rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
WNBA star and Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier posted on Wednesday photos of the Unrivaled league’s team-up with Boardroom, a sports, media, and entertainment company co-founded by NBA star Kevin Durant.
Collier’s Instagram post featured six photos, including a couple of solo shots. Pictures of the Minnesota Lynx star with Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart were also included, as well as photos with fellow WNBA stars in their Unrivaled jerseys.
“Boardroom x Unrivaled 🤩,” Collier wrote in the caption.
Several personalities commented on the post, including Collier’s husband and Unrivaled president, Alex Bazzell, and Dallas Wings star Satou Sabally.
“🔥🔥🔥,” Bazzel posted.
“Preeeezzz,” Sabally wrote.
“Trailblazer 👑,” Unrivaled’s Instagram account posted.
Other reactions were from Sabally’s teammate in Phantom BC, Katie Lou Samuelson and Rose BC’s Lexie Hull. Phantom BC head coach Adam Harrington also commented, as well as five-time WNBA champion and current Lynx assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson.
“Spectacular 🔥,” Samuelson commented.
“❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️,” Harrington posted.
“Sheeeeeeeesh 🔥,” Hull remarked.
Unrivaled’s partnership with Boardroom is a welcome addition to the platform of the inaugural 3-on-3 league. According to its website, Boardroom is focused on the “intersection of sports and entertainment.” Durant, a two-time NBA champion, founded the brand alongside entrepreneur Rick Kleiman in 2019.
Napheesa Collier’s husband, Alex Bazzell, shares Kevin Durant’s post praising Unrivaled
On Monday, Alex Bazzell, the Unrivaled president and husband of Napheesa Collier, shared Bleacher Report’s post on Kevin Durant’s tweet following the opening night of Unrivaled.
Bazzell shared the post on his Instagram story. He mentioned Durant’s account and added a “handshake” emoji.
In the tweet posted, the 14-time NBA All-Star was seemingly impressed with the 3-on-3 concept of the inaugural league. Durant added that it was a welcome sight to see women’s basketball in the winter months.
“I love the concept of @Unrivaledwbb … it’s great see our pros hoopin on tv during the winter months…” Durant wrote on X.
The support of Durant, a one-time NBA MVP, is influential to the popularity of Unrivaled. On Tuesday, TNT, which holds the media rights to Unrivaled, reported the viewership and engagement across its platforms.
According to the network, the first night of Unrivaled games was well-received as the inaugural game between Collier’s Lunar Owls and Breanna Stewart’s Mist drew 313,000 viewers. The second game between Angel Reese-led Rose BC and Vinyl BC had an average of 311,000 viewers.
The viewership peaked at 364,000 and catapulted the two games as the most-watched women’s basketball games on TNT.
Despite these solid numbers, these are way below the viewership number generated by Caitlin Clark’s 2024 WNBA regular season games. Clark’s games with the Indiana Fever averaged 1.19 million fans, per Front Office Sports. That number even rose during the playoffs.
“We don’t expect to go get the same numbers the WNBA does,” Bazzell told Front Office Sports before Unrivaled’s debut. “We’re just trying to deliver a great product, which I know we can do.”
Read more: Unrivaled opening night doubleheader draws same viewership as Caitlin Clark-less WNBA regular season game: Reports
Quick Links
More from Sportskeeda
Edited by Debasish
