Friday will mark the beginning of a new adventure for professional women’s basketball as some of the WNBA‘s top players tip off the inaugural season of Unrivaled at Wayfair Arena in Miami.
Founded by WNBA All-Stars, Olympic gold medalists and former UConn teammates Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled is a new 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league that features six teams with six players each going head-to-head for a shot at the inaugural title and cash awards.
The season runs from January 17 to March 17 with games played mostly on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays. There will be two games a night, and former WNBA star and basketball analyst Candace Parker will anchor a studio show during the broadcasts.
Who’s playing?
Unrivaled will feature 36 of the top professional players in women’s basketball. Here are the full team rosters:
- Lunar Owls: Shakira Austin, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Courtney Williams, Cameron Brink (IR), Collier
- Phantom: Natasha Cloud, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Marina Mabrey, Satou Sabally, Katie Lou Samuelson
- Vinyl: Aliyah Boston, Rae Burrell, Jordin Canada, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, Arike Ogunbowale
- Mist: DiJonai Carrington, Aaliyah Edwards, Rickea Jackson, Jewell Loyd, Courtney Vandersloot, Stewart
- Laces: Stefanie Dolson, Tiffany Hayes, Kate Martin, Kayla McBride, Alyssa Thomas, Jackie Young
- Rose: Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Lexie Hull, Angel Reese , Azurá Stevens, Brittney Sykes
How does it work?
The six teams in the league — the Laces, Mist, Rose, Lunar Owls, Phantom and Vinyl — will play games in a new 850-seat arena on a compressed full-court (70X50 feet). A WNBA court is 22 feet longer.
There will be three seven-minute quarters and a fourth quarter that isn’t timed. Teams will play to a “winning score,” which will be determined by adding 11 points to the squad that’s leading after three quarters. For example: If Team X is leading 60-55 after three quarters, the first team to 71 would win the game.
“Every game, we will have a game-winning shot,” Alex Bazzell, president of Unrivaled, said. “That was important for us because coming out of the third quarter, there’s no mystery of what you need to do.”
There will only be one free throw taken when players commit shooting fouls with the value of it equal to the shot. That means if a player is fouled shooting a 3-pointer, a made free throw will count for three points. A free throw after being fouled on a two-point attempt is worth two points and any…
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