Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Stewart and Collier are former teammates, current WNBA Finals opponents — and Unrivaled Basketball League co-founders.
Breanna Stewart really, really wanted for a technical foul to be called. With her college coach, Geno Auriemma, sitting courtside, the two-time MVP repeatedly motioned for the referees to reprimand her opponent in the waning minutes of the the New York Liberty’s Game 2 win. It just so happened to be that her opponent was Napheesa Collier, a fellow University of Connecticut alumni who also doubles as her business partner.
Right now, Stewart and Collier are fierce competitors. But, when the WNBA Finals are complete in less than a week, the duo will go back to working on their ecosystem-altering business venture: Unrivaled Basketball League.
Unrivaled is a professional 3×3 basketball league for 30 of the WNBA’s top players to partake, set to begin in January in Miami. With its inception, Collier and Stewart aim to provide an alternative for elite players who want to go overseas, and promises to offer all inaugural players an equity stake and a minimum salary of $100,000. The average salary is slated to be significantly higher.
Collier and Stewart headline the star-studded cast, but the full list includes dozens of All-Stars and Olympians. 25 players have already publicly committed, with five more set to be announced over the coming weeks. The league will have six teams made up of five players each, and 3×3 games will be played on a compressed half-court.
The current list of committed players includes Allisha Gray (Dream), Angel Reese (Sky), Arike Ogunbowale (Wings), Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Brittney Sykes (Mystics), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Aces), Courtney Vandersloot (Liberty), Courtney Williams (Lynx) Dearica Hamby (Sparks), DiJonai Carrington (Sun), Jackie Young (Aces), Jewell Loyd (Storm), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Kelsey Plum (Aces), Marina Mabrey (Sun), Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Natasha Cloud (Mercury), Rhyne Howard (Dream), Rickea Jackson (Sparks), Satou Sabally (Wings), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Storm), Shakira Austin (Mystics), and Tiffany Hayes (Aces). As it currently stands, players from every team except for the Indiana Fever are represented
Of note, both A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark — two of the biggest names in the game — confirmed that they wouldn’t be participating. Those announcements could have hindered some of the momentum Unrivaled has built, and certainly, both Wilson (a three-time MVP) and Clark (a nearly-unanimous Rookie of the Year pick) would have added to the growing buzz.
But, the fact that five players featured in this year’s Finals are committed to playing in Unrivaled — Stewart, Collier, Vandersloot, McBride, and Williams — should help build momentum for the new endeavor. Sabrina Ionescu could also be in the mix for one of the final five spots, though she hasn’t yet shared her offseason plans. Every few days, Unrivaled has revealed another participant on social media in an effort to build more energy around the launch.
Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart couldn’t have scripted this Finals match-up any better. Collier and Stewart are leaders of their respective WNBA Finals teams, and their fiery back-and-forth is the perfect prologue to an Unrivaled season that will seek to capitalize on the increased attention on the WNBA this season. The only downside is that Unrivaled isn’t something ESPN has acknowledged on the broadcast — presumably because it doesn’t have the league’s media rights (where games will be streamed has yet to be announced).
Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, which was headlined by the Stewart and Collier, ranked as the most-watched Game 1 in WNBA Finals history. Stewart is averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds through two Finals games, while Collier is averaging 18.5 points and 8 rebounds. Stewart has long been a household name, but Collier is a player many more casual basketball fans might not have been as intimately familiar with. This series has given them an opportunity to get to know her brilliance on both ends of the floor.
The series has also featured standout performances by Courtney Williams, who’s four-point play with 5.5 seconds left in Game 1 was heard around the world. Kayla McBride, who scored 22 points in Game 1 and has been one of the best shooters this year, is fittingly joining her teammates in Miami, as is Courtney Vandersloot, who has provided a boost off the bench for New York.
For viewers at home who are captivated by this Finals series, the good news is that they’ll get to watch at least five key players again in January. And for Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the Liberty and Lynx both making the Finals couldn’t have been a better precursor to Unrivaled.
