Dearica Hamby Posts 19.0 Points, 8.8 Rebounds for Sparks
Dearica Hamby has given the Los Angeles Sparks a clear early-season anchor, averaging 19.0 points and 8.8 rebounds through the first stretch of 2026. She has paired volume with efficiency, shooting 62.7% from the field while Los Angeles sits 2-3.
Hamby Drives the Sparks
That production puts Hamby among the league's most productive early scorers and rebounders. She is one of two players in the top 10 in points per game and field-goal percentage this season, and her 8.8 rebounds and 20.9% total rebound rate both rank seventh in the WNBA.
The Sparks have needed that kind of steadiness. They were expected to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 COVID-affected season, but the first five games have still left them searching for consistency and better depth.
Phoenix Showed the Formula
The clearest version of the Sparks' offense came Thursday against Phoenix, when Los Angeles held the Mercury to 88 points and got the ball to its best players. Hamby, Kelsey Plum and Nneka Ogwumike took 36 of the 64 field-goal attempts in that game, and Hamby added five offensive rebounds.
Los Angeles has already seen what happens when those three carry the scoring load. In the season opener against Las Vegas, Plum, Hamby and Ogwumike combined for 58 points, while the rest of the Sparks scored 20 points. In the first meeting with the Aces, Las Vegas held Los Angeles to 78 points.
Sparks Need More Depth
Hamby's numbers have masked the wider problem for Los Angeles: the Sparks still need more scoring depth around her, and their rebound rate ranks 12th in the league. That leaves the team leaning heavily on the same core while Ariel Atkins, Erica Wheeler, Rae Burrell and Cameron Brink work to fill in the gaps.
Saturday night brings another test, with Los Angeles scheduled for a road rematch against the defending champion Aces. For the Sparks, the question is not whether Hamby can keep producing; she already has. The issue is whether enough of the rest of the roster can join her before the early hole becomes harder to climb out of.
