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Former Stanford Cardinal Cameron Brink had to miss the inaugural season of Unrivaled due to an ACL injury that kept her out until late July. That injury last season also hurt the Sparks chances in the WNBA season, and saw Los Angeles finish with the worst record in the league in 2024 at 8-32.
With Paige Bueckers of UConn expected to go first overall (she did), there was a period of time when it looked like the Sparks could end up with both Brink and Bueckers on the same squad. The Dallas Wings ended up winning the draft lottery and getting their superstar to build around in Bueckers, while the Sparks traded the No. 2 overall pick to the Seattle Storm, who drafted Dominique Malonga of France.
Last night, Unrivaled unveiled their rosters for the upcoming season—which included two brand new teams in the Breeze and the Hive.
The roster for the Breeze is stacked with young talent, including Bueckers, Brink, Malonga, and Sparks teammate Rickea Jackson. Joining them will be Golden State Valkyries breakout star Kate Martin, and Indiana Fever guard Aari McDonald.
While this league is 3-on-3, this roster will present some looks at what could have been for the Los Angeles Sparks if they had won the lottery this year, or if they had held onto their second overall pick.
In addition to the ‘what if’ scenario taking over the Breeze, Lexie Hull will be returning to Rose BC for a second season as another Stanford representative in the league.
Azurá Stevens, Chelsea Gray and Kahleah Copper are all back with Rose as well, while Shakira Austin transfers over from the best team in the league last season, the Lunar Owls.
Rose BC will also be home to first-time Unrivaled player Sug Sutton, who has spent the past two WNBA seasons with the Washington Mystics.
It helps when your WNBA teammate (Napheesa Collier) is also one of the co-founders of the league, which is presumably how Alanna Smith let it be know that she’d like to play basketball and check out some coffee shops in Miami next January.
Smith will be joining the Mist, which is anchored by the other co-founder of the league, Breanna Stewart. Arike Ogunbowale is headed over from Vinyl, and Allisha Gray comes over from the Lunar Owls, while Unrivaled newcomers Veronica Burton and Li Yueru round out the Mist roster.
One-time Cardinal Kiki Iriafen will also be making her Unrivaled debut on a loaded Phantom squad. On this team will be Kelsey Plum, the Sparks teammate of Brink and Jackson, who is also making her Unrivaled debut in 2026.
2023 first overall pick by the Indiana Fever, Aliyah Boston, is also on this roster, transferring over from Vinyl. WNBA champion Dana Evans will also be on the roster after battling Boston in the Finals. The two returning stars for the Phantom are Satou Sabally and Natasha Cloud.
The Phantom ended up going 4-10 last season and were the worst team in the six-team league, ultimately being outscored by 140 points. This roster would appear to be in better shape than the one from a year ago.
The season will tip-off on January 5.
