In a today’s day and age where flash and flair and high octane scoring has become commonplace, Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby stands opposite. Hamby is a walking double-double, on most nights sleepwalking to double figures in points and rebounds, and doing so a quiet, fundamental way. She’s taken the lead in that aspect for the Sparks this season.

A skilled post player with elite footwork and a soft touch around the rim, Hamby’s game is all fundamental. And it’s a big reason why she’s continued to be such an effective and efficient player in the WNBA.

Take, for example, a game from earlier in the Sparks’ season when the team traveled to Seattle to square off against the Storm. It was a game in which Hamby dropped in the eventual game-winner, a fitting drive and finish off the glass.

But it was a play from earlier in that game that highlighted Hamby’s fundamental strength. Storm rookie shot-blocking sensation Dominique Malonga slid over to contest one of Hamby’s drives. Instead of exposing the ball to a shot-blocker like many players do, Hamby used her off-arm to protect the ball, blocking out Malonga and finishing the play.

It’s a simple fundamental move that Hamby has incorporated more into her game this season.

“I think that’s always kind of been in my game. Sometimes I think I usually get called for an offensive foul with it because sometimes I extend and push off,” Hamby told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I know my game is more finesse. It’s not powering through people. So I usually have to go around people and that’s just kind of been the technique I use. . .I think it’s a testament to me finishing better this year.”

It’s not just with her scoring where Dearica Hamby’s fundamental game is on display. She is the best screen-setter on the Sparks roster. Setting proper screens is somewhat of a lost art in today’s game, but if you want to see how a screen should be set, just zero in on Hamby during any Sparks game this season.

She isn’t the biggest forward on the court, but is deceptively strong and keeps herself planted when screening for a teammate. She knows the proper angle of a screen to free up her ball-handler and she’s a very good roller in diving to the basket off the pick.

That part of her game is something that Hamby fine-tuned while participating in camp with Team USA and Minnesota Lynx coach and future Hall of Famer Cheryl Reeve.

“Honestly it’s from Coach Reeve. I went to USA Basketball a few years back. She taught me how to set screens, and I think my ability to communicate off the screen,” Hamby said. “Off the screen, I’ll be like, ‘curl it.’ I’ll tel them what to do based off how I’m setting the screen or how the players are defending it. So all that comes down to chemistry and time.”

Dearica Hamby’s continued growth with Sparks

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There is one part of Hamby’s game though that hasn’t really been on display until this season. Fit and situation goes a long way towards players being able to display different parts of their game. Just because they have not shown something, does not necessarily mean they don’t have it incorporated into their game.

Under new Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts, Hamby has been able to display a solid playmaking game especially when she operates in the high post. She’s averaging 3.2 assists per game, just shy of her career-high average of 3.5. In late May, she had a three-game stretch of eight, eight and six assists. She’s had multiple games of at least four assists.

“It’s allowed me to play in space. I start at the top of the key and by the end of the possession I’m usually in the paint,” Hamby said. “I think I’m probably the most elite right now in paint touches, paint finishes. And like I said, that’s a credit to her system. It’s kind of been the same system as she’s always run, but I think we’ve tweaked it just a little bit to fit my style of play.”

Over the past couple of seasons, ever since Dearica Hamby joined the Sparks, she’s stepped into more of a leadership role than what she was accustomed to with the Las Vegas Aces. Last season, she was one of a handful of players, including Azurá Stevens and Lexie Brown, who had a championship ring. Naturally, that came with more of an elevated status in the locker room.

This season, especially with the addition of Kelsey Plum, leadership roles have been more evenly dispersed without it falling on any one player’s shoulder. Roberts has praised Hamby often this season as one of the Sparks key leaders in making sure the locker room stays together and things run smoothly on the court.

“I think there’s not a lot of pressure on me compared to last season. We’re trying to keep a collective leadership this season. . .I have my share in it, KP [Kelsey Plum] has her share in it, Z [Azurá Stevens] has a share in it, even the younger girls have their share in it,” Hamby said. “Just our experience and what we have seen to be successful throughout the league and over time, it’s been that way. So just trying to build on that.”

And if there’s one aspect of Hamby’s life that has helped her on the court, especially when it comes to leadership, it’s been her role as a mother. With two young children, Amaya and Legend, Hamby has used her parenting style to help grow her leadership.

“These are like my babies. I treat my teammates like I treat my kids in the sense of how I talk to them, my respect for them. With Amaya, I allow her to make mistakes and I coach her up after,” Hamby said. “I think it just builds a different type of trust. I’m not running around yelling and calling people out their names. I just try to talk to them how I would talk to my kids.”