What is Unrivaled? Rules, rosters for new basketball league - ESPN

Women's basketball has been growing at an exponential pace over the past several years. On Friday, it will expand even more when Unrivaled tips off in Miami.

A new 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled is a domestic opportunity for WNBA players to compete during the offseason. But to those who helped bring the league to fruition, it was about bringing competitive basketball back to its simplest, rawest form, like playing hoops on the playground.

«Everything was built for the players,» Luke Cooper, Unrivaled's president of basketball operations, told ESPN. «The business was built for the players, the facility was built for the players, and the actual game — the 3-on-3 full court is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid.»

Here's everything you need to know about the league ahead of its inaugural season.

Since the WNBA's inaugural season in 1997, many of the league's players have headed overseas to continue playing in the offseason — both to supplement their income and find high-level competition.

Founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled provides an opportunity for 36 of the top WNBA players to remain in the United States for an eight-week season that runs Jan. 17 to March 17 in a custom-built facility in Miami. It's not the first domestic alternative league. Athletes Unlimited, a 5-on-5 league that launched in 2022, will play its fourth season from Feb. 5 to March 2 in Nashville, with 29 of 40 participants having WNBA experience.

But Unrivaled, which will consist of six teams, looks to set itself apart with its salaries, amenities and style of play.

«It was built by basketball people for basketball players,» Cooper said. «That's our north star.… We have an incredible pool of 36 players that will make each