How do Unrivaled's shot clock rules differ from WNBA? Exploring major regulation change for Breanna Stewart & Napheesa Collier's league

Hoops fans will witness history as the inaugural season of Unrivaled tips off on Friday. In many different ways, the league co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart aims to stand out and make its mark in the basketball landscape.

One of the ways Unrivaled will present a must-see product is its unique rule book. In particular, its shot clock regulations are intended to establish a quick, exciting pace that will keep spectators on the edge of their seats.

"The shot clock in Unrivaled will be set to 18 seconds, rather than the 24-second possessions in the WNBA," ESPN's Kendra Andrews wrote. "The clock will stop on made baskets only in the last 30 seconds of a period, not the last minute."

Just as the original concept of the shot clock was introduced in 1954 to speed up NBA games, the 18-second clock in Unrivaled is meant to generate up-tempo competition. Moreover, the emphasis on pace is part of the league's commitment to simulate the feel of streetball.

"This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top," Luke Cooper, Unrivaled president of basketball operations, said in Andrews' article. "There's flow. There's pace. When you are watching, it feels like you are watching basketball. ... It's not a gimmick."

Unrivaled sets rules for foul outs and winning scores

Something else to watch out for is the league's guidelines regarding players fouling out. Similar to the NBA, a player fouls out when she incurs her sixth foul. Here's the twist: Each Unrivaled roster consists of only six players. As such, if a team has already lost three players to fouling out and a fourth player picks up her sixth foul, that player gets to stay in the game.

Each additional foul that this player commits will be counted as a technical foul, resulting in a single free throw worth one point for the opposing team.

Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, who went up against each other in the 2024 WNBA Finals, are the co-founders of Unrivaled. - Source: Getty

One more thing that adds excitement to Unrivaled games is the "winning score." At the end of three quarters (each seven minutes long), both teams will play to reach the score of the leading team plus 11. For instance, if the game score after three quarters is 40-30, the first team to reach 51 points in the fourth quarter takes the W.

Once again, this particular rule of the league takes its cue from the culture of street hoops.

"When you played as a kid, no one played to 10 minutes when they were playing pickup," Cooper said. "You throw a number out there, and you played to it until someone hit a game-winner."

Because of this "winning score" provision, no overtime will be played in an Unrivaled game. This goes to show that the newest league on the block, set to tip off on Friday, has many interesting wrinkles to watch out for.