What to know about Unrivaled, the three-on-three league powered by WNBA stars
MIAMI - The brainchild of Napheesa Collier and husband Alex Bazzell is hours away from coming to fruition. What started as a casual chat years ago about offseason opportunities for WNBA players has developed into a full-blown league with a made-for-TV facility and some of the biggest names in the sport.
The Unrivaled basketball league tips off Friday with six teams playing over two months, with the finals scheduled for March 17.
Collier, the Minnesota Lynx forward who was the runner-up for the 2024 WNBA MVP award, reminisced on the journey Thursday as crews wrapped up construction of a new 850-seat arena here.
“This building was just a blank slate,” Collier said. “You see all these white walls; this was an empty building. And to see it come to life in this way and to see the response from the players and everyone has honestly been the most rewarding.”
Collier partnered with two-time WNBA MVP and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, with Bazzell serving as league president. They wanted to give players another offseason option rather than having to go play overseas. The money is good. The competition is top notch. And players can’t stop raving about the amenities - from weight rooms to medical staffs to child care.
Games will be aired on TNT and TruTV.
“I’ve never been overseas [to play professionally], and I don’t ever plan on going overseas,” Angel Reese said. “And just talking to some of the other players, they were like, I’d rather be here than be overseas.”
Here’s a quick breakdown of the league:
- - -
Who’s involved?
Part of the goal - and the intrigue - of the league was to have the best players in the world competing. It was a lofty and largely successful goal.
Fifteen players from the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game are part of the 36-player league, including nine members of the Olympic team that won gold in Paris. Twenty-two of the 36 were All-Stars at some point in their career. Seven No. 1 overall picks are included.
The biggest names missing are Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who committed then pulled out.
With this group of elite players getting to spend more time together, the league has turned into recruiting session for WNBA free agents - particularly for two-time All-Star Satou Sabally, who has said she played her last game with the Dallas Wings.
“I’m never going to push her one way or another, no matter how bad I want to play with her again,” said Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who played with Sabally at Oregon. “It’s been fun hearing, though, players trying to get certain players to join teams, and you’re kind of just able to hear other people’s experiences as well.”
Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud joked that you can see players huddling up and talking but then seemingly walked it back by declaring. “No! No!”
“I’m very much a person that whatever is best for Satou moving forward, that’s what I want for Satou moving forward,” Cloud said. “If that is Phoenix, I literally will tell her I will give up my apartment if she wants that, too.”
- - -
How does this work?
There are six teams with six players per team - Rose B.C., Vinyl B.C., Mist B.C., Laces B.C., Lunar Owls B.C. and Phantom B.C. The coaches - Phil Handy, Adam Harrington, Nola Henry, DJ Sackmann, Andrew Wade and Teresa Weatherspoon - drafted teams but weren’t given their assignments until after the selections. This ensured balanced and competitive squads with teammate combinations that fans would want to see.
The three-on-three format will be played on a 49.2-foot by 72-foot court as opposed to the half-court used in the Olympics. The league built an arena ideal for television.
There will be three seven-minute quarters and a non-timed final quarter. After the third quarter, a target score for the victory will be established by adding 11 points to the leading team’s total. There are no overtime periods, and there will always be a game-winning shot.
The games feature an 18-second shot clock and a game clock that stops only in the final 30 seconds of a quarter.
Shooting fouls result in just one free throw worth two points for a two-point field goal attempt and three points for a shot from beyond the arc. Players get six fouls before fouling out, but if a team is down to three players, the player with six fouls will receive a technical foul for each ensuing foul. That free throw will be worth one point.
- - -
Impetus for the league
The goal is to give players an opportunity to improve and supplement their WNBA salaries. Players have headed overseas for decades for significant paychecks because WNBA salaries have lagged behind, but spending so much time away from family and friends has been a burden, as have the subpar medical and training environments that often are part of playing in a foreign country. For a long time, going overseas was a fact of life for a women’s basketball player who wanted to make substantial money. But many seriously began to question that after Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner spent 293 days in Russian prison after she pleaded guilty to drug charges.
Unrivaled was created to provide significant pay in a professional setting without having to leave the United States.
“They gave me the same thing China was going to give me,” Lynx guard Courtney Williams said. “I’m 30. Man, I can’t leave no money on the table no more. I’ve got to go get it.”
- - -
Financial backing
The league put together an $8 million pool that pays $100,000 to almost all players. They also received equity in the league.
Initial investors include former U.S. women’s national soccer team captains Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, former NBA stars Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony and Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma. Corporate partnerships include State Farm, Ally Financial, Wilson Sporting Goods, Miller Lite, Sephora and Samsung Galaxy.
“It’s hard having those meetings and trying to convince people why they should invest,” Stewart said. “There’s not much carryover between the partners in the [WNBA] and the partners here. So it’s cool to kind of be like reaching different places.
“People want to get behind a start-up. And this thing, it doesn’t seem like a start-up, but it is.”
Additionally, there will be a one-on-one tournament in which the winner receives $250,000 and her teammates receive $10,000 each. The unofficial early favorite seems to be Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale.
Related Content
It’s not dumb luck: The Commanders mastered the walk-off win
The next phase of the true-crime boom? Themed tours.
An adored man adored the Lions. Why isn’t he here to enjoy this?
