The WNBA says they are looking into the Las Vegas Aces and salary cap circumvention after allegations arose accusing the team of paying players under the table.
The question around salaries surfaced after the team signed Candace Parker, a two-time league MVP and 35-year-old forward Alysha Clark, who signed a two-year, $220,000 deal.
Parker, 36, was signed for a $100,000 contract, She made $195,000 during the 2022 season. The salary cap for the 2023 season is $1,420,500.
The current collective bargaining agreement explicitly forbids teams from trying to circumvent the salary cap,
The Aces are also being probed after statements were made by former forward Dearica Hamby.
Last month, The Aces sent Hamby and a first-round pick to the Los Angeles Sparks for a 2024 second-round pick and the negotiating rights to forward Amanda Zahui B.
After the trade, Hamby released a statement on social media accusing Las Vegas of “traumatizing” statements surrounding the trade.
“Being traded is a part of the business,” Hamby said. ‘Being lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against is not. My relationship with my daughter’s been broadcasted. If that can happen to me, that can happen to anybody.”
Hamby announced her pregnancy shortly after the Aces won the WNBA championship. According to Hamby, the team enticed her to sign a contract extension and accused of her of signing the deal knowing she was pregnant with her second child.
Hamby says the team called her a “question mark,” saying she “didn’t hold up [her] end of the bargain,” and for also “not taking precautions to not get pregnant.”
In 32 games last season, Hamby, a two-time Sixth Woman of the Year, averaged 9.3 points and 7.1 rebounds.
