The Unrivaled Basketball League is in its second season as the newest home for women’s professional basketball in the United States, and it’s one of the biggest additions to professional women’s sports in recent memory, the other being the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
Unrivaled is a 3-on-3 basketball league founded in 2023 by current WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, both recent MVPs, as a way to provide WNBA players with an opportunity to play domestically during the WNBA’s long offseason.
Unrivaled brings a whole new layer to the game and another chance for fans to get to know the stars that are taking over the WNBA. With eight teams playing over nine weeks and the league testing out new ways to handle scoring, every game has the urgency every fan hopes for.
The 3-on-3 league setup completely changes the dynamic of the sport we’re so used to watching and allows these players’ complete skill sets to thrive. Here’s your complete guide to the Unrivaled Basketball League.
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The History of Unrivaled
Collier and Stewart founded Unrivaled in 2023 as an alternative to how many active WNBA players were forced to spend their offseasons to make additional money: heading overseas to play in professional leagues in Russia, Turkey, Spain, Australia and the EuroLeague.
Salaries for female basketballers are typically much higher in those leagues than in the U.S., where WNBA player contracts often pay a fraction of what their male counterparts in the NBA are paid.
Unrivaled’s first official season tipped off in January 2025, with Stewart being the first player to sign.
Founding and Growth
Because so many sports that we enjoy today have leagues that date back decades, Unrivaled’s founding and growth feels akin to what we might read about for a new tech startup. Collier and Stewart made connections throughout the sports and entertainment industries and secured financing from everyone from Carmelo Anthony and Geno Auriemma to Ashton Kutcher and Michelle Wie West. Top national athletes including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, Steve Nash, Dawn Staley, Michael Phelps and Coco Gauff all invested money, too.
Former ESPN President John Skipper and former Turner President David Levy took over media rights, and Collier’s husband, Alex Bazzell, a renowned basketball skills coach in his own right, serves as president. Under Armour, State Farm and Miller Lite are all league sponsors.
This is a league that has put together a wealth of experience in high-quality play and high-quality entertainment. With even more stars joining for the 2026 season, Unrivaled might start to become an actual rival to the WNBA. At the very least, the league’s success will play a huge role in the next WNBA collective bargaining agreement.
Rules and Regulations of Unrivaled
The Court
Because Unrivaled is 3-on-3, there are a couple modifications from the 5-on-5 basketball format we’re used to. Players play full court, but the court is compressed to fit the number of players: It’s 72 feet long versus 94 feet in college and the 5-on-5 pro leagues.
Game Structure
The game consists of three seven-minute periods, followed by a winning score fourth period, which uses the Elam Ending.
The Elam Ending is basically giving the game a target score. That way, time is not a factor and you’re not fouling the other team in order to stop the clock. You’re just playing until you hit a certain score. The Elam Ending is popular with hardcore basketball fans and has been tested out in other pro leagues, like the Big3, which was a men’s 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
Unrivaled features an 11-point rule which means 11 points are added to either a tie score or the team in the lead’s score at the end of the third period. So, let’s say the score is 52-48. We add 11 points to the team in the lead so the first one to 63 wins.
Shot Clock and Free Throws
In Unrivaled, the shot clock is shortened to 18 seconds, or 12 seconds on a reset.
Another big change with Unrivaled is free throws. Players get one free throw after being fouled, and they score 2 points if they’re fouled on a two-point shot, or 3 points for a three-point shot. The harsher punishment leads to more sound and less foul-prone defense.
Season Structure
The Unrivaled season includes nine weeks of play, including playoffs. Eight teams play in a round robin schedule. The top four at the regular season make the playoffs.
Unrivaled also features a one-on-one single elimination tournament after the season to determine the best one-on-one player in the world. League co-founder Napheesa Collier, who plays for the Lunar Owls, won the inaugural tournament.
Unrivaled Teams
The 2026 season returns the six inaugural clubs and the addition of two new clubs: Breeze Basketball Club and Hive Basketball Club.
The teams are:
- Breeze BC, coached by Noelle Quinn
- Hive BC, coached by Rena Wakama
- Laces BC, coached by Andrew Wade
- Lunar Owls BC, coached by DJ Sackmann
- Mist BC, coached by Zach O’Brien
- Phantom BC, coached by Roneeka Hodges
- Rose BC, coached by Nola Henry
- Vinyl BC, coached by Teresa Weatherspoon
Team Structure
The inaugural eight teams were announced in 2024, though just six began the first year. Each team has their own branding identity, but because the entire season is played in Miami, there are no geographic connections.
The rosters for each team are picked by a selection committee that bases it on the position and skill level of each player. In a 3-on-3 game, you typically want a point guard, a wing player and a big, with some fluctuation depending on the talent.
Team management consists of a head coach, an assistant coach and a team manager. Team lineups feature six or seven roster spots.
Development Player Pool
The league also has a development player pool where six reserve players. The development player pool is composed of WNBA players on rookie contracts looking for extra growth or opportunity and an additional contract. If they’re not signed to a team, these players will follow a training and practice schedule and participate in scrimmages to make themselves available for the team that will need them. They’ll eventually be paid the minimum six-figure salary any active athlete receives.
Unique Financing Structure
Unrivaled is also unique in its financing structure. Unrivaled offers the highest average player salary in U.S. women’s professional sports with a minimum 6 figure salary. The winner of the mid-season tournament will earn a $250,000 cash prize, and the league salary pool continues to grow.
Unrivaled offered the inaugural players equity in the league for at least the first year. And for the 2025 season, which takes place all in the Miami area, players could live in a Miami apartment building down the street from the main facility, which was paid for by the league.
Players in Unrivaled
Unrivaled continues to add the best women’s basketball players in the world to their league. In addition to Stewart and Collier, who founded and starred in the inaugural season, Paige Bueckers is joining for the 2026 season (Bueckers joins the Breeze, by the way).
Last July, Unrivaled announced the signing of 14 current women’s college basketball players to NIL deals as part of the “Future is Unrivaled” class of 2025. Included in that class are Juju Watkins, Azzi Fudd and Flau’jae Johnson, three of the biggest stars in women’s college basketball. They now have a professional basketball contract before they even enter the WNBA Draft.
Stars Playing in Unrivaled This Year
Unrivaled this year features some of the biggest talent in all of women’s basketball. Here are some of the league’s stars, their current Unrivaled team and the WNBA teams you might remember them from:
- Chelsea Gray – Rose BC (Las Vegas Aces)
- Paige Bueckers – Breeze BC (Dallas Wings)
- Kelsey Plum – Phantom BC (Los Angeles Sparks)
- Aliyah Boston – Phantom BC (Indiana Fever)
- Cameron Brink – Breeze BC (Los Angeles Sparks)
- Breanna Stewart – Mist BC (New York Liberty)
- Napheesa Collier – Lunar Owls (Minnesota Lynx)
- Aaliyah Edwards – Lunar Owls (Washington Mystics)
- Rhyne Howard – Vinyl BC (Atlanta Dream)
- Marina Mabrey – Lunar Owls (Connecticut Sun)
In just its second year, Unrivaled has amassed the best talent and is showcasing it in a whole new way.
How to Watch Unrivaled Basketball
Unrivaled can be watched with DIRECTV on TNT and TruTV and streamed on HBO Max. The 2026 season kicked off Friday, January 17th and ends in March.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When did Unrivaled Basketball start?
Unrivaled was founded in 2023, but the first season was held in 2025.
Who started Unrivaled Basketball?
WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart founded Unrivaled.
Why is Unrivaled 3-on-3?
Unrivaled is 3-on-3 to better showcase the players' skills and create a more dynamic and exciting game environment.
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