Sparks Unrivaled Check-In: Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson dominate
In the second week of Unrivaled action, Sparks stars Dearica Hamby and Rickea Jackson had some stellar performances.
Welcome to our Sparks Unrivaled Update Series! There are four Sparks players participating in the inaugural season of Unrivaled. We will be doing a weekly recap on how these players are doing in Miami as they play some 3x3 basketball in a competitive environment during the WNBA offseason.
Last week, Team Vinyl shined and Dearica Hamby played exceptionally well as they won both opening weekend games.
Let’s take a look at how Hamby and the rest of the Sparks players are performing in week two of action.
Team Vinyl
With Hamby and Rae Burrell playing for Team Vinyl, they have the most Sparks representation. After a great start, they have recently dropped their past two games and now sit at .500 on the season.
Hamby had 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals, all team-highs in Vinyl’s loss to Rose. She did not play in the other Vinyl matchup versus the Lunar Owls due to personal reasons.
Currently, Hamby is averaging 19 points per game, which is the fourth-highest average in the league.
Game 2 is underway, and Dearica is just getting started
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 25, 2025
Tune in live on TNT pic.twitter.com/idK0UDglVM
Burrell played in both matchups but looked best against the Laces. She only played for six minutes but scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting.
Team Rose
Azurá Stevens finally got Rose its first win in Unrivaled play, beating the Mist 71-66.
This may be 3x3 play, but the way Stevens was effective is exactly the kind of role she can play in the W. She spaced the floor, knocked down a couple of threes and rebounded well.
Sparks big Azurá Stevens helped Rose Basketball Club get its first win at Unrivaled with 16 points (5-10 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-2 FT), seven rebounds and three assists off the bench.
— LA Sparks PR (@LASparksPR) January 26, 2025
Hopefully, her playing in this environment will prepare her for a career year in 2025 with the Sparks.
Team Mist
Rickea Jackson was a WNBA All-Rookie player and her electrifying play has translated to Unrivaled.
The Rickea Jackson Experience
— Conrado Pascual (@CP3_777) January 25, 2025
• Change of pace
• Drop steps
• Step-through
• Hesis & feints
• Eurostep
• In & Out crab dribble
• Power Dribble Split
Rickea is a COMPLETE 3-level scorer. What’s crazier: her defense is catching up to her offense… pic.twitter.com/T9sugUm1ey
She scored 24 points in 18 minutes in her team’s loss against Phantom and continues to get increasingly comfortable being aggressive offensively.
Unfortunately for her team, this has not resulted in victories. The Mist have yet to win a game this season and are at the bottom of the league.
Upcoming Games
This weekend, you can watch Stevens and Rose take on Phantom on Friday on TNT and then it’s a Sparks-heavy matchup with Jackson and Mist playing Hamby, Burrell and the Vinyl on Saturday on TruTV.
All games are also streaming on MAX.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.