On Tuesday, Unrivaled revealed that Brink will join the Lunar Owls roster, taking over one of their open wildcard roster spots. Brink, who signed a multi-year deal, will suit up in 2026. The news is a bit of a surprise because she is still rehabbing her ACL injury, which she suffered earlier this year. However, per the league, Brink will join the Owls in preseason training in January to continue working on her rehab and receive support from Unrivaled’s staff, including a trainer she is already familiar with.
Deciding to commit to Unrivaled is a huge decision, and it isn’t shocking that she sought advice from close family friend Stephen Curry. “He thinks it’s a great idea, and he knows I love the round three basketball,” Brink recently shared with Skyler Caruso of People. “It’s just a really great way to train in a different way and build up your skill, not playing five-on-five. It’s just going to be completely different, and I think it’s really going to aid people with their skills…So yeah, [Stephen Curry] thinks it’s a really cool thing.”
Unrivaled revealed its rosters on Wednesday. Thirty-four players were announced for the league’s six teams with a pair of wild-card spots still available.
Started by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the league will tip off on Jan. 17 and run for eight weeks with a championship set for mid-March.
Unrivaled reached a multiyear deal with TNT Sports in mid-October to televise its games on TNT and truTV and to stream them on Max.
Clark just completed her first season in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever. She was named Rookie of the Year.
The No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark averaged 19.2 points, a WNBA-best 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.4 minutes per game.
Along with leading the league in assists, Clark was first in 3-pointers (122) and second in minutes per game and free-throw percentage (90.6). She was seventh overall in scoring.
Her 337 assists set a WNBA single-season record, and she had a single-game record of 19 assists against the Dallas Wings in July. She also set a rookie season mark with 769 points and became the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double. Clark tallied a pair of triple-doubles in her rookie season.
With Clark, Indiana made a return to the WNBA playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season and finished 20-20.
“The fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface. I know I want to help this franchise get even better, help my teammates get even better, be better for my teammates. I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve, so that’s what excites me the most,” Clark said after being named Rookie of the Year.
The Fever fired former coach Christie Sides after the season. Indiana then hired former Fever and Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White.
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The women’s 3-on-3 basketball league will reportedly have to go forward without Clark, as ESPN’s Michael Voepel shared on Wednesday that she won’t be joining Unrivaled this time around.
While the league still has two spots open, Clark will reportedly not fill one of those vacancies. It’s not for a lack of trying, as Unrivaled reportedly made Clark a substantial offer to join and added some of her teammates and friends as participants.
Unrivaled will now kick off on Jan. 17 in Miami without Clark in tow.
Our Meghan L. Hall wrote last month about why Clark was probably not joining the league for its first season if you’re curious for possible reasoning as to why this reportedly didn’t happen. Oh well.
Women’s basketball has been having a moment over the last few years with both the WNBA and women’s college basketball taking the sports world by storm.
Come January, another new women’s league will be attempting to do the same thing.
Unrivaled is coming soon. Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart’s new 3-on-3 basketball league is filled with some of the most exciting names in the game. The star power that will be participating in the league’s inaugural season will certainly make for an intriguing watch. On Wednesday, many of those names were officially added to their teams.
So what happens next? When does the league start? How will everything go down? So many people have so many questions about what’s coming around the corner.
Don’t worry — we have answers. Here’s everything you need to know about Unrivaled.
What is Unrivaled?
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
Unrivaled is a new 3-on-3 basketball league co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
The league received outside investment from former athletes and coaches like Carmelo Anthony, Megan Rapinoe, Michelle Wie West, Steve Nash and even UConn’s Geno Auriemma.
We should probably assume that those two spots will eventually be filled by players participating in the league this winter. But, as far as who those players are, we have no idea. More on that later!
You should also know that all players included in the league are making six figure salaries from participating. Here’s more from the Associated Press:
“Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier’s 3-on-3 league Unrivaled is set to debut in January with players earning the highest average salary in women’s professional sports league history.
Collier and Stewart said that all salaries will be six figures and that players will also have an equity stake in the league.
“It’s really important to us,” Collier told The Associated Press. “Compensation is a huge part of Unrivaled as a league and a business. All the players in this first year will have equity in the league. For players to have a piece of the pie essentially to grow their generational wealth is something we’re really excited about.”
When does the league start and how long is the season?
The season will start on January 17 and is located in Miami. The games will be played in a custom facility with a capacity of 850 and will be broadcast by TNT Sports. The season will last for eight weeks, including the playoffs.
The top four teams at the end of the season will make the playoffs at the end of the regular season. Napheesa Collier also added that there will also be a 1-on-1 championship tournament to determine the best player in the world and the winner will win a $250,000 cash prize.
Sorry. I have to ask — Is Caitlin Clark playing?!?
Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
Well, we don’t know yet! Remember those two wild card slots? It’s totally possible that one of them is being left open for Caitlin Clark.
The league has been openly courting Clark for weeks. Collier has clarified that she’d be more than welcome in Unrivaled. Plus, there have been a few hints that Clark might be joining.
As recently as this week, fans speculated that Caitlin might join the new basketball league after the organization’s social media account dropped a seemingly unsuspecting hint ahead of its roster reveal. The reveal was scheduled to run from 11:00 a.m. to 11:22 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, sending fans into a frenzy. Of course, the chatter immediately started about Caitlin hopping into the fold.
But it looks like fans will have to wait to see the star. Unrivaled revealed its six-team roster, and there is no number 22 — for now. The new league shared that only 34 players will participate when the action starts in January, and the final two roster spots are open for future players to join.
Well, it sure sounds like Caitlin Clark is joining Unrivaled to us.
The Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball league is set to announce its club selections on Wednesday, and it sure seems like another big piece of news will come out around then, too.
After months of speculation, an announcement about the women’s 3-on-3 basketball league’s team rosters being made official came with a pretty big wink that Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark will be part of the competition.
The Unrivaled Basketball Club Selection will take place from 11 a.m. to 11:22 a.m. ET, which … c’mon. There is no world where the specific time 11:22 isn’t referring to Clark’s 22 number with Indiana.
Clark was reported last month to be considering a substantial offer from Unrivaled, and this sure makes it sound like she took them up on it.
We’ll know more soon enough. If this isn’t the league’s subtle way of announcing Clark’s involvement, we’re going to be really confused.
My boss told me to tell you to send this to your boss 😊 Tune in to the Club Selection presented by @StateFarm tomorrow at 11AM ET pic.twitter.com/sqSE5srLAD
Weatherspoon joins Unrivaled’s staff after being dismissed as head coach of the Chicago Sky after one season. Several other familiar basketball names are also traveling to Miami to coach, including Phil Handy (assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers) and Adam Harrington (assistant coach and director of player development for the Brooklyn Nets).
Following a reported “Messi-like” offer to Fever star Caitlin Clark, the expansion gives the league more time and room to lure in the former Hawkeye legend.
“We’re able to do this because we outperformed our financial projections, and so now we get to do something that we wanted to do in the future, which is give more people spots in Unrivaled,” league co-founder and current Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, said in a social media video.
Collier and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart developed the league to provide an alternative income option for players who might otherwise compete overseas during the WNBA’s offseason. This eight-week season will begin in January 2025 and occur during the peak of the WNBA’s offseason. Unrivaled has also promised players who join with equity options in the league.
Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
Other WNBA players joining Unrivaled include Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, and Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale. Additionally, Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin and Indiana Fever guard Lexi Hull recently committed to the league, both former Hawkeyes teammates.
Regarding the prospects of adding Clark, Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told Sportico that the league is not applying a “full-court press” but rather giving her an opportunity to relax from basketball.
“We’re always going to have a roster spot for Caitlin Clark,” Bazzell said. “We’re not applying a full-court press the way people think. We are letting her decompress from basketball. … She knows that we have a spot for her when she’s ready.”
While there has not been much commotion from Clark’s side, Unrivaled hopes that the six additional spots and the reported offer will be enough to gain her commitment.
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Caitlin Clark is reportedly considering a lofty offer from Unrivaled to join the 3-on-3 league.
Unrivaled is pushing hard for Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark to join its growing roster of players.
The women’s 3-on-3 basketball league has courted some of the biggest stars in the WNBA, but Clark has yet to commit to one of the league’s roster spots.
That could soon change according to a new report from Sports Business Journal.
SBJ‘s Tom Friend reported on Thursday that Clark and Unrivaled have had discussions on a possible deal with significant upside for the WNBA standout.
“Caitlin Clark and Unrivaled have had ‘high level conversations’ about her joining the emerging 3-on-3 basketball league, sources said today, with the offer believed to include significant equity in the business and a three-month salary of over $1M,” Friend reported.
“On a day that the league expanded its rosters from 30 to 36 players, those sources said Unrivaled has told Clark she can ‘take as long as she wants’ to decide, mindful of the grind Clark has endured over the past year as a collegiate player and rookie in the WNBA. But Unrivaled has also strategically signed two of Clark’s closest friends — Fever teammate Lexie Hull and former Iowa teammate Kate Martin — to recent contracts, and, according to sources, speculation is Clark is leaning ’60/40′ to saying ‘yes.'”
While Friend’s report alludes that nothing is set in stone, it sounds like it’s definitely possible Clark could take Unrivaled up on its offer.
“Comes down to mental health, stress or playing ball – which she loves,” a source told Friend. “She has not decided yet… there will be a spot for her if she wants it, but she will be paid for what she brings to the league, as much as a new league can afford… I think a few weeks we will know.”
Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell also told Sportico’s Eric Jackson this week there will always be a place for Clark in the league if she wants to play.
“We’re always going to have a roster spot for Caitlin Clark,” Bazzell said, via Sportico. “We’re not applying a full-court press the way people think… She knows that we have a spot for her when she’s ready.”
While it seemed for a while like Clark joining Unrivaled was a long shot, this gives new hope for the league that it could welcome her into the fold.
Per Front Office Sports, Unrivaled is preparing a “Messi-like” offer for Caitlin Clark.
With the WNBA officially in the offseason following a thrilling five-game Finals series, rumblings have begun surrounding the new Unrivaled women’s basketball league possibly presenting Caitlin Clark with an unprecedented offer to join for its inaugural season.
With Clark capturing the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award and most recently listed as the fourth-most marketable global athlete by SportsPro in London, the start-up league is reportedly poised to offer Clark a salary exceeding $1 million as well as equity and revenue sharing incentives.
Started by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the three-on-three women’s basketball league is set to begin its inaugural season in January of 2025 with six five-player teams.
Fellow stars such as Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese have announced their intentions to play in the six-team league.
In terms of compensation, Unrivaled has promised to utilize a sliding pay scale based on the individual player’s marketability. The eight-week season would not necessarily pose any interference with Clark’s preparation for her sophomore WNBA campaign.
Although Clark could spend her offseason training, enjoying leisure activities, and shooting TV commercials, Unrivaled hopes the combination of a high salary, a stake in the league, and the challenge of playing against the world’s top female players will be too enticing to ignore.
While $1 million is tiny compared to the likes of NBA players, it would be a massive uptick from Clark’s base salary of $76,535 during her rookie season with the Indiana Fever.
Clark earns most of her income through her sponsorship deals, including her eight-year, $28 million Nike contract. During and since her Hawkeye days, Clark has built an excellent corporate sponsor portfolio, including Nike, State Farm, Gatorade, Wilson, Bose, Buick, and other brands.
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