Project B is slowly unveiling more WNBA names for the league’s inaugural season, which starts in January 2027.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the global basketball organization announced six more athletes who plan to play. The latest wave includes 2024 WNBA champion Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and the No. 9 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft Angela Dugali\u00c4\u0087 (Washington Mystics), four-time all-star Brionna Jones (Atlanta Dream) and former Florida State standout Makayla Timpson (Indiana Fever). The list also includes two-time FIBA Women\u2019s EuroBasket champion Antonia Delaere (Minnesota Lynx) and two-time Olympic medalist Val\u00e9riane Ayayi (Phoenix Mercury).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always believed in competing with purpose and being part of something bigger than yourself,” Laney-Hamilton said in a release. “What excites me about Project B is the chance to compete with some of the best players from around the world while also having a real voice in what we\u2019re building. It\u2019s an opportunity to help shape something new for the game, and I\u2019m excited to be part of it from the beginning.”<\/p>\n
The six bring Project B’s list of WNBA players to 22 as the league approaches training camp in Seoul, Korea, from Jan. 6-12, 2027.<\/p>\n
Other WNBA players who have signed with Project B include\u00a0Azzi Fudd and Alanna Smith of the Dallas Wings,\u00a0Alyssa Thomas\u00a0of the Mercury, Awa Fam of the Seattle Storm,\u00a0Jewell Loyd\u00a0of the Las Vegas Aces, Jonquel Jones of the New York Liberty, Kamilla Cardoso of the Chicago Sky,\u00a0Nneka Ogwumike\u00a0of the Los Angeles Sparks and\u00a0Kelsey Mitchell\u00a0and\u00a0Sophie Cunningham\u00a0of the Fever.<\/p>\n
\u201cProject B is bringing together incredible players from around the world and creating something that gives us a real opportunity to help shape what comes next,” Jones said. “I\u2019m excited by the level of competition, but also by the chance for players to have a meaningful voice and stake in what we\u2019re building. I\u2019m looking forward to being part of it from the beginning.”<\/p>\n
The\u00a0concept for Project B is to have two\u00a0separate leagues \u00e2\u0080\u0095 men and women \u00e2\u0080\u0095 with six teams, each with 11 players. Those teams will compete in a global circuit slated to kick off in Jan. 2027 and run through April 2027. Each city will host a 10-day event, crowning a city champion, and those victories will count towards a season-long championship. To date, Project B has revealed it will play in Tokyo, Japan and Valencia, Spain.<\/p>\n
Every athlete who plays in Project B is expected to have equity in the league. Project B hasn\u2019t disclosed any salaries yet, but a\u00a0league spokesperson previously told USA TODAY Sports\u00a0they are \u201chigher than anything you\u2019ve ever seen in women\u2019s sports.”<\/p>\n
Project B has a host of investors in the league, including women\u2019s basketball legends Cheryl Miller, Candace Parker and Lauren Jackson and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. Additionally, the league has secured Host Broadcast Services (HBS) to be the official broadcaster for the league\u2019s inaugural circuit. HBS has broadcast the FIFA World Cup since 2002. The games will stream live on YouTube.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Project B league signs more WNBA players, surpassing 20-name milestone<\/p>\n
Reporting by Meghan L. Hall, USA TODAY \/ USA TODAY<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Project B is slowly unveiling more WNBA names for the league’s inaugural season, which starts in January 2027.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[309980,99,434],"class_list":["post-843283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-portland_fire","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}