{"id":254781,"date":"2025-11-01T15:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T15:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/254781\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T15:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T15:08:08","slug":"mercury-trio-gearing-up-for-unrivaled-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/254781\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercury Trio Gearing Up For Unrivaled Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_hcv0j0v9r\">Unrivaled is a relatively new league, and after a successful first season, it will return at the start of a new year. The Unrivaled league was established by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. It serves as an alternative to playing internationally for WNBA players, and so far, there have been some big names attached to the league. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_hvz1txh8o\">Players like Angel Reese, Aliyah Boston, Arike Ogunbowale and others played last year, and there were some Phoenix Mercury players in the mix as well. There will be Mercury players once again, as some of their stars are preparing to play in Unrivaled&#8217;s second season. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Coppe\" title=\"Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Coppe\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mercury guard Kahleah Copper (2) and forward Alyssa Thomas (25) cheer on their teammates in the final minutes of their 80-63 win against the New York Liberty at PHX Arena, Aug. 30, 2025, in Phoenix. \/ Joe Rondone\/The Republic \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_iuofg9rjk\">Alyssa Thomas will be playing again, and last season, she was on a team with players like Jackie Young, Kate Martin and others. Satou Sabally will be playing, and last season, she played on a team with Natasha Cloud and Brittney Griner. Both Cloud and Griner are former Mercury players, and they will be playing again in the second season. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_law7qjupe\"><a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/wnba\/mercury\/phoenix-dallas-wings-kahleah-copper\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kahleah Copper <\/a>will be playing again, and last year, her team, Rose BC, featured players like Reese and Chelsea Gray. That team won it all last year, as they beat Vinyl BC 62-54. That team had Boston, Ogunbowale, Rhyne Howard and others. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"Kahleah Coppe\" title=\"Kahleah Coppe\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Oct 10, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper (2) looks on against the Las Vegas Aces during the first half of game four of the 2025 WNBA Finals at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images \/ Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_9rhva3ypr\">Outside of the Mercury&#8217;s trio, as well as Cloud and Griner, there are a few more players who have ties to Phoenix. Courtney Williams will be playing again, and she started he career with the Mercury. They had the eighth pick of the 2016 WNBA Draft, and they used it to select Williams. She played six games with them before they traded her to the Connecticut Sun. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_p1w96xro9\">Sug Sutton will be playing, and she spent time with the Mercury a few years ago. She became the first player in Mercury history <a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/wnba\/mercury\/phoenix-alyssa-thomas-satou-sabally-kahleah-copper-nate-tibbetts\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to have a triple-double<\/a>, as she had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against the Las Vegas Aces. A few years later, Thomas would become the next player to tally one. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"Skylar Diggin\" title=\"Skylar Diggin\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Oct 13, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42) and guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) celebrate after defeating the Chicago Sky in game two of the 2021 WNBA Finals at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images \/ Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_xugszrmt8\">Skylar Diggins was one of the Mercury&#8217;s stars for a few seasons, and she will be playing in Unrivaled once again. Then, Rebecca Allen, who played for Phoenix back in 2024, is also involved. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"tl\" dir=\"ltr\">Full 2026 Unrivaled roster:<\/p>\n<p>Alyssa Thomas<br \/>Rickea Jackson<br \/>Satou Sabally<br \/>Paige Bueckers<br \/>Saniya Rivers<br \/>Erica Wheeler<br \/>Breanna Stewart<br \/>Lexie Hull<br \/>Azura Stevens<br \/>Jackie Young<br \/>Sonia Citron<br \/>Veronica Burton<br \/>Kate Martin<br \/>Dearica Hamby<br \/>Natasha Cloud<br \/>Aaliyah Edwards<br \/>Kiki Iriafen<br \/>Monique\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UnderdogWNBA\/status\/1983963036667777475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">October 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_qipenrjo9\">Unrivaled had a successful first season, and as more stars are joining the league, it will continue to grow. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_fgeryi63k\">Please follow us on X to read more about Unrivaled and the Mercury players involved with the league when you click right <a class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_k0tslj\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MercuryOnSI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unrivaled is a relatively new league, and after a successful first season, it will return at the start&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-254781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}