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While Unrivaled has kept professional women’s basketball going in the United States, it’s a 3×3 league and not the traditional 5×5 game fans are accustomed to.
But with Athletes Unlimited starting its 2026 season on Wednesday, Feb. 4, we get 5×5 women’s pro basketball back, with an opportunity watch even more WNBA players work on their game.
How the AU format keeps the action fresh
AU has been around since 2021 and features 40 athletes. Similar to Unrivaled, all the action will take place in one location. While Unrivaled resides in Miami, AU, for the second-consecutive season, will play at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN for four weeks.
It’s 5×5 basketball, but the way teams are built and how the games are scored are far from traditional.
The first thing to know is that teams change weekly. Teams are redrafted each week on Mondays at 1 p.m. ET, and all active players on the roster will be on one of the four teams. Each week, four captains will draft their new teams. Captains will have the ultimate authority over the team’s lineups, in-game decisions and practice plans.
Last season, AU changed how captains are decided, and they are sticking will those adjustments for the 2026 season. Here’s how AU outlines the selection process on their website:
For the first week of play, Bria Hartley, NaLyssa Smith, Lexie Brown and Alysha Clark are the captains.
The Week One teams, with teams now identified with teams names rather than colors, are:
How to players earn points in AU
AU scores things very differently.
Individual players earn points when their team wins a game or quarter, when they make a positive play and if players and fans vote on them as one of the top three MVPs of a game. Players can also lose points for a negative play.
Here is a breakdown of how scoring works:
If a game heads to overtime, the teams will play for five additional minutes. If the game remains tied, teams will play to seven points. In OT, no additional team or individual points are earned.
AU has tons of players to watch
The AU roster is 40 deep and filled with top talent. However, it will be fun to keep a close eye on these three players.
An AU original, Brown is the chair of the AU Pro Basketball Player Executive Committee and will be playing this season once again, serving as the Week One captain of the Rhythm. An eight-year WNBA veteran who played for the Seattle Storm last season, she has shot 35 percent from deep as a pro.
The WNBA’s career leader in rebounds and field goals, Charles is bringing her talents to AU for the first time, the first pick for the Glow in the Week One draft. Typically, she spends her offseason overseas, but now she’ll be a dominant big in the AU. Charles averaged 16.3 points across 43 games for the Connecticut Sun last season.
AU also gives young players a chance to play more than they did in the WNBA.
This is true for Barker, who, as a rookie, averaged just 14.1 minutes per game for the Los Angeles Sparks. With AU, starting out for the Gold Rush in Week One, she’ll have a chance to play more and prepare for the WNBA’s projected start of May.
Watching the AU is pretty simple for fans.
All 24 games of the 2026 season will be available to fans for free through the WNBA App or through ESPN+. Sheryl Swoopes and Cindy Brunson return as the lead commentators, with Sydney Colson, a founding AU athlete who is still recovering from an ACL injury, highlighting the list of other analysts and personalities who also will be featured on broadcasts.
Here’s the Week One schedule:
