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Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner prepares to take a foul shot against the Seattle Storm during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Brittney Griner is now the 24th player to join Unrivaled Basketball, the offseason 3-on-3 league founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
The league, which is set to tip off in January 2025, already features such WNBA players as Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Angel Reese, and Chelsea Gray, among others.
UConn star Paige Bueckers will also be part of the league after signing an NIL deal in August.
“Well, I’m never going overseas again, so I think I’m free,” Griner said jokingly in 2023- after the league was announced. “But I think it’s amazing what they’re doing. Whether I play in it or not, I’m definitely going to be around and watching and being there. So I’m gonna have to go ahead and hop on — not one-on-one though, I don’t know about that one.”
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A total of 30 players will be part of the league, which will see games played in Miami and take place during the WNBA offseason.
Unrivaled will also offer big salaries to players, with each player receiving a minimum of $100,000 for the season. The total payout for the league will be around $3 million. The six-figure salaries are likely to be the highest average in U.S. professional women’s team sports.
Unrivaled has a star-studded investor base that includes USWNT legends Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, retired NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Steve Nash, LPGA’s Michelle Wie West, UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma and actor Ashton Kutcher.
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Another perk of Unrivaled is that it does not overlap with WNBA training camps — an issue that arose with the addition of a “prioritization clause” in the latest collective bargaining agreement, which went into effect this spring. The clause, which is controversial among players, requires players to arrive to training camp on time or risk suspension for the rest of the season.
Given that the restriction can affect players who spend the offseason overseas, Stewart and Collier announced the creation of Unrivaled ahead of the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game in part to offset the new requirement. Unrivaled was originally planned to debut last January, but the ambitious goal fell short.
