A man who is alleged to have sent a vile racist message to Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby has reportedly lost his job over the abuse.
The Sparks forward shared a screenshot of an abusive text message that she received to social media after being ejected from a WNBA game last month.
Now, it has emerged that the sender’s employer has fired him for allegedly sending the message, which contained a racist slur.
Acclaro Medical, a medical device company based in Rhode Island, told USA Today that the employee is no longer with the company following the text message incident.
The man is said to have been identified by social media sleuths based off the phone number that was shown in the screenshot shared by Hamby. Her X post had more than 9.6 million views as of Thursday morning.
Acclaro Medical initially suspended the employee pending an investigation.
A man who is alleged to have sent a vile racist message to Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby (pictured) has reportedly lost his job over the abuse
The Sparks forward shared a screenshot of an abusive text message that she received
In a statement on social media, the company said ‘it condemns racism, harassment, hate speech and discriminating behavior in all forms’ and the online remarks ‘do not in any way reflect the values and standards of the Company.’
The WNBA also vowed to take action, sharing support for Hamby and condemning the racist abuse directed at her.
‘We are committed to holding anyone who engages in such abhorrent behavior accountable, and this individual will be permanently banned from all league games and events,’ the league said via USA Today.
Hamby was kicked out of a game for throwing an elbow in the face of Connecticut Sun forward Raegan Beers on August 22. Hamby hinted that the action was retaliation after Beers hit her in the stomach.
Two days later, Hamby posted a screenshot of a text message she received from an unknown number that called her a racial slur.
‘Dirty as n*****. They should put you in a zoo. Animal,’ read the message, which was followed by a monkey emoji.
Hamby posted the image, asking her fans, ‘Anyone know this number?’ In response, multiple fans of Hamby’s appeared to have been able to trace the number.
Hamby is not the only player in the WNBA who was targeted with racial abuse after committing a hard foul.
This came after Hamby was ejected for throwing an elbow at Sun forward Raegan Beers
Beers hit the court in pain as Hamby was assessed a Flagrant 2 and had her night end early
The biggest controversy came earlier this season when Caitlin Clark was hit in the throat by Phoenix Mercury veteran Alyssa Thomas as they both dove for a loose ball.
Thomas was retroactively suspended by the league, but received death threats and racial abuse from Clark’s online fanbase.
The abuse not only targeted Thomas, but her wife and her children as well.
‘Our families are being threatened,’ Thomas, who is Black, told reporters. ‘Kids are being threatened. People are sending racial slurs and all types of stuff.
‘There’s a difference between trolling and there’s a difference between hatred,’ she continued. ‘The hatred that we’re experiencing over a play that was, honestly, a complete accident, no one even knew what happened, it’s just unfortunate.’
Clark, meanwhile, publicly disavowed the hate directed at Thomas: ‘As I’ve stood up here and said before, like the harassment, the hate, none of that is okay.
‘That goes for the opposing team we play, that goes for my teammates, that goes for my coaches, there should never be a question of character,’ Clark told reporters.
Days after the Thomas incident, another WNBA star – Chelsea Gray of the Las Vegas Aces – was targeted over contact she made with Clark.
Hamby (seen clutching her stomach in pain) says the elbow was retaliation for a hit from Beers
Gray was posted up against Clark in the paint when she pivoted and slammed her elbow into the Fever guard’s midsection, causing her to dramatically double over.
Officials reviewed the play for a hostile act, didn’t find reason to escalate the call, and upheld their call of a foul on Clark for flopping.
Like Thomas, Gray was subject to racial abuse from Clark’s fans as she shared some of many DMs she received.
‘People act like we just make this s*** up,’ Gray wrote in her caption. ‘And the audacity to tell us as athletes to “shut up and dribble.”‘
