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Unrivaled co-founder and Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier has been busy preparing for the inaugural season of the 3-on-3 league. Collier recently shared some photos of Lunar Owls BC workouts, with her husband Alex Bazzell dropping a reaction.
In a post on Instagram, Collier shared images with several of her teammates like Courtney Williams, Cameron Brink, and Shakira Austin in the background. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Allisha Gray are also part of the six-woman roster.
“Workin,” Collier wrote in the caption.
Several people commented on Napheesa Collier’s post, including her husband Alex Bazzell, who also serves as president of Unrivaled. Bazzell dropped a heart emoji, showing his love for the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The couple has been together since Collier was a star for the UConn Huskies. Alex Bazzell was a well-known trainer, with some of his clients being NBA and WNBA players. He has worked with Carmelo Anthony, Trae Young, Kyrie Irving, and Candace Parker.
Bazzell and Collier have a daughter named Mila, who has stolen the hearts of players and fans in the WNBA.
The couple has been busy preparing for Unrivaled’s inaugural season scheduled to start on Jan. 17 in Miami, Florida. Speaking to SB Nation last month, Bazzell explained why Unrivaled is paying its players more than the average salary of a WNBA player. The league has a salary pool of around $8 million plus equity and revenue share for all 36 players as part of their deals.
“We are really changing the outlook of the ecosystem holistically,” Bazzell said. “You’re seeing more leagues bumping up their pay because that’s where the space is now.
“We’re proud to play a part in that growth of just the economics of these players being paid a lot of money to play basketball. That’s where we want to get to. It’s great to have brand deals, it’s great to have all this off-court stuff, but at the end of the day, we want to be able to pay them high salaries on the court.”
Napheesa Collier is still not over the WNBA Finals loss
The Minnesota Lynx were so close to winning the 2024 WNBA Championship against the New York Liberty. However, the Lynx fell short in Game 5 overtime. The series was heavily discussed on social media, as there were some controversial calls that might have affected the outcome.
In an interview with GQ Magazine, Napheesa Collier admitted that she’s still not over losing the WNBA Finals. Collier is not happy with the league’s referees; not just for their five-game series, but also for the entire season, and wants officiating to improve heading into the 2025 season.
“I’m definitely still not over it,” Collier said. “This specific situation just feels different for me because I feel like it was, I don’t know if avoidable is the right word, but we’ve been complaining about refereeing for the entire year.
“It just feels so preventable. The entire series was horrible. The entire season was horrible.”
It will be interesting to see how the WNBA will improve refereeing when more and more players of Collier’s stature complain about them.
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Edited by Ruth John S
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