Unrivaled capped off an incredible inaugural season earlier this year that saw the Rose BC declared champions of the professional women's 3x3 league. Unrivaled's founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart have made it clear a second season is coming (and the league has already signed plenty of players to contracts, including WNBA rookie Paige Bueckers), but now that the WNBA preseason is well underway, team GMs aren't shying away from voicing their concerns about what appears to be the WNBA's compeitition.
ESPN's Kendra Andrews published a deep dive into all things Unrivaled on Tuesday, May 6, and included interviews with anonymous WNBA GMs. As one GM told Andrews, there's league-wide concern about what kind of damage the league is doing to the players' bodies, and some even think that Unrivaled could be more taxing than playing overseas.
"They were surprised by the intensity, duration and amount of practices," one person told ESPN — and Andrews noted that "multiple" GMs admitted too many injuries "could hurt our league" if it means players aren't available during the WNBA season.
Injuries impacted Unrivaled in unpredictable ways
No one can deny that injuries were certainly a concern throughout Unrivaled's three months. The league announced that the Connecticut Sun's Marina Mabrey suffered a calf injury before games even began back in January, her second injury in only a handful of months (Mabrey sprained her ankle during the Sun's playoffs game against the Lynx), and her Phantom BC teammates (Sabrina Ionescu, Natasha Cloud, Katie Lou Samuelson, Satou Sabally, and Brittney Griner) were forced to play without her.
New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who was not originally signed to Unrivaled but joined the league as a relief player for the Laces BC, also suffered an injury in March and underwent a meniscus repair on her left knee that will keep her off her feet for 5-6 months — well into the 2025 WNBA season. Laney-Hamilton only played two games in Unrivaled before she was hurt.
The Sky's Angel Reese also appeared to injure her wrist and ended up missing the championship match as a result. Reese hurt the same wrist she had previously injured while playing with the Sky, a reality that sent chills through the team's fandom. Luckily, she has appeared to recover well.
Unrivaled will see changes in 2026
The basic core of Unrivaled will remain the same next year. The league will continue on with all six clubs (the Lunar Owls, Rose, Vinyl, Mist, Laces and Phantom) but will add 6-8 players league-wide, something that might help lower the risk of injury across the board.
There are also questions about how the new WNBA CBA could impact Unrivaled. This season Unrivaled covered injured player's WNBA salaries, but that might not be feasible if salaries increase substantially, as they are expected to do.