it was a special moment for me.”
Hamby assisted Burrell on the ultimate three scores of that recreation, a testomony to how a lot the chemistry between the 2 Sparks teammates has grown through the offseason. However there’s additionally one thing deeper there: a friendship that predates their time with Unmatched and the Sparks.
Earlier than being traded to the Sparks in 2023, Hamby was a member of the Las Vegas Aces and she or he’d often cross paths with Burrell, a Las Vegas native who on the time was a five-star highschool recruit.
“She was always just kind of around, but we didn’t have a relationship,” Hamby recalled.
Burrell would go on to star on the College of Tennessee for 4 years earlier than being drafted ninth total by the Sparks within the 2022 WNBA draft. As soon as Hamby was acquired by the Sparks a yr later, the 2 nonetheless weren’t shut however would carpool on drives again to Vegas. Within the occasion that solely certainly one of them was making the four-hour journey, they’d ask one another for favors resembling taking their canine with them.
Hamby says the friendship actually started to take off final season, when she lived three doorways down from Burrell in group housing and so they started spending much more time collectively.
“I can’t give you like a pinpoint moment,” Hamby mentioned. “But we’ve just kind of gravitated towards each other.”
Vinyl wing Rae Burrell, middle, tries to slide previous stress from Lunar Owls ahead Napheesa Collier, left, and wing Allisha Grey throughout their Unmatched semifinal recreation on March 16 in Medley, Fla.
(Rebecca Blackwell / Related Press)
The 2 additionally lived close to one another at Miami-based Unmatched, which has introduced them even nearer. Hamby generally popped in on Burrell’s exercises. Burrell typically visited Hamby and her two youngsters at her residence. Hamby usually cooked — spaghetti and meatballs is one dish that Burrell title dropped — whereas Burrell baked cookies.
That chemistry carries over onto the court docket. Burrell loves working the pick-and-roll after studying to learn the place Hamby’s going to be and what strikes she likes to get to. Hamby’s additionally continually speaking on the ground, telling Burrell when to attend, when to come back off a display screen, when to remain on it or when to cross.
“The thing about Dearica, she never stops talking,” Burrell mentioned. “So when I’m on the floor with her, it’s just great because she’s always just communicating what play she wants to be run. It’s just very easy to play with her.”
Burrell refers to Hamby as her mother on the group. She’s all the time going to her for recommendation, and Hamby all the time appears to know when to nurture and when to gentle a hearth below Burrell.
Throughout the offseason, the 2 spent wherever from three to 5 hours a day collectively within the health club, with Burrell desirous to be taught from the Olympian and three-time WNBA All-Star. However past the Xs and O’s, Hamby has targeted on exhibiting Burrell easy methods to navigate the skilled basketball world. She famous that Burrell — coming into simply her fourth WNBA season — has already handled a season-ending damage, being lower from coaching camp, taking part in on a hardship contract and signing a multi-year contract.
“She’s kind of gone through every process that she can as a pro,” Hamby mentioned. “[I’m] just trying to just keep reminding her that her moment’s coming, and that we’re going to rely on her a lot. And I would say being able to kind of see her in a different element at Unrivaled has shifted my perspective.”
It’s not simply the flashes of potential and confidence from Burrell which have impressed Hamby. It’s additionally her work ethic, how significantly she approaches the offseason. It’s her willingness to vary her shot and being strict about her food regimen, which Hamby says even she hasn’t accomplished throughout her profession. It’s how Burrell’s all the time within the health club very first thing each morning and by no means lacking a exercise, even when she was “still being her silly self late at night.”
And for as a lot as Hamby has helped Burrell’s improvement as a younger participant, the inverse can be true: Burrell has been instrumental in Hamby’s progress as a pacesetter. Hamby mentioned her management model has all the time been extra empathetic and nurturing as a result of she’s a mom, however she’s shied away from having powerful conversations as a result of she didn’t wish to damage anybody. However she’s been pressured to have these conversations with Burrell, even when they’re uncomfortable, due to the care and respect they’ve for one another.
Sparks guard Rae Burrell celebrates after scoring towards the New York Liberty at Crypto.com Area on Aug. 28.
(Ashley Landis / Related Press)
“There was a couple days we didn’t speak,” Hamby mentioned. “But you know, we came back together and it was like, ‘OK, look.’ And I said, ‘You know, this is what I meant. And like, I want the best for you, so like, I’m standing on that.’ And she was very receptive. And I think it was just a very critical moment for both of us, for different reasons.”
Kelsey Plum performed with Hamby for six seasons in Las Vegas and when the 2 reunited this offseason after the Sparks traded for Plum, one of many first issues she seen was Hamby’s progress.
“You can see it just in the way you talk to her and her interactions,” Plum mentioned. “And someone like Rae is super fortunate to be able to have Dearica, because she’s so loving and nurturing. As a young player, what a gift to have a player like that, that is a perennial All-Star, but takes the time to care about your day-to-day.”
Sparks assistant coach Zak Buncik, who’s additionally an assistant coach for the Vinyl, sees it too.
“They’re around each other all the time. It’s kind of like the W, like they’re staying in the same hotel. They’re around each other every day,” he mentioned. “They just lean on one another.”
Hamby and Burrell are enthusiastic about what the upcoming WNBA season holds.
Along with the Plum commerce, the Sparks signed free brokers Emma Cannon, Mercedes Russell and Shaneice Swain. The group may also be working a brand new offense below new coach Lynne Roberts, which Hamby is happy about.
Hamby’s additionally wanting ahead to seeing how Burrell’s confidence carries over again into the WNBA. She totally believes that Burrell could be a strong sixth lady — if not a full-time starter — on this yr’s squad, and she or he foresees much more than that down the road.
“When I had that talk with her, I said, ‘You know, in two to three years when you’re an All-Star, you’re gonna look back and you’re gonna thank me,’” Hamby mentioned. “I think when her number’s called though, either way she’s going to be ready.”
