Alex Bazzell has a vision for Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league beginning its second season on Monday, Jan. 5, in Miami, Florida.
“What we want to build this into is the Champions League of women’s basketball,” said Bazzell, the president of Unrivaled. “And that’s not a competition towards the WNBA. It’s just where we feel like we can kind of position ourselves in the market.”
Comparing the fledgling 3-on-3 basketball league to arguably the most popular in worldwide soccer isn’t exactly apples to apples, but Unrivaled will be home to most of the best players in women’s basketball. The 54 players on eight teams feature former WNBA MVPs like Breanna Stewart, Olympians like Kelsey Plum, former collegiate national champs like Aliyah Boston and rising stars like Dominique Malonga.
As Unrivaled starts its second season, money is flowing into the league. Games will once again be broadcast by TNT Sports, airing on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. Big name sponsors, including Sephora, Maker’s Mark, Samsung and Cheez-It, have signed on.
Bazzell is confident in the league’s long-term outlook and believes this is just the beginning of a long and successful venture.
“We’re still in inning one or two of what women’s basketball is inevitably going to become,” said Bazzell, who is married to Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier. “My strong belief is, once people remove the women’s sports blinders and start looking at it relative to what’s going on in the ecosystem in terms of the data, it points to that right now. So we are very bullish on not just where we are today, but where we’re going tomorrow.”
Paige Bueckers headlines new stars in Unrivaled
Paige Bueckers, a former national champion at UConn and the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year for the Dallas Wings, enters Unrivaled this season with Breeze. She’ll play alongside Cameron Brink, Rickea Jackson, Kate Martin, Aari McDonald and Malonga.
“She’s been really ahead of her time, not just on the court, but off the court, her maturity level,” Bazzell said. “You know, Paige is a superstar, and Paige is someone that raises the level of everyone else, and I think that’s what’s really important.”
Bueckers is no stranger to the 3-on-3 game, having featured for the U.S. national team in a pair of international tournaments in 2019.
How WNBA CBA negotiations could impact Unrivaled
Unrivaled begins its second season during a tumultuous time in the landscape of women’s professional basketball.
The WNBA is locked into tense negotiations with its players over a new collective bargaining agreement. The vice presidents of the WNBA Player’s Association, Stewart and Collier, also happen to be the founders of Unrivaled — which has consistently insisted it is not in competition with the WNBA. Still, Unrivaled offers better compensation than the WNBA with six-figure salaries and equity in the league for its players. Those are two things WNBA players are now trying to negotiate for in the CBA.
During a press conference Monday morning, Bazzell was asked about the WNBA potentially seeking exclusivity for its players during these CBA negotiations — essentially forbidding them from playing in other leagues — and how that could impact Unrivaled.
“We don’t believe that future is near,” Bazzell said. “These are all business decisions — playing in the WNBA, playing overseas, playing with us. We continue to really be adamant that we’re providing the best spot for all the best players, and as long as we do that, inevitably, it’s going to solve some of the problems that really aren’t in our control, right?”
Bazzell added: “We’re not in constant dialog of (partnering with the WNBA). You know, I don’t want to speak too much of what’s going on behind the scenes, but as I’ve made very clear, we’re open to growing the ecosystem.”
Development team aims to ease roster management
One new feature for Unrivaled this season is a six player development pool that teams can sign from as injuries occur. The players will remain on site in Miami through the duration of the season and will be available through a waiver system if a team drops below five players due to injuries or absences.
The players making up the development pool this season include Hailey Van Lith, Aziaha James, Haley Jones, Emily Engstler, Laeticia Amihere and Makayla Timpson. They’ll practice and scrimmage and could play for multiple teams throughout the season.
“I’m proud of the decision that we made to build that pool, because I think it takes pressure off the league,” Bazzell said. “It takes pressure off the players, you know, if they feel like they’re injured, not having to put themselves in a spot that may risk further injury, but knowing that there’s other great players ready on standby, if that were to happen.”