The popularity of women’s basketball has never been higher, which means that it is perfect timing for the sport’s newest league to debut. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese helped bring women’s basketball to new heights during their times in college, and then the New York Liberty helped lead the way in an iconic WNBA campaign that ended up with them winning their first championship. The Liberty’s best player, Breanna Stewart, is one of the founders of the new women’s basketball league called “Unrivaled.” It is a 3×3 league that will begin at the start of 2025, so let’s check out everything that you need to know about the newest women’s basketball league.
What is Unrivaled?
Unrivaled is a 3×3 women’s basketball league that was founded in 2023. It will take place during the WNBA offseason, and the games will be played in the United States of America. In addition to Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx helped found the league. Ironically, Collier lost to Stewart in this year’s WNBA Finals.
The WNBA season takes place during the summer, and there have historically been about 34 games in a season (there were 40 games in 2024 and there will be 44 games in 2025). That means a lot of players who choose to play year-round end up playing abroad during the winter when a lot of international leagues take place.
However, the WNBA put in a “prioritization rule” in 2023. The rule required players with more than two years of WNBA experience to report to their WNBA teams by May 1st or the start of training camp, or else they would be subjected to a season-long suspension. The rule has limited opportunities for WNBA players, and the Unrivaled league was put in place to help fix that.
Unrivaled will begin on Jan. 9, 2025, with games taking place in Miami, Florida, at the league’s very own facility. The season will run for eight weeks and end before the start of the WNBA season, with game nights being on Monday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
The new league will feature 3×3 games, rather than the traditional 5 vs. 5 format, although rules differ from the FIBA format that has grown in popularity in recent years. Unrivaled games will be played on a full-court, with four quarters being played at seven minutes a piece. The court size will only be 70 feet by 50 feet, rather than 94 feet by 50 feet.
How to watch Unrivaled
TNT Sports has the broadcast rights for Unrivaled. The Monday and Friday games will be played on TNT, while the Saturday games will be broadcast on truTV. Additionally, all games can be streamed on Max. There will be two games played on each game night.
Unrivaled teams and rosters
Thirty-four players will play in the Unrivaled League, and they will be split up between six teams. The league recently announced who will be playing on what team. Roster spots were determined after each player was put into six pods, separated by guards, wings, and bigs. The six coaches then assigned players from each pod onto a different team without knowing which team they’d be coaching. This allowed for an unbiased selection process and fair teams. Most of the elite talent in the WNBA will be playing in Unrivaled this season, and the complete rosters are listed below.
Vinyl (coached by Teresa Weatherspoon)
Arike Ogunbowale, guard, Dallas Wings
Rhyne Howard, wings, Atlanta Dream
Aliyah Boston, big, Indiana Fever
Jordin Canada, guard, Atlanta Dream
Rae Burrell, wing, Los Angeles Sparks
Dearica Hamby, big, Los Angeles Sparks
Rose (Nola Henry)
Chelsea Gray, guard, Las Vegas Aces
Kahleah Copper, wing, Phoenix Mercury
Angel Reese, forward, Chicago Sky
Brittney Sykes, guard, Washington Mystics
Lexie Hull, wing, Indiana Fever
Azura Stevens, big, Los Angeles Sparks
Mist (Phil Handy)
Jewell Loyd, guard, Seattle Storm
DiJonai Carrington, wing, Connecticut Sun
Breanna Stewart, big, New York Liberty
Courtney Vandersloot, guard, New York Liberty
Rickea Jackson, wing, Los Angeles Sparks
Aaliyah Edwards, big, Washington Mystics
Lunar Owls (DJ Sackmann)
Skylar Diggins-Smith, guard, Seattle Storm
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta Dream
Napheesa Collier, big, Minnesota Lynx
Natasha Cloud, guard, Phoenix Mercury
Shakira Austin, big, Washington Mystics
Wildcard
Phantom (Adam Harrington)
Jackie Young, guard, Las Vegas Aces
Marina Mabrey, wing, Connecticut Sun
Satou Sabally, big, Dallas Wings
Tiffany Hayes, guard, Las Vegas Aces
Brittney Griner, big, Phoenix Mercury
Wildcard
Laces (Andrew Wade)
Kelsey Plum, guard, Las Vegas Aces
Kayla McBride, wing, Minnesota Lynx
Alyssa Thomas, big, Connecticut Sun
Courtney Williams, guard, Minnesota Lynx
Kate Martin, wing, Las Vegas Aces
Stefanie Dolson, big, Washington Mystics
What else to know
While the majority of the WNBA’s stars will be playing in Unrivaled, there are some big names who won’t be suiting up in the league in 2025. Notably, Caitlin Clark isn’t signed up to play in the league, nor is WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. Sabrina Ionescu will also be sitting out this season. Paige Bueckers, the projected number one NBA Draft pick, is ineligible to play this season, considering she is still playing at the collegiate level with UConn. She did sign an NIL deal with Unrivaled, though, and she will be playing in the league in 2026 after making her WNBA debut.
The league not only allows players a chance to stay domestic to play basketball, but it will offer a chance to supplement their WNBA income. However, exact salaries are not yet known.
One way to walk away with a big payday is to win the 1-on-1 tournament. In the middle of the season, Unrivaled will host a 1-on-1 tournament, where the winner will not only be crowned as the best women’s 1-on-1 player in the world, but they will also be awarded $250,000.
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