Unrivaled, the women's pro 3x3 basketball league based in Miami, Florida, officially kicked off its second season on January 5. President Alex Bazzell, who is married to co-founder and WNBA star Napheesa Collier, and Commissioner Mickey Lawler spoke to the media ahead of the league's first day of games, and Bazzell revealed that Unrivaled has plenty of big plans for the future.
First and foremost, the league has always been imagined as a Champion's League for women's basketball. For the unfamiliar, FIBA's Champion's League is an annual competition among the league's best teams, who qualify based on how they perform in their own national leagues. Unrivaled's model supports that kind of vision, and could continue to do so as the league grows and matures.
Bazzell noted that such growth could also be accomplished without being in direct competition with the WNBA, and especially salient point since the league remains locked in CBA negotiations with the players, who are represented by their union, the WNBPA. That growth is "where we feel like we can position ourselves" in the ever-expanding market, Bazzell also said.
Unrivaled's second season will include 8 teams
Unrivaled added two new teams ahead of its second season, which is part of the vision Bazzell spoke about. He noted that he was personally happy with the size of the league at present, and that the developmental pool (which is also a new part of the league in 2026) is a huge plus.
Bazzell admitted he will "never say never" to adding more teams in the future, but that "our job right now is to make sure that we keep the best product on the court we can, and not just make decisions to grow because there's money there, but making sure that the product stays where we want it to be."
Unrivaled could continue to grow at a fast pace
While Bazzell seemed focused on tempering expectations, or perhaps unwilling to put Unrivaled in a position where it could be competing directly with the WNBA even theoretically, the fact of the matter is that the league's second season is a test of its staying power in more ways than one. Unrivaled has added more teams and more players, has expanded the court and arena, and is anticipating an increase in fans in person and online.
Assuming that comes to fruition, the league could absolutely blossom into a competition on the scale Bazzell mentioned — and, depending on how the CBA negotiations play out and what all parties agree on, that growth could happen any time.