Unrivaled ends up handing out a lot of cash over the course of the season—from the players’ initial salaries to bonuses for winning the championship, and more. The biggest payout, though, is for the season’s 1-on-1 tournament.
Playing 1-on-1 hoops can turn you into the butt of the joke really fast—there is nowhere to hide when you’re playing on a team of one. In the tournament, it’s survive or go home, and sometimes it takes just minutes for you to lose your 1-on-1 game and be eliminated from the tournament.
Why do players do it then? The money. Unrivaled hands out $200,000 to the winner of the 1-on-1 tournament, which is more than most players made for the entire WNBA season in 2025. It’s a big payout for them, and they are vocal about that being the motivation to participate.
Only one player can win, though, and the name on that giant check was, in fact, Chelsea Gray. It definitely hurts the most for the people who came close to the end of that tournament, but everyone must be a little hurt at the idea of missing out on that bonus.