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 professional three-on-three women's 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 (NIL) deal with Unrivaled, with plans for Bueckers to make her Unrivaled debut in the 2026 season. [a] [5] In December 2024, Unrivaled announced that Flau'jae Johnson also signed a similar deal to Bueckers' with the league. [6]
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. [7] 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). [8]
On October 24, the inaugural six team names were announced. [9] Teams do not have geographic connections, although the branding was created with a consideration for potential future sale and relocation of the teams. [9] The rosters for each team are decided by a selection committee that sorts players based on their position and skill level. [1] [10] Each team will have a head coach, an assistant coach, and a team manager. [11]
| 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 |
| Teams | Players | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Cameron Brink [b] | 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 |
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] [7] 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] [7] [14] Also in May 2024, Unrivaled announced that they had closed their seed funding. [14] In December 2024, the league announced that their Series A round had closed with a new total capital of $35 million and included new investors such as Dawn Staley, JuJu Watkins, Michael and Nicole Phelps, Rip Hamilton, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. [15] [16]
In July 2024, Ally Financial was announced as Unrivaled's first and founding brand partner. [17] [18] 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." [17] 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. [19] In December 2024, Under Armour was announced as the league's "official uniform partner and performance outfitter." [20] Under Armour will provide performance apparel and accessories and also provide players without conflicting brand deals access to their footwear line and opportunity to create custom merchandise. [20] Miller Lite was named the league's Official Beer Partner for the 2025 season in December 2024. [21]
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. [14] [22] The winner of the 2025 1v1 mid-season tournament will earn a minimum of $250,000. [23] [24]
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 [7] with an "equity pool that will vest over a four-year period." [25]
For the 2025 season, players will also be provided local housing with access to gym and practice facilities paid for by the league. [26]
Alex Bazzell, a renowned basketball skills coach and Collier's husband, is the first and current president of Unrivaled. [14] In June 2024, Micky Lawler, a former Women's Tennis Association president, was named the commissioner of the league. [27] [28] 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. [29]
The 2025 season will be aired on TNT and TruTV, and streamed on Max. [30]
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams. It is considered the premier professional women's basketball league in the world. The league's headquarters are located in New York City.
The WNBA All-Defensive Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches. who are not allowed to vote for players on their own team. The All-Defensive Team is composed of two five-woman lineups, a first and a second team, comprising a total of 10 roster spots. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. Starting with the 2023 season, players are selected without regard to position; this follows the WNBA having adopted a "positionless" format for the All-WNBA Team in 2022. Before 2023, each team consisted of one center, two forwards, and two guards. During that time, if there was already a center on the first team, but another center received more points than two of the guards on the first team, that center would still be on the second team.
Tiffany Kiara Hayes is an American-Azerbaijani professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Hayes played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies, playing for the 2009 and 2010 NCAA National Champions.
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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.
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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 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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