This initially was going to be an article about Unrivaled, the six-team, 3×3 league currently taking place in Miami. The action is hot. The TV exposure is fantastic. The Lunar Owls — made up of Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Napheesa Collier (Unrivaled co-founder), Courtney Williams, Cameron Brink, and Shakira Austin—are dominating.
Some team rosters feature players very familiar with each other, like Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart on the Mist — two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm and two Olympic gold medalists — while others, like the Lunar Owls, have players who haven’t shared the court, other than Collier and Diggins-Smith on the 2021 Olympic team.
But first, we need to discuss the wild WNBA roster changes that have gone down. After playing her entire WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury, Brittney Griner has signed with the Atlanta Dream. Kelsey Plum has left the Las Vegas Aces, with whom she won two WNBA titles, for the Los Angeles Sparks. Lloyd, who made it known that she wanted out from the Storm, is headed to the Aces as part of a three-team trade. In one of the most stunning team shakeups, the Connecticut Sun shed its entire starting lineup and signed, among others, Queens native Tina Charles, who began her WNBA career with the Sun, winning both Rookie of the Year in 2010 and WNBA MVP in 2012, both while in a Sun uniform.
Back to Unrivaled. Several players in the league have considerable 3×3 experience, among them Gray, Jackie Young, and Stefanie Dolson, who were members of the 2021 Olympic gold medal team in Tokyo; Rhyne Howard and Dearica Hamby from the 2024 bronze medal-winning Olympic team; and Katie Lou Samuelson, who made the 2021 Olympic roster but was unable to travel to Tokyo due to a positive COVID-19 test. However, this is not traditional 3×3. It is played full court, albeit a little shorter, with a more traditional point structure. Overall, the players seem to be thriving, but it’s definitely an adjustment from 5×5.
“Everybody was learning real quick how intense it is,” said Adam Harrington, coach of the Phantom. “It is a shorter court lengthwise, but you’re involved in every action, so I think the physical shape you have to be in to kind of be effective is important. … It’s really getting everybody on cue of reading quickly what the defense is doing, how do we counter it, and how do we keep it moving.”