Unrivaled Basketball
Your Guide to Unrivaled Basketball League
It’s finally here!!! Unrivaled Basketball officially tips off tonight at 7 p.m. ET on TNT. This is everything you need to know before opening night tip off!
What is Unrivaled Basketball?
Unrivaled is the newest Women’s Professional Basketball League in the United States. Founded by Breanna Stewart & Napheesa Collier.
3-on-3 format
14 regular season games
Played on a condensed Full Court (49.2x70ft)
WNBA Full Court 94-by-50
Olympics Half Court 36-by-49
36 of the top US Women’s Basketball Stars
6 teams with 6 players each
Mist, Rose, Laces, Phantom, Vinyl, Lunar Owls
Mid season there will be a 1v1 (Queen of the Court) series
Winner = $250,000
Teammates of Winner = $10,000
Top 4 teams qualify for the playoffs
Highest average salary of a Women’s Professional League
Each player has 15% ownership in the league
Currently Valued at $15M
Q1, Q2, & Q3 = 7 minute quarters
Q4 = Target Score
Leading team score at the end of Q3 + 11 = Winning Score
Ex: If Mist has 56 and Rose has 54 the first team to score 67 wins
No Overtime
Shot Clock - 18 seconds
Stops only the last 30s of quarter
6 fouls
Only 1 Free Throw
Fouled on 2-pointer: 1 FT = 2 points
Fouled on 3-pointer: 1 FT = 3 points
And-1: 1 FT = 1 point
Why Unrivaled?
Options!!!
In the past the only options for women’s professional basketball was WNBA in the summer and international (mainly Russia, China, Australia, and Turkey).
3 years ago Athlete’s Unlimited came along offering a condensed off season to play against players, workout, and develop in the United States while also getting paid.
Now Unrivaled offers state of the art facilities (sauna, weight room, practice courts, nutrition, doctors, therapists), playing against top players, access to top trainers, all in Miami while also paying the highest average salary in a US Women’s Pro League.
More Money
Unrivaled is offering its players the highest average salary of a Women’s Professional League. In December it was projected to be a minimum average of $242,000. The 36 inaugural season players also get 15% equity in the league.
Development
Unrivaled has state of the art facilities, playing with and against the best players in the world.
Phil Handy (Kobe’s Trainer) is one of the coaches.
Personalized workouts developed by top trainers with input from doctors, trainers, and WNBA front office on that they want the player to focus on along with what each player personally wants to work on or heal.
Unrivaled has state of the art facilities!
Top Weight Room
Customized Club Locker Rooms
Saunas
Cold Plunges
Family Rooms
Kid Rooms
Lounge Rooms
Sephora Glam Room
Production Room
Recovery Room
Training Room
Practice Courts
Show Court built specifically for Unrivaled
Home
This league is based in Miami so that players can stay stateside, visit family and their families can visit them, make holidays, and be in America.
There are many working in the league and they can bring their kids and the league has childcare, a playroom, nursery, nursing rooms, and private nannies all for the players!
Who is Unrivaled?
Now for my favorite part, who is Unrivaled?
Unrivaled is 36 of the top players in US Women’s Basketball
6 teams known as clubs with 6 players each
My favorite clubs so far: Mist & Rose
Mist ☁️🌫️
Team: Breanna Stewart (Stewie), DiJonai Carrington (Nai), Courtney (Sloot), Jewell Loyd, Aaliyah Edwards, Rickea Jackson
Captain: Breanna Stewart (co-Founder)
Coach: Phil Handy
Players Phil has trained: Kobe, LeBron, Kyrie, Kawhi, Steve Nash, Kevin Love, Pau Gasol, AD, Chelsea Gray, and JuJu!
Plus you add in his NBA Assistant Coaching experience. That’s a great addition.
Stewie & Jewell played together in Seattle (2016 - 2022)
Stewie & Sloot played together 2020 - 2022 in Russia (UMMC EKateringburg), 2023 with Fenerbahçe, 2023 - 2024 with the New York Liberty winning the WNBA Championship in 2024
Tho they never played together Stewie & Aaliyah both went to UConn
Stewie has 3 WNBA Championships while Sloot & Jewell have 2
Schedule
Rose 🌹
Team: Chelsea Gray, Angel Reese, Kahleah Copper (Kah), Azurá Stevens (Z), Lexie Hull, Brittney Sykes (Slim)
Captain: Chelsea Gray (Tha Point Gawd)
Coach: Nola Henry
Former Hooper! Assistant Coach in the WNBA for LA Sparks and now the Dallas Wings. She spent sometime with the Connecticut Sun.
At one point she used to play against Kah Copper growing up.
Chelsea Gray & Brittney Sykes played for the LA Sparks in the 2020 Bubble Season
Kah & Azurá played together in Chicago from 2020 - 2022 winning the WNBA Championship together in 2021
Schedule
Lunar Owls 🦉
Team: Allisha Gray (Lish), Cameron Brink [will not play - ACL], Courtney Williams (Court), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Sky), Shakira Austin, Napheesa Collier (Phee)
Captain: Napheesa Collier (co-Founder)
Coach: DJ Sackman
Founder of Hoopstudy: an online basketball basketball education company that helps bring the skill development to the players.
Has a skill training and development background with some assistant coaching experience.
Phee & Court played together in Minnesota this past WNBA season making it to the Finals.
Lish was Sky’s Rookie in Dallas from 2017 - 2019
Schedule
Laces 👟
Team: Jackie Young (JY0), Tiffany Hayes (Tip), Kate Martin, Alyssa Thomas (AT), Kayla McBride (K Mac), Stefanie Dobson (Stef or Big Mama Stef)
Captain: Alyssa Thomas
Coach: Andrew Wade
Head Video Coordinator and Player Development Assistant for the Washington Mystics 2022-2024.
Worked his way up within the Washington basketball system since 2019 between the Mystics and the NBA G-League’s Capital City Go-Go
The team with the most connections!
Aces - Jackie Young, Kate Martin (2024), Tiffany Hayes, Kelsey Plum (initially signed but designed for personal reasons), Kayla McBride (2014 - 2020)
Have all played with Jackie Young
K Mac & Jackie also played together at Guard U (Notre Dame)
Tiffany Hayes played with Stef Dolson at UConn (2010 - 2012)
Tip played with Alyssa Thomas overseas (2015 - 2016) and again with the Connecticut Sun in 2023
Schedule
Phantom 👻
Team: Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, Katie Lou Samuelson, Natasha Cloud (Tash), Brittney Griner (BG), Marina Mabrey
Captain: Satou Sabally (The Unicorn 🦄)
Coach
Former NBA Assistant Coach with the Brooklyn Nets (2016 - 2022)
Former Hooper: Overseas (2003 - 2010), undrafted but played in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks & Denver Nuggets
Personal Trainer for Kevin Durant (KD) & Paolo Banchero
The highlighted connection for Phantom is the reunion with Satou & Sabrina who played together in college at Oregon from 2017 - 2020.
Katie Lou Samuelson played in Dallas with Satou in 2020 And in Chicago with Marina in 2019
Marina played with Satou at Fenerbahçe in 2023
Tash & BG are teammates in Phoenix
Schedule
Vinyl 💿
Team: Rhyne Howard (Rhy), Rae Burrell, Dearica Hamby, Arike Ogunbowale, Aliyah Boston, Jordin Canada
Captain: Arike Ogunbowale
Coach: Teresa Weatherspoon (T-Spoon)
WNBA Legend!! 1988 NCAA Champion! Former New Orleans Pelicans Assistant Coach & Former Chicago Sky Head Coach.
Team Jordan - Rhyne, Rae, Dearica, Jordin (all signed with Jordan Brand) & Arike is Nike
Rhyne plays with Jordin Canada in Atlanta
Sparks: Jordin & Dearica (2023), Jordin & Rae (2022 - 2023), Rae & Dearica (2023 - 2024)
Dearica & Rhyne won the Bronze Medal in the 2024 Olympics playing 3x3
Schedule
Thoughts & Cool Notes
I would’ve loved an all Notre Dame Team
Coaches
I would’ve liked at least 1 more woman coach in an all women’s league having more man coaches than woman coaches is …
I love that T-Spoon is involved. She’s an original pro WBB great and to have her fingerprint on this league speaks volumes.
Love Phil Handy coaching! He develops some great players.
I think there’s a good mix of motivators, former players, player development coaches, and video coordinators.
I would’ve at least liked 3 women & 3 men.
Shout out to at Nikas2Points on Twitter for the Connection Graphics
Phee wanting Kate Martin: “I've heard Martin was a heavy priority for Napheesa Collier since early in the WNBA season. They are both from St. Louis area and Martin even played for the same AU program, which is now called Napheesa Collier Elite.”
3x3 Medal Winners
Jackie, Lish, & Steph Dolson - 3x3 Gold Medal in 2020 Olympics
Jackie & Steph on Laces
Lish on Lunar
Rhyne & Dearica - 3x3 Bronze Medal in 2024 Olympics
Both on Vinyl
The Future Is Unrivaled
Paige Bueckers & Flau’jae Johnson both signed NIL deals as brand ambassadors with Unrivaled while also receiving equity steak in the league.
There is also gear letting folks know The Future Is Unrivaled.
Unrivaled has an incredible list of Investors!
Athlete & Coach Investors
Alex Morgan: Olympic Gold medalist & Former U.S. Women's Soccer National Team Captain
Megan Rapinoe: Olympic Gold medalist & Former U.S. Women's Soccer National Team Captain
Carmelo Anthony: NBA Great, NBA All-Star & Olympic Gold Medalist
Steve Nash: Basketball Hall of Famer, 2x NBA MVP
Geno Auriemma: University of Connecticut (UConn) WBB head coach, Winningest Head Coach in WBB History
Dawn Staley: Women’s Basketball Great, Former WNBA Player, Former USA WBB Player, Assistant, & Head Coach, South Carolina WBB Head Coach
Coco Gauff: Tennis Champoion & Highest paid women’s athlete
JuJu Watkins: USC Basketball Star
Richard ‘Rip’ Hamilton: NBA Champion (w 2004 Detroit Pistons) & NBA All Star
Joe Ingles: 11-year NBA vet + 5x Olympian
Tyus & Tre Jones - NBA Players
Giannis Antetokounmpo: NBA Champion, 2x NBA MVP Milwaukee Bucks star
Business executive investors
Dan Benton: Technology Investor
Dan Rosensweig: Former President of Chegg
John Skipper: Former President of ESPN
Richard Sarnoff: Media Business Leader
Gary Vaynerchuk: Co-founder of Resy and Empathy wines
Media investor
Warner Bros. Discovery: Will air the league's games on TNT, TruTV, and Max
Linda Henry, CEO of Boston Globe Media & Partner at Fenway Sports Group
Marc Lasr, CEO of Avenue Sports Fund
Michael Phelps: Olympian & USA Swimmer Great
Nicole Phelps: President of the Michael Phelps Foundation and mental health advocate
Amy Banse: venture partner, mosaic, board member and investor, and retired Comcast Corp Executive
Black Economic Alliance Venture Fund
Threadneedle Ventures
Off-Court Ventures
Moira Forbes: Executive vice president of Forbes
Ashton Kutcher: Actor
Sponsors & Partnerships
To go along with incredible investors Unrivaled also has some of the best sponsors and partnerships!
Ally Financial
The first sponsor!
Hosting watch parties all season long all over the country
Wilson
Miller Lite
VistaPrint
State Farm
TNT Sports
Ticket Master
Under Armour
Mediapro North America
Opill
Sephora
Sponsored Media Day!! & The Glam Suite
Icy hot
Samsung Galaxy
Sprite
Body Armor
Wayfair
WayUnrivaled will play at Wayfair Arena
Where is Unrivaled?
Unrivaled is in Miami!
Unrivaled will be an all in one space at Mediapro North America
A soundstage that created state of the art facilities built just for Unrivaled.
How to Watch Unrivaled?
TNT is home to Unrivaled every Friday & Monday
& truTV on Saturday’s
All Games are available on Max
There will be a pre and post game studio show to go along with an incredible on site game crew.
Studio Crew
Host: Lauren Jbara
Analysts: Candace Parker & Renee Montgomery
Game Crew
Play by Play: Brenden Glasheen (Connecticut Sun play by play)
Analysts: Lisa Leslie & Sarah Kustok
Sideline Reporters: Ros Gold-Onwude, Taylor Rooks, Stephanie Ready, Allie LeForce
When is Unrivaled?
Unrivaled is 10 weeks from January 17th - March
Regular Season: January 17th - February 8th & February 18th - March 10th
Week5 = 1v1 tournament February 10th, 13th, & 14th.
Playoffs: March 16th
Championship: March 17th
All games are Friday, Saturday, & Mondays
Excluding February 18th & Playoffs
Matchups I’m Looking Forward To
Mist v Lunar Owls
Fri. Jan 17 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Opening Night! Game 1!!
Sat. Feb 8 at 7:00 PM ET on truTV
Mon. Mar 10 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Mist v Laces
Mon. Jan 20 at 9:15 PM ET on TNT
Mon. Feb 24 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Sat. Mar 8 at 6:00 PM ET on truTV
Mist v Phantom
Fri. Jan 24 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Mon. Feb 3 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Fri. Feb 28 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Rose v Mist
Sat. Jan 25 at 6:00 PM ET on truTV
Fri. Feb 7 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Sat. Mar 1 at 7:00 PM ET on truTV
Rose v Laces
Mon. Jan 27 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Sat. Feb 1 at 7:00 PM ET on truTV
Mon. Mar 3 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Rose v Vinyl
Fri. Jan 17 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Opening Night Game 2!!
Tue. Feb 18 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Mon. Mar 10 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Lunar Owls v Vinyl
Mon. Jan 27 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT
Mon. Feb 3 at 8:15 PM ET on TNT
Sat. Mar 1 at 6 PM ET on truTV
Looking Forward To
Storytelling
More Content!
Content Cam Brink
DiJonai x Rickea
Baddies Club - Rose
Jordan Club - Vinyl
Satou x Sab
Angel x Kah
Tip Fashion
Jackie x AT Toughness
The Fashion in general
Tunnel Fits!!
Angel & Spoon back together again
Seeing the growth of the players and getting to see them play in the offseason.
Storytelling about players, head and assistant coaches
Naibrey (DiJonai x Marina)
The Cookoff
Cooking with Marina
Jackie taste testing
Things I Love
Player Rollout (hints)
Clubs
Videos Explainations of the league and what they’re doing, graphics, YouTube videos, jerseys!
Branding!
Phantom’s commitment to the black & white social media grid
Doing what is deserved!
Gear
Affordable tickets (less than $50)
Stateside in Miami!
TV Partnership! W TNT
I love that the kids that got to get to know players in the bubble (also in Florida) but their mom is on a diff team now gets to see their fav players for 10 weeks again w Unrivaled. Love love love!
Ex: Dearica’s daughter (Amaya) became besties with Sabrina in the 2020 WNBA bubble.
With them playing on opposite sides of the country in LA & New York they don’t get. To see each other often.
I am literally living for DiJonai & Marina
The Cookoff
Content!! TikTok’s, Duos, summer camp vibes!
Vinyl getting Rhyne to stroll on her Founder’s Day!
Travel w me to Unrivaled w Dearica & Kah
Nai & Kea (Miss Jackson)
Birthdays & Congratulations from teammates.
Tha Point Gawd
Media Day!!!
I literally loved everything about Unrivaled media day!!
Unrivaled understanding the population of their league and served them properly! I loved
Loctician on site!
Rose Media Day
Kayla McBride saying she feels beautiful was so amazing!!
Mist Media Day “alright Ms. Jackson! Period!” - DiJoani
Some responses to Media Day that I loved
Shaina Wiel said on Twitter “Listen Unrivaled is doing what those of us in the industry KNEW women’s basketball could do. All you need is the right team and ppl who know how to tell the story and more importantly SELL the story and the money and interest will come. I NEVER subscribed to the opposite”
Natalie esquire said “Understanding the make up and population of your league and properly serving them >>>>>>>”
Diamondpearl86 said “The whole rollout of Unrivaled has been amazing to witness. The intentional hiring of diverse staff, stylists, makeup artists, and hairstylists products used shows a different level of commitment that is lacking in within the sport and quite frankly other industries”
Preseason Rankings
My Preseason Rankings
1 Mist
Strengths: shot creation & play makers, defense - prolly best defensive team
Questions: PG rotation
2 Rose
Baddies Club
Strengths: rebounding & midrange game
Questions: who’s shooting the 3?
3 Laces
Strengths: tough as hell, stretch the floor, 3x3 Olympic experience with JY0, Steph, Tip AND JY0, Tip, Kate, played for Vegas last year and KMac played in Vegas w JY0.
Questions: who will be the consistent PG? What’s the PG rotation? And who is in the paint defending?
4 Phantom
Sab & Satou
Strengths: shooters, Stretch the floor
Questions: who will play defense in 3x3 you gotta have players to guard everyone, who can do that? Who shoots the middy?
5 Vinyl
Strengths: rebounding, transitions, shot creation, Rhy & Hamby Olympic 3x3 bronze medal in 2024 olys
They gone rebound and get out
Questions: consistent shooting, and if not vs the other teams how will they score?
I do believe Vinyl will surprise us and probably end higher than I expect, potentially moving up to 3 but this is one of those have to see it play out.
6 Lunar Owls
Strengths: middy, depth at the point guard spot
Questions: besides Lish who shoots 3s? and they only 5 have healthy players
Inspired by
Be sure to tune into TNT tonight at 7 PM ET and all season long on Friday, Saturday, and Monday to check out the inaugural season of Unrivaled Basketball!