Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier to start U.S.-based league in WNBA offseason - ESPN

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier told ESPN they are founding a new women's basketball league to give the top WNBA players an option to play domestically in the offseason once the league's new prioritization rules go into full effect next season.

The new league, called «Unrivaled,» would run from January through March and feature 30 of the top professional women's players on six teams, playing games of 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 at a soundstage in Miami.

The goal is to raise enough in private funding and sponsorships to pay the players commensurate with what they make during the WNBA season to help offset the lucrative contracts they'd be giving up overseas due to new league rules requiring players to return from international commitments by the start of WNBA training camps.

«It's the ability for players to stay home, to be in a market like Miami where we can just be the buzz and create that with the best WNBA players,» Stewart told ESPN. «We can't keep fighting [the WNBA's prioritization rule]. It is a rule that takes away our choices, which should never be a thing, especially as women, but it is still a rule.»

The WNBA supermax salary for the 2023 season is $234,936, though Stewart agreed to far less to join the Liberty, as previously reported.

The WNBA's prioritization rules, which were part of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, mandate that players return from overseas by the start of training camp to be eligible for the season. The overseas season often runs through mid-May, which conflicts with the start of the WNBA season.

Stewart played for the Turkish club Fenerbahce last offseason and said she's always enjoyed the experience of playing overseas. But with her