What is Unrivaled? New 3-on-3 Women’s Basketball League Debuts
On Friday, January 17, the Unrivaled Basketball League will officially debut in the midst of the WNBA offseason. Unrivaled is a new professional women’s basketball league that will air its 3-on-3 basketball games on TNT. The league was founded by WNBA superstars and former UConn teammates Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
Below, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the new Unrivaled League, including why it was created, how it was created, who the investors are, and what start WNBA players you can find in the league.
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Why Was Unrivaled League Created?
The Unrivaled Basketball League was created to help solve two problems in the current WNBA landscape: length of season and going abroad for lucrative contracts. The WNBA season is only five months long, including the playoffs, leaving a large gap where players lose fitness and game sharpness.
Players will opt to go overseas to keep on playing to stay in shape, where foreign teams can offer lucrative contracts. However, due to the WNBA’s “Prioritization Rule”, players can be suspended for the season if they miss training camp by choosing to remain with their international team.
By remaining in the U.S. and ending during the WNBA’s offseason, WNBA players do not need to worry about losing fitness or the Prioritization Rule. Salaries in the Unrivaled League are rumored to be the largest average salaries in U.S. women’s professional sports.
Who Are The Founders And Investors Of Unrivaled?
As mentioned earlier, WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are the co-founders of the league, and the league has some serious investors as well. Fellow superstars in the women’s sports ranging from Alex Morgan to Coco Gauff have all invested in the league. Former NBA players Carmelo Anthony and Steve Nash have joined the investment group, as well as the former Presidents of ESPN and Turner, John Skipper and David Levy.
Their most recent round of investing saw Olympic legend Michael Phelps, NBA Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, and South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
Former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry was a prominent investor in this most recent round of investing, and USC superstar guard JuJu Watkins became the only collegiate player to go the investment route
Where are Unrivaled Games Played?
Unrivaled games will take place in Miami. The league and their production partner, Mediapro, turned a production studio and empty parking lot into a basketball arena.
Where to Watch Unrivaled League?
Unrivaled will be broadcast on TNT on Monday and Friday nights. On Saturday nights, games will be on TruTV. All games will be available on Max to be streamed as well, which makes it incredibly accessible.
What are the Rules of Unrivaled League?
The league will be playing 3-on-3 (or 3x3) basketball but on a modified full court. The court will be 70’x50’ compared to the 94’x50’ court used in the WNBA, and a standard 3x3 court which is 36’x49’. Games will have three seven-minute quarters, with the last quarter being played to a “target score”.
The “target score” will be the winning team’s points at the end of the third quarter plus 11. For example, if the game is 45-40 after three quarters. The target score will be 56 points for a team to win the game.
Another difference in the league is that free throws will be one-shot no matter if the player gets fouled on a two or three. The singular free throw will be equivalent to the number of points the shot was when a player got fouled. If a player got fouled attempting a three-pointer, that one free throw will be worth three points.
All these changes are meant to encourage fast-paced play, and the 18-second shot clock will be another enforcement of that.
The last notable rule is that if a team only has three players available and one of them picks up a sixth foul to foul out, they are allowed to remain in the game but each following foul is considered a technical foul that sends the opposing team to the foul line for one shot and the ball.
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What Players are Playing in Unrivaled League?
Unrivaled is filled with star power starting with the two co-owners of the league, Stewart and Collier. Some of the WNBA’s young stars are part of the league with Angel Reese, Aliyah Boston, Rickea Jackson, and Cameron Brink (who will be joining next year as she recovers from a torn ACL).
Stewart is joined by her New York Liberty teammates, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot. Other notable players to have joined are the Las Vegas Aces stars Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, shooters Arike Ogunbowale and Jewell Loyd, and all-rounders Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally.
WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark and MVP A’ja Wilson both turned down offers to play in the league in its inaugural season. Wilson said, “I’m not going to completely cut out, because you never know. … But I will not be doing that, I will be chilling.”
Unrivaled Teams and Schedule
There are six teams in the Unrivaled League and they do not have geographic connections since the whole league is based in Miami. The teams are: Laces BC, Lunar Owls BC, Mist BC, Phantom BC, Rose BC, and Vinyl BC.
The league will run from January 17 to March 17, with each team playing 14 games over that span. Games are played on Monday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The top four teams will make the playoffs and face off in single-elimination games to determine the season’s inaugural champion — which should add to the league’s excitement..
The regular season will take a short break between February 10-14 to feature a 1v1 tournament. The winner of this 1v1 tournament will earn a minimum of $250,000.
Unrivaled League Predictions for the 2025 Season
In this inaugural season of Unrivaled, a world of possibilities could happen in the strandings. Here are my predictions on how it will shake out
- Laces BC
- Mist BC
- Lunar Owls BC
- Phantom BC
- Rose BC
- Vinyl BC
While all the teams have similar roster builds, the Laces likely have the best all-around team in terms of playmaking, shooting, and defense. The roster of Jackie Young, Alyssa Thomas, Kayla McBride, Kate Martin, Tiffany Hayes, and Stephanie Dolson will be a tough one to compete with.
However, it will be interesting to see how each of these teams builds chemistry throughout the first few weeks of the league.
Build Your Unrivaled Lineups on PrizePicks
The Unrivaled Basketball League is making its debut on Friday night, creating a new avenue for America’s brightest women’s basketball stars to show their talents. The best place to get real money action on Unrivaled League is on PrizePicks.
You can make lineups on player performance choosing more or less on players’ points, and more stats as the season goes on.
Use PrizePicks to build a Lineup of your Unrivaled picks and check out the Playbook for more Unrivaled picks for PrizePicks all season long.
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