How Unrivaled Became a Welcome Offseason Alternative for WNBA Players Abroad

Chelsea Gray has made a habit of competing at the international level during her WNBA offseasons. For nearly a decade, the Las Vegas Aces star would pack his bags after the W season ended and fly off to compete for teams in Israel, Spain and Turkey to work on his game, travel the world and to supplement their income during the winter. .

A few years ago, away from the spotlight while performing in Türkiye, she began to wonder what was next for her career and life. She had just turned 30, had won championships and established herself as one of the best in soccer. Playing overseas every winter meant months away from some family and friends, and the risk of missing out on opportunities to build his brand.

So when she was approached two years ago by executives creating a new American women’s basketball league, Gray was intrigued and she became the first non-founding player selected for the league.

“(Unrivaled) is a game changer, being able to make money while being here, while being with our family,” she said. “It’s been really, really cool that it’s become what it is.”

Co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the new full-court modified 3×3 league has attracted many of the sport’s top players, such as Gray, who have opted out of competing foreigners this winter in the hope of establishing a new winter. home of women’s basketball. The league kicks off Friday in Miami, featuring six teams that feature some of the sport’s most notable names such as Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd and Brittney Griner.

The first 36 are unmatched 👑

Watch them on TNT, TruTV and Max all season long. pic.twitter.com/RNbSFwuXK4

– Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 16, 2025

For decades, American women’s basketball players have had to make career decisions every winter: stay home to recover, work on marketing deals and spend time with family, or spend winters abroad in Russia, China, in Turkey, Italy, Israel and Spain. Many of the world’s best have followed Gray’s routine by playing abroad.

Now, with the launch of Unrivaled, more high-profile WNBA players than ever have chosen to stay stateside during the offseason. Unrivaled’s goal isn’t to stop international leagues from signing top American players, but it’s a trend that many involved say will continue if the league is successful.

Collier, a star for the Minnesota Lynx, and Stewart, an MVP for the New York Liberty, aim to provide their colleagues with comparable competition and compensation during the offseason.

“I think overseas is still a great option,” Collier said. “We just think that shouldn’t be your only option, so we wanted to give players other things that they could do in their home (country). … We’re not trying to take away any other option than you had before. We’re trying to expand on that.

They said keeping many of the world’s best players in the United States during the WNBA offseason would help grow the sport more broadly. In articulating the idea during a discussion about Collier’s year-round basketball experience, she and her husband, Alex Bazzell, who also serves as league president, talked about wanting to maximize the player experience. Peerless leaders describe this aspect as their “North Star.”

“(We were) trying to keep women’s basketball relevant in the offseason from a professional standpoint,” Stewart said, “and be a way for people to develop their brand.”

Playing internationally significantly supplements the income of WNBA players, whose seasonal salaries range from $60,000 to nearly $250,000. Overseas contracts can sometimes double this amount, or even pay even more.

Unrivaled promises to pay players the highest average salary in the history of the American women’s sports league. Players earn an average salary of more than $200,000 for the 10-week season, and participants in the inaugural campaign also receive equity.

Unrivaled, Collier said, was founded on the principle that WNBA players “deserve compensation and ownership that reflects their worth.” They understood that player development and high-quality amenities like a sauna, cold bath and weight room were essential to generating player interest and support.

“We don’t play for anyone because we all own them,” said Unrivaled winger Rhyne Howard, who played three seasons for the Atlanta Dream. “The equity in all of this is definitely something different but also very useful in the long term.”

Despite Unrivaled’s many upsides, Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey was still grappling with her options. She had largely positive, career-changing experiences abroad while competing in Latvia, Israel, Australia, Italy and Turkey. She credits her time in Latvia in 2019 for her weight loss, more dedicated work ethic and skill development. She enjoyed the cultural experiences and work-life balance abroad.

“I learned to love myself,” she says. “I had to love myself again and my whole career changed after that.”

While some of his peers jumped at the chance to star in Unrivaled, Mabrey’s decision was more difficult. She planned to play this offseason in China and Turkey, two countries that have historically paid the WNBA’s top players well. She compared another seven-month season overseas to Unrivaled’s 10-week schedule. Travel was another consideration: Unrivaled will take place at a single location in Miami, and Mabrey wanted a break from the long flights and bus rides that can accompany international competition.

The salary was also important, but it wasn’t everything for her. She wanted to compete against top competitors, have access to the amenities and training resources offered by Unrivaled, receive equity in the league, and also support Unrivaled as a new business started by her colleagues.

“Having Unrivaled gives this opportunity to play in 3×3 and… only 10 weeks, and obviously the financial part is great,” Mabrey said. “It’s about what do I need right now?” And that’s exactly what I needed.

For other veteran players, the foreign schedule, which caused them to miss the winter break, has become a breaking point.

“Staying with our families for the holidays while being able to play with some of the best in the world: it was a no-brainer at this point in my career,” said Kayla McBride, an 11-year WNBA veteran who played abroad since his rookie season. She has built one of the most prolific careers in the EuroLeague in recent seasons with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe, but will compete for Unrivaled this winter.

Brand development was another attraction of the new league. Unrivaled has partnered with top companies (Under Armour, Samsung Galaxy, State Farm, Wilson and Sephora), and the games will be broadcast on TNT and streamed on Max. Players recognized the opportunity to form new relationships with certain sponsors.

“Different brands and partnerships (arriving) are different from the WNBA, and I hope (they continue) to expand their reach to other players,” Stewart said.

Additionally, by remaining in the United States, players can still make appearances as sponsors and maintain broader relevance. Goalie Natasha Cloud said players usually go abroad and it’s “breakdown season”. But now?

“I get to be here and make marketing deals and compete with other women who are the best in the league,” said standout great Satou Sabally, who spent her first five seasons in the WNBA with the Dallas Wings.

Stewart traveled to Istanbul for a partial season with Fenerbahçe in 2022. (She did not compete last season largely for family reasons.) She said it was likely the last time she played professionally abroad.

“I think the door overseas is a little bit closed (for me),” said Stewart, who played more than half a decade for top clubs in China, Turkey and Russia. “Especially with the way we set things up. What we do here is really very special. I think there are so many things I like about it, but the fact that we have the best players here, that was the thing that was missing when we played abroad.

Not all of the best players in the WNBA are in Unrivaled. Three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark are among the league’s notable absences, choosing to step away from formal competition while training privately.

The international leagues still attracted some of the WNBA’s best players who likely would have been offered spots on unrivaled teams. Kamilla Cardoso and Kelsey Mitchell, for example, are playing in China, while Tina Charles, Ariel Atkins and Natasha Howard are in Türkiye. But of last year’s 24 WNBA All-Stars, only three are expected to play overseas this winter. (Jonquel Jones said in October that she planned to play in China this offseason, but she has yet to make her debut. Mitchell is in China while Brionna Jones is playing in Prague.)

Given Unrivaled’s schedule, it is possible that in future seasons the league’s players could still compete internationally in the fall (or even in the final weeks of EuroLeague competition in late March and April before the start of WNBA training camps). But even if some of Unrivaled’s original 36 play overseas again, the number of WNBA stars choosing to do so seems likely to dwindle if the league prospers.

Collier had two spells with Fenerbahçe last season, and while she has not officially ruled out a return to an international club, she said it would be “very difficult” for her to do so due to family reasons. (Collier’s daughter turns 3 in May.) Aliyah Boston, who will be in her third season with the Fever this spring, said that as a self-described homebody, she recognized years ago that she wanted spending her offseason in the United States, not playing in time zones different from those she is closest to. Unsurprisingly, she’s excited about the present and future of Unrivaled — a future that she believes will feature a next generation of women’s basketball stars.

“People not only dream of being in the W, but they think that now I want to be one of the best players to get into Unrivaled (too),” Boston said.

Of course, the players have not yet recorded all-time statistics, and the first game, let alone the first season, is not yet over. Still, those involved are optimistic about how Unrivaled could improve offseason routines.

“In five years,” Reese said, “this thing will be bigger than ever.”

(Illustration: Will Tullos / Athletics; Photos: Courtesy of Unrivaled)