Upcoming season or competition: 2025 Unrivaled season | |
 | |
| Sport | Basketball (three-on-three) |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 6, 2023 |
| Founder | Napheesa Collier Breanna Stewart |
| First season | 2025 |
| President | Alex Bazzell |
| Commissioner | Micky Lawler |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Countries | United States |
| Headquarters | Miami, Florida |
| TV partner(s) |
|
| Official website | Unrivaled |
Unrivaled is a women's professional three-on-three basketball league based in the United States.
The league was founded in 2023 by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, in part to allow WNBA players to play domestically and to bypass complications from the WNBA's prioritization rule for players who choose to play overseas in the WNBA offseason. Unrivaled's inaugural season is slotted to begin on January 17, 2025 in Miami, Florida [1] with plans for the 2026 season to have games played across the United States. [2]
The league announced Breanna Stewart as the first signed player on July 9, 2024. [3] In August, it was announced that Paige Bueckers had signed a name, image, and likeness deal with Unrivaled, with plans for Bueckers to make her Unrivaled debut in the 2026 season. [a] [5]
Games will be played on a full court with two ends, and consist of four, seven-minute quarters; as opposed to on a half-court, with a single, ten-minute period in FIBA 3x3 basketball competitions. [6] The size of the court is smaller in length than those used in the WNBA – measuring 70 ft (21 m) × 50 ft (15 m), instead of 94 ft (29 m) × 50 ft (15 m). [7]
On October 24, the inaugural six team names were announced. [8] Teams do not have geographic connections, although the branding was created with a consideration for potential future sale and relocation of the teams. [8] The rosters for each team are decided by a selection committee that sorts players based on their position and skill level. [1] [9] Each team will have a head coach, an assistant coach, and a team manager. [10]
| Team | Joined | Head coach |
|---|---|---|
| Laces BC | 2025 | Andrew Wade |
| Lunar Owls BC | 2025 | DJ Sackman |
| Mist BC | 2025 | Phil Handy |
| Phantom BC | 2025 | Adam Harrington |
| Rose BC | 2025 | Nola Henry |
| Vinyl BC | 2025 | Teresa Weatherspoon |
In May 2024, it was announced that John Skipper, a former ESPN president, and David Levy, a former Turner president, had invested in Unrivaled and would be at the helm of the league's media rights and sponsorship sales. [1] [6] Other notable early investors include Koby Altman, Carmelo Anthony, Geno Auriemma, Moira Forbes, Desiree Gruber, Tre Jones, Tyus Jones, Ashton Kutcher, Alex Morgan, Steve Nash, Megan Rapinoe, Richard and Ann Sarnoff, Dan Rosensweig, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Michelle Wie West. [1] [6] [11] Also in May 2024, Unrivaled announced that they had closed their seed funding. [11]
In July 2024, Ally Financial was announced as Unrivaled's first and founding brand partner. [12] [13] Ally will be the league-wide jersey sponsor, assist in media spending and negotiations, "activat[e] hospitality and fan engagement opportunities, and [appear] in online/digital content and in-arena signage." [12] In November 2024 Unrivaled announced their multi-year sponsorship with State Farm and that the company would be the presenting sponsor for the 2025 Club Selection announcement show on November 20, 2024. [14]
Unrivaled will offer players in the league contract opportunities to receive the highest average salary in U.S. women's professional sports and a minimum six-figure salary. [11] [15] The winner of the 2025 1v1 mid-season tournament will earn a minimum of $250,000. [16] [17]
Additionally to create an athlete-centric and player-owned league, Unrivaled will offer the inaugural players equity in the league for at least the first year [6] with an "equity pool that will vest over a four-year period." [18]
For the 2025 season, players will also be provided local housing with access to gym and practice facilities paid for by the league. [19]
Alex Bazzell, a renowned basketball skills coach and Collier's husband, is the first and current president of Unrivaled. [11] In June 2024, Micky Lawler, a former Women's Tennis Association president, was named the commissioner of the league. [20] [21] On November 11, 2024, Clare Duwelius (former general manager of the Minnesota Lynx) was announced as executive vice president and general manager of the league and Luke Cooper, the president of basketball operations. [22]
The 2025 season will be aired on TNT and TruTV, and streamed on Max. [23]
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.
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.
The prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada serve as the pinnacle of women's athletic competition in North America. The United States is home to the vast majority of professional women's leagues. In North America, the top women's leagues feature both team sports and individual athletes. While some leagues have paid professional female athletes, others do not and function at a semi-professional level.
Alyssa Thomas is an American professional basketball forward for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins. The New York Liberty drafted Thomas 4th overall in the 2014 WNBA draft, and immediately traded her to the Sun along with Kelsey Bone and a 2015 first-round draft pick in exchange for Tina Charles. Thomas is the University of Maryland's all-time leader in scoring, rebounding and double-doubles for both the women's and men's programs, and one of nine athletes in NCAAW history with six career triple-doubles. In the WNBA, Thomas recorded fifteen career triple-doubles. She is one of four players to record 15+, 15+, 10+ with 0 turnovers, the only WNBA player to do so ever.
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.
Dearica Marie Hamby is an American basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
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.
Brittney Sykes is an American professional basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft.
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.
Paige Madison Bueckers is an American college basketball player for the UConn Huskies of the Big East Conference.
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.
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.
Nika Mühl is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball as a point guard for the UConn Huskies. Twice named Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year while in college, Mühl is UConn's all-time leader in career assists, with 686, and also holds the program records for most assists in a single season and in a single game. She was selected 14th overall by Seattle in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Clare Duwelius is an American basketball executive who is the General Manager and Executive Vice President of Unrivaled. Duwelius was formerly the general manager of the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) after having started her career with the Lynx in 2014 as the Basketball Operations Coordinator, then being elevated to Basketball Operations Manager in 2016 and later assistant general manager in 2018.
The 2024-25 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represents the University of Connecticut (UConn) during the 2024-25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma is in his 40th season at UConn, and will split their home games between Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on their campus in Storrs, Connecticut, and the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. UConn is a member of the Big East Conference, which it rejoined in the 2020-21 season; it had been a member of the original Big East Conference from 1979 through 2013, and one of the original women's basketball teams in that conference in 1982.
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.
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