2025 Unrivaled season | |
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League | Unrivaled |
Sport | Basketball (three-on-three) |
Duration | January 17 – March 17, 2025 |
Number of games | 48 |
Number of teams | 6 |
TV partner(s) | TNT Sports and TruTV |
Streaming partner(s) | Max |
The 2025 season of Unrivaled is the league's inaugural season. Six teams will play a regular season of matches in January to March to contest four places in a single-elimination playoff tournament that determines the champions of the league.
On October 24, the inaugural six team names were announced. [1] For the 2025 season, teams did not have designated geographic connections, although the branding was created with a consideration for potential future sale and relocation of the teams. [1]
On November 15, 2024, the 2025 head coaches were announced: Phil Handy, Adam Harrington, Nola Henry, DJ Sackmann, Teresa Weatherspoon, and Andrew Wade. [2] On November 20, after the team selection, the head coaches were each assigned to a team. [3]
Team | Head coach | Assistant coach |
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Laces BC | Andrew Wade | TBD |
Lunar Owls BC | DJ Sackman | TBD |
Mist BC | Phil Handy | TBD |
Phantom BC | Adam Harrington | TBD |
Rose BC | Nola Henry | TBD |
Vinyl BC | Teresa Weatherspoon | TBD |
For the inaugural season, Unrivaled was originally announced to consist of 30 professional players with six 5-player teams. [4] Starting in July 2024, the players for the 2025 season began to be announced one-by-one on Unrivaled's social media accounts. [4] Hints were given on social media before roster announcements, encouraging fans to engage and make their guesses on the next Unrivaled roster addition. In late October 2024, the league announced it had "surpassed its initial financial targets" and would be expanding the inaugural season roster to 36 total players and increase the individual team roster size to six players. [5]
In November 2024, Kelsey Plum announced via social media that she would no longer be playing in the 2025 season and instead would "take some more time for myself this offseason," leaving Laces BC with a wildcard spot. [6]
On November 20, 2024, players were divvied into their Unrivaled teams with the event being streamed on the league's YouTube channel. [7] [8] During the selection process, players were assigned to six pods (six players in each pod). [9] The head coaches then assigned one player from each pod to create balanced rosters for each club. Once all rosters were set, the head coaches were then made aware of which team they would be coaching for the 2025 season. [9]
At the time of the selection show, only 34 players had been confirmed to be participating in the 2025 season. [10] The final two players were drafted as wildcards within Pod D and went to Lunar Owls BC and Phantom BC. [11] Teams with a wildcard selection will be able to recruit and sign player of their choosing.
Denotes captain of basketball club [12] |
Teams | Players | |||||
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Pod A | Pod B | Pod C | Pod D | Pod E | Pod F | |
Laces BC | Wildcard | Courtney Williams | Kayla McBride | Kate Martin | Alyssa Thomas | Stefanie Dolson |
Lunar Owls BC | Skylar Diggins-Smith | Natasha Cloud | Allisha Gray | Wildcard | Napheesa Collier | Shakira Austin |
Mist BC | Jewell Loyd | Courtney Vandersloot | DiJonai Carrington | Rickea Jackson | Breanna Stewart | Aaliyah Edwards |
Phantom BC | Jackie Young | Tiffany Hayes | Marina Mabrey | Wildcard | Satou Sabally | Brittney Griner |
Rose BC | Chelsea Gray | Brittney Sykes | Kahleah Copper | Lexie Hull | Angel Reese | Azurá Stevens |
Vinyl BC | Arike Ogunbowale | Jordin Canada | Rhyne Howard | Rae Burrell | Aliyah Boston | Dearica Hamby |
Players are to report to training camp on January 2, 2025. [13]
The regular season will begin on January 17, 2025 with six weeks of round-robin play. [13] [14] For the 2025 season, the majority of regular season games will be played in a custom facility at Mediapro Studios in the Miami suburb of Medley, Florida. [15] Regular season games are to occur three nights a week with two games played each night. [16]
An All-Star event with a one-on-one (1v1) single elimination tournament mid-season is scheduled for February 10, 2025 with the winner earning a $250,000 paycheck. [17]
2025 Unrivaled regular season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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January
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February
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March
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2025 Unrivaled playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Semifinals
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Finals
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At the conclusion of the regular season, the top four teams will appear in the playoffs (lasting approximately two weeks) to complete for the championship title. [14] The postseason is slotted to end on March 17, 2025. [13]
TNT Sports will air Monday and Friday games on TNT, and Saturday games air on TruTV. The TNT and TruTV broadcasts will be streamed on Max. [18]
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States and will include 13 teams as of the 2025 season. It is considered as the premier professional women's basketball league in the world.
Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Vinyl BC of the Unrivaled basketball league. She was previously the head coach of the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.
Adam Philip Harrington is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is a head coach for Phantom BC of the Unrivaled basketball league. He previously served as an assistant coach and the director of player development for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played collegiately at Auburn University and North Carolina State University and professionally in the United States, various European countries, and China.
Breanna Mackenzie Stewart, nicknamed "Stewie", is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is one of the most accomplished players in basketball history. Stewart is also a founder of the Unrivaled basketball league along with Napheesa Collier.
Chelsea Nichelle Gray is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was the eleventh pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft. She missed the 2014 WNBA season due to injury, but she made her debut with the Sun in the 2015 WNBA season. Gray won her first title with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016. She won her second title with the Las Vegas Aces in the 2022 WNBA Finals, where she was named Finals MVP. She won gold medals for 5x5 basketball at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Jewell Loyd is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overall in the 2015 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. She played college basketball at Notre Dame.
Natasha "Tasha" Cloud is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Napheesa Collier, nicknamed "Phee", is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Collier is also a founder of the Unrivaled basketball league along with Breanna Stewart. After playing college basketball for the University of Connecticut Huskies, Collier was drafted by the Lynx with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft. She has won two Olympic gold medals playing on the United States women's national basketball team in the Tokyo 2020 and the Paris 2024 games. She is also currently a vice president on the Women's National Basketball Players Association executive committee.
Allisha Gray is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Elitzur Ramla of Israel. She won a gold medal in women's 3x3 basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Kahleah Copper is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the seventh overall pick by the Washington Mystics in 2016, and was traded to the Chicago Sky the next year.
Jordin Elizabeth Canada is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected by the Seattle Storm with the 5th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Canada played collegiately with the UCLA Bruins. She is known for her playmaking, speed and crossover skills. In her rookie season with the Storm, she won her first WNBA championship as they swept the Washington Mystics. In 2020, after winning her second WNBA championship, she signed an endorsement deal with Air Jordan.
Marina Mabrey is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Mabrey was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2019 WNBA draft. She previously played with the United States women's national under-19 basketball team and the University of Notre Dame.
Philip T. Handy is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for Mist BC of the Unrivaled basketball league. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and player development trainer. He played college basketball for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, and then played professionally abroad before starting his career in coaching.
Rhyne Howard is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. She graduated from Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 2018. She was drafted first overall by the Dream in the 2022 WNBA draft.
Shakira Austin is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Maryland and Ole Miss.
DiJonai Carrington is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She played college basketball for Stanford and later Baylor before being drafted by the Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft.
Aaliyah Edwards is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at UConn. She was selected 6th overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2024 WNBA draft. Edwards has represented Canada since her cadet years and has been playing for the senior Canadian national team since she was 16 years old.
Rae Burrell is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers after attending Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada, where she was named the Las Vegas Review-Journal Best of Nevada Preps Female Athlete of the Year in 2018.
Unrivaled is a women's professional three-on-three basketball league based in the United States.
Vinyl Basketball Club, also known as Vinyl BC, is an American professional basketball team. They are a member of the Unrivaled basketball league, and will make their debut in 2025. The team is currently based in Miami, Florida. They are led by coach Teresa Weatherspoon.