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Fresh off leading her team to the WNBA Finals, Napheesa Collier is preparing to launch a new women's basketball league. About two months before the inaugural season of "Unrivaled," the Minnesota Lynx star made a big announcement.
Unrivaled, founded by Collier and Breanna Stewart, is a professional 3-on-3 women's basketball league. The first season will tip off in Miami on Jan. 2025.
Originally, Unrivaled was only going to have 30 players. However, it appears they are already expanding. In a video posted on the league's social media account on Thursday, Collier announced that the number of participants will now be 36. They've been able to increase the number due to outperforming their original financial goals and projections.
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Unrivaled early success is just the latest positive development in what has been an impressive year for Collier. After averaging 20.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals, she finished runner-up for MVP and took home Defensive Player of the Year. Collier also competed for Team USA in the Paris Olympics and secured the second gold medal of her career.
With more roster spots opening up, Unrivaled now has more announcements to make regarding participants. Among those already set to play include Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Angel Reese.
Napheesa Collier working hard to help promote Unrivaled
As one of the league's founders, Napheesa Collier has many duties, such as helping promote Unrivaled.
Prior to their roster expansion, Collier re-shared a post revealing the team names for Unrivaled. Here is the full list:
- Laces Basketball Club
- Mist Basketball Club
- Phantom Basketball Club
- Lunar Owls Basketball Club
- Rose Basketball Club
- Vinyl Basketball Club
Even though it is a brand new league, Unrivaled has already secured a TV deal with a major network. TNT will be the primary broadcast provider for the first season, airing games on TNT and TruTV and streaming games on Max. After this deal became official, Collier shared her excitement about partnering with the network.
Stewart and Collier started this league to change the landscape of women's basketball. One of their main standout factors is offering some of the highest salaries in women's sports. Along with playing in the league, all competitors will hold a small piece of equity.
Starting in January, the six teams will play in a round-robin tournament spanning over eight weeks. The top four teams will make the playoffs and compete for the championship.
