{"id":393662,"date":"2026-01-07T10:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393662\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T10:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:14:25","slug":"unrivaled-president-says-league-is-open-to-wnba-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393662\/","title":{"rendered":"Unrivaled President Says League Is Open to WNBA Partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unrivaled<\/a> is stepping into its second season with momentum\u2014and with an intentionally open-ended vision for what comes next. <\/p>\n

According to ESPN<\/a>, the player-backed 3-on-3 women\u2019s basketball league has positioned itself as a new offseason option for elite talent, and league president Alex Bazzell says future collaboration with the WNBA<\/a> isn\u2019t being ruled out, even if nothing formal is in motion.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Monday, January 5, as the league tipped off its new campaign, Bazzell emphasized that Unrivaled\u2019s long-term outlook isn\u2019t about drawing borders. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are open to growing the ecosystem, whichever way that looks like,\u201d he said, adding that no possibilities are being actively pursued or dismissed. \u201cNothing is on the table or off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

That philosophy reflects how Unrivaled has framed itself since launch. The league has repeatedly said it does not view itself as competing with the WNBA, but rather as a complementary space\u2014one designed to provide WNBA players with a high-level domestic option during the offseason. <\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, there were earlier efforts to explore alignment. Unrivaled co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart previously approached the WNBA about a potential equity stake in the league as a signal of shared interests. That proposal ultimately didn\u2019t move forward, as it was believed to conflict with league rules.<\/p>\n

Bazzell has often compared Unrivaled\u2019s role to familiar structures on the men\u2019s side of basketball\u2014such as summer leagues, offseason runs, or pre-draft showcases\u2014spaces that exist alongside the NBA rather than against it. The distinction, he noted, is that Unrivaled players are paid for their participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut those are formal partnerships,\u201d Bazzell said, pointing to how collaboration can evolve. He cited the NBA\u2019s international initiatives as an example of how cooperation doesn\u2019t always begin with formal agreements. \u201cAs long as you can look at the space through an innovative lens, anything is doable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation around Unrivaled has intensified as WNBA collective bargaining agreement negotiations have grown more contentious. Comparisons between the two leagues have surfaced frequently, despite their vastly different business models. <\/p>\n

Unrivaled paid players an average salary of $222,222 in its inaugural season and also offered equity\u2014an approach that has drawn attention during ongoing labor discussions.<\/p>\n

Even so, Bazzell remains focused on the bigger picture. As women\u2019s basketball continues to expand, he believes multiple leagues can coexist\u2014and succeed. \u201cWhere women\u2019s basketball is today, and what we have built is so unique,\u201d he said. \u201cOne doesn\u2019t need to exist without the other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unrivaled is stepping into its second season with momentum\u2014and with an intentionally open-ended vision for what comes next.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-393662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393662","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=393662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}