Professional women’s basketball returns this week.
It’s not the WNBA, and the jerseys will look a bit different, and there will be less players on the court, but the players scoring layups, knocking down deep shots, grabbing gritty rebounds and dishing out sweet assists will be the same.
From Breanna Stewart and Angel Reese to Napheesa Collier and Brittney Griner, most of the faces familiar to fans of women’s basketball new and old are here.
Here is Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league founded by Stewart and Collier.
The inaugural season starts Friday night with two games played in South Florida.
The league was created to give WNBA players another choice in the offseason. It’s an alternative to going overseas, and the chance to stay in shape, make money, and have some fun in a different variation of the sport without having to travel abroad.
For years, WNBA players have played in foreign leagues – from Israel to Spain to Russia to Australia and elsewhere – during the offseason to make extra money.
Griner is among the countless group of WNBA players who played overseas during the offseason in the past, but not since her detainment in Russia in 2022.
Griner was held in a Russian prison for 293 days after being arrested on drug charges and was only freed after President Joe Biden negotiated a prisoner swap.
“I feel like something was missing in my offseason; I was used to playing year-round,” Griner told ESPN. “This is going to help me stay fresh, knocking all the dust off… Hopefully, it helps the [WNBA] bring in more viewers, more [corporate] partners. It’s definitely going to put more pressure on the [WNBA] to do better, honestly.”
Not only will Unrivaled give players the opportunity to play at home during the offseason, but they’ll make good money doing it too. The average salary in Unrivaled is $222,000, which is more than the supermax salary in the WNBA of roughly $214,000.
When Griner mentions Unrivaled putting pressure on the WNBA, that’s what she means – especially with the WNBA’s players opting out of its collective bargaining agreement with the league. To avoid a lockout ahead of a historic $2.2 billion media rights deal kicking in, the WNBA and its players will have to sign a new CBA by October.
Big-name investors from Coco Gauff, Michael Phelps and Giannis Antetokounmpo are backing Unrivaled, and the league has garnered brand partnerships with Samsung, State Farm and Miller Lite with Under Armour as a uniform partner. Games will be relatively easy to find and watch as they will all stream on MAX and air on TNT and truTV.
Unrivaled is debuting off the heels of one of the most successful WNBA seasons ever in terms of audience growth and viewership, and the startup 3-on-3 league hopes to attract some of that attention with a fast-paced, often position-less, pickup style of play.
All of the games will be played in Miami on a 49.2-foot by 72-foot court — bigger dimensions than what 3-on-3 teams play on in the Olympics.
Each game will feature three seven-minute quarters, and a final quarter that the league is calling “the winning score.” The winning score will be determined by adding 11 points to whichever team has the highest scoring and setting the mark there. So, for example, if a game is 59-57 entering the final period of play, the first team to reach 70 points wins.
“When you played as a kid, no one played to 10 minutes when they were playing pickup,” said Kahleah Copper. “You throw a number out there and you played to it until someone hit a game winner.”
There’s an 18-secon shot-clock, six fouls per player, and only one free throw awarded on shooting fouls.
The first games tipping off Friday are Mist BC vs. the Lunar Owls at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Rose vs. Vinyl at 8 p.m. ET. Mist is led by Stewart, the star of the WNBA’s reigning champs, and also features Jewell Loyd and rookie Rickea Jackson. The Lunar Owls are powered by Lynx players Collier and Courtney Williams, and also includes Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Angel Reese is the star of a Rose roster that also has Chelsea Gray and Copper, while Vinyl features Arike Ogunbowale, Aliyah Boston, and a veteran of Team USA’s 3-on-3 team, Dearica Hamby.
There are two other teams as well. The Laces includes Jackie Young and Kate Martin, while Phantom features Griner and Sabrina Ionescu.
Among the stars not playing Unrivaled and resting during the offseason include WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark. Jonquel Jones and Kelsey Plum are also absent from Unrivaled rosters.
Unrivaled begins on Jan. 17 and will run through March 17, with each team playing 14 games, finishing up just before the NCAA Tournament begins.
In February, the league will also host a one-on-one tournament where the winner gets a $250,000 cash prize.
–Mitchell Northam, Field Level Media
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