Following the end of her rookie season with the Chicago Sky, Kamilla Cardoso returned to her native Brazil to reunite with her family and recover from the season. Cardoso’s 2024 had been a non-stop whirlwind: she was a key contributor to South Carolina’s undefeated streak and led the Gamecocks to another national title. About a week later, Cardoso was in New York, being drafted by the Sky and, soon thereafter, she’d head to training camp. An injury during the preseason would delay the start to her professional career but, once she stepped on the floor, she delivered, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Team. It had been an incredible 2024 for Cardoso and she earned every bit of the rest that awaited her in Brazil.
But that rest didn’t last long. Cardoso was home for less than a month before she hopped on a plane to China where she’s spending her off-season playing with the Shanghai Swordfish in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association. Cardoso’s path isn’t unusual. For years, WNBA players have ventured overseas in the off-season, looking to both hone their craft and to supplement their WNBA salaries. Doing so has always come at a personal cost to players — none greater than the 2022 detainment of Brittney Griner — but for so many players, it’s been a necessity: a way to maximize their earning potential.
But maybe that’s starting to change.
In 2022, Athletes Unlimited launched its women’s basketball league, which gave 44 players — including current, former, and prospective WNBA players — the opportunity to spend their offseason stateside. Starting this weekend, WNBA players will have a second option to compete domestically during the offseason with Unrivaled.
Founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, Unrivaled is a new 3v3 league that features 36 WNBA players across six basketball clubs. The league will run for nine weeks (January 17 – March 17), starting alongside NCAA conference play, and finish just before the NCAA tournament kicks off in mid-March.
Collier and Stewart have leveraged the explosion of interest in women’s basketball to make Unrivaled into one of the well-funded women’s sports start-ups in history. Early partnerships and investment from former ESPN President John Skipper and former Turner Broadcasting President David Levy helped the new league secure a media rights deal with TNT worth an estimated $100 Million over six years. The pair exceeded fundraising projections, including investments from women’s sports luminaries like CoCo Gauff, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Dawn Staley.
Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart are breaking new ground in women’s basketball with the launch of Unrivaled.
The trailblazing 3v3 league has quickly turned heads by attracting elite talent to fill the rosters of its six inaugural teams. Beyond the star-studded… pic.twitter.com/aep0TdNIrN— Boardroom (@boardroom) January 16, 2025
But even as more partners signed on — Ally Financial, State Farm, Under Armour, etc. — Collier and Stewart have kept the focus on the players. Above all else, Unrivaled is a league for players and by players. It is providing elite facilities, including a state-of-the-art weight room, a glamour room, and content creation space. The players have access to an on-site chef and are provided two-bedroom apartments and a rental car for the duration of their stay. And, of course, the league offers players the highest average salary American women’s professional sports, plus equity in the league.
“This is what women deserve, waking up every day and just not having to worry about anything,” WNBA rookie sensation, Angel Reese, noted during her Unrivaled media availability. “I come in here. I get breakfast. I get treatment. I can come in and get in the gym anytime…I just have everything here that I need, and everybody has everything here we need.”
Perennial WNBA All-Star (and free agent) Alyssa Thomas concurred, “The whole thing is impressive. They have top-of-the-line everything. Treating us the way we are supposed to be treated.”
Before the first game has even tipped, Unrivaled is setting a new standard for players’ expectations just in time for WNBA free agency and the start of Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations.
How Does Unrivaled Work?
So, first things first: if you’re coming to Unrivaled thinking that you understand how it’ll work because you watched the 3×3 competitions at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, think again. Aside from the fact that there are three players on the floor at once in both formats, the two are vastly different games.
In Unrivaled, six basketball clubs — the Laces, Lunar Owls, Mist, Phantom, Rose, and Vinyl — will compete with a six-person roster (unlike the Olympics’ version which features just four players). Players were drafted to their respective teams by a selection committee, according to their position and skill, back in November. Those rosters were subsequently paired with a coach with a background in player development. Games will be played on a full-court that’s bigger than the half-court utilized by the Olympics but smaller than the full-court used by the WNBA.
Games will have three seven-minute quarters. The fourth quarter isn’t really a quarter at all; instead, it’s a race to get to the “winning score.” If, for example, the score of the game, after three quarters, is 48-43, the “winning score” becomes the higher score, plus eleven points. So, for that particular game, the first team to 59 points would be the winner.
Like its Olympic counterpart, the goal of Unrivaled 3v3 basketball is to play with pace. To that end, games will use an 18-second shot clock. The clock will only stop on made baskets in the last 30 seconds of a period. Also? If a player is fouled, they get just one foul shot…but if they were fouled on a missed two-point shot, that foul shot counts for two, and if they were fouled on a missed three, the foul shot counts for three. If a player gets the hoop and the harm, the foul shot only counts for one point.
Unrivaled’s inaugural season will run for nine weeks. The six clubs will play each other in a round-robin format, with the top-four teams advancing to the single-elimination playoffs. Mid-season (February 10-14), Unrivaled players will participate in a 1-on-1 tournament to crown the best individual player in the game. The winner of that tournament will take home quite the Valentine’s Day gift: $250,000 for themselves and an additional $10,000 for each of their 3v3 teammates.
Who All’s Gay Here in the Unrivaled Basketball League?
LACES BASKETBALL CLUB
“Big Mama Stef” Stefanie Dolson
Kate “Money” Martin
Alyssa “AT” Thomas
Tiffany “Tip” Hayes
Kayla “McBuckets” McBride
LUNAR OWLS BASKETBALL CLUB
Courtney Williams
MIST BASKETBALL CLUB
Dijonai Carrington
Jewell “Gold Mamba” Loyd
Breanna “Stewie” Stewart
Courtney “CVS” Vandersloot
PHANTOM BASKETBALL CLUB
Natasha “Tash” Cloud
Brittney “BG” Griner
ROSE BASKETBALL CLUB
Kahleah “KFC” Copper
Chelsea “Da Point Gawd” Gray
Brittany “Slim” Sykes
VINYL BASKETBALL CLUB
Arike Ogunbowale
Jordin Canada
Where Do I Watch the Unrivaled League?
Unrivaled games will take place on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Ticket sales aren’t a huge priority for Unrivaled but there are a limited number of seats available for each game, if you’re in the Miami area. Otherwise, you can take in all the game from the comforts of home. Monday and Friday night games will air on TNT while Saturday games will be shown on TruTV. All games will also be available for streaming on Max. And, in case you needed another reason to watch: the studio show will feature queer basketball stars, Candace Parker and Renee Montgomery.
WEEK ONE SCHEDULE
1/17 – Mist vs. Lunar Owls – 7 PM (TNT/Max)
1/17 – Rose vs. Vinyl – 8 PM (TNT/Max)
1/18 – Phantom vs. Laces – 2 PM (TruTV/Max)
1/18 – Lunar Owls vs. Rose – 3 PM (TruTV/Max)
1/20 – Vinyl vs. Phantom – 8:30 PM (TNT/Max)
1/20 – Laces vs. Mist – 9:30 PM (TNT/Max)
If you’re interested in watching the game with other women’s basketball fans, Unrivaled has teamed up with sports bars across the country for watch parties. The participating bars: The Sports Bra (Portland, OR), Watch Me! Sports Bar (Long Beach, CA), Whiskey Girl Tavern (Chicago, IL), A Bar of Their Own (Minneapolis, MN), The 99ers Sports Bar (Denver, CO), Blue Haven South (New York, NY) and Grails (Miami, FL).
can’t wait!!! hopefully some of these w free agents get some chemistry tests with players they might wanna team up with later.