Sometime ago, Breanna Stewart And Napheesa Collier have decided to join forces to create “Unrivaled”, a women’s 3×3 league whose first season will begin in January 2025, in Miami.
The idea is to create a “second season” in the year for WNBA players, as an alternative to the European championships and to allow them to stay full-time in the United States. With a compelling argument: “the highest average salary in the history of women's professional sports leagues.”
A high average salary (around $250,000) because there will only be 30 players, spread across six teams.
Olympic (youth) medalist in 3×3
Many prestigious investors are supporting the project, such as football players Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma and actor Ashton Kutcher.
Shams Charania also announced today that Paige Bueckers will play in the league, in parallel with the WNBA, once her NCAA career is over. Returning from a torn ACL, the Connecticut point guard made a thunderous comeback with the Huskies this season, but she extended her college adventure, while she was almost guaranteed to be in the Top 3 of the WNBA Draft in 2024.
In the “Unrivaled” league, in which she also obtains shares and with which she will sign a NIL contract (a “sponsoring” contract in the university championship), she will thus find 3×3, a discipline that she knows well since she was a gold medalist at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games with the United States.
