December 16, 2025
Unrivaled opening day is around the corner
WNBA CBA negotiations take center stage during media day discussions
With just a few weeks left before Unrivaled’s sophomore season begins, players are just arriving in Miami, Florida to prepare for the campaign ahead, which begins January 5. The schedule includes multiple locations this time around: Unrivaled will play regular season games in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday Jan. 30 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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“I’ve never played home in my professional career, and for it to be unrivaled 3×3, where it’s just so much more opportunity where you can show your game,” Rose BC guard Kahleah Copper told reporters about playing in her home city of Philadelphia on Monday. “I’m super excited. My family, my friends, just fans of women’s basketball, and then I get to show off my city to Unrivaled, I’ll make sure Rose BC get a good cheesesteak. Take them on a quick little tour. Hopefully it’s not too cold. I might take them to the trenches too.”
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New clubs, new players, new season
This year Unrivaled has added two new clubs, Hive BC and Breeze BC, that feature young stars such as guards Paige Bueckers (Breeze) and Saniya Rivers (Hive) who just completed their rookie seasons in the WNBA.
This season rosters were also shaken up, with some players remaining on the same clubs and others starting fresh. The four clubs that made the playoffs last season (Lunar Owls, Rose, Laces and Vinyl) were able to protect two returning players in this year’s draft. The two teams that didn’t make the playoffs, Mist BC and Phantom BC were only allowed to protect one returning player each.
This season features four days of games opposed to last seasons three days to accommodate the two additional clubs but also they have eliminated back-to-back games for each club.
Lets take a look at the club rosters:
Preview the rosters
Breeze BC has been called the “fan favorite” team by fans on social media with the popularity players like Paige Bueckers have brought to the game.
Bueckers and Cameron Brink also have 3×3 basketball experience. This team has a strong social media presence so expect lots of content and TikTok dances.
Hive BC has young talent in Rivers and guard Sonia Citron who are mixed in with veteran players that will help lead this team. Rivers and Citron can soak in a lot of knowledge from guard Kelsey Mitchell to further develop their skills, physically and mentally, as professionals.
“I think Kesley [Mitchell] is the ultimate teammate,” Rose BC guard Lexie Hull told reporters Monday.
This team has a strong defensive presence with Rivers, who recorded 62 steals and 118 rebounds in her first WNBA season. Mitchell and Rivers along with Natisha Hiedeman and Sonia Citron can allow for them to run with pace complimented by forwards Ezi Magbegor and Monique Billings strong post presence.
Laces BC kept guard Jackie Young and forward Alyssa Thomas while adding an Atlanta Dream duo, guard Jordin Canada and forward Naz Hillmon. They also add Brittney Sykes and Maddy Siegrist.
The Lunar Owls kept a strong core in co-founder Napheesa Collier and guard Skylar Diggins. They also add three guards who are known to have success behind the three-point line in Rachel Banham, Rebecca Allen and Marina Mabrey. Mabrey missed a majority of last season due to injury but embraced a new leadership role with the Connecticut Sun, an asset that she could bring to the Lunar Owls.
Mist BC has reloaded after missing the playoffs and only keep Unrivaled Co-founder Breanna Stewart on their roster. Guard Allisha Gray had success last season with the Lunar Owls and if she can continue to build off that it will be a huge help to a team who finished second to last.
Phantom BC were able to keep both forward Satou Sabally and guard Natasha Cloud despite only being able to protect one returning player. But Sabally will be replaced by guard Tiffany Hayes due to being out from a concussion sustained during the WNBA finals. Guard Kelsey Plum will make her Unrivaled debut this year after forfeiting her roster spot the previous year.
The 2025 Champion Rose, have four returning players in guard Chelsea Gray, Copper, forward Azura Stevens and Hull. The chemistry they were able to build last season may cause some trouble for the other clubs that have to start from scratch.
“I think we just do a good job of reading off of each other. A lot of us have played with each other already, so that kind of helps. Obviously, we have four returners, and then Chelsea [Gray] does a really good job of setting us up to be successful,” Stevens told reporters on Monday.
Vinyl BC has three returning players; guard Rhyne Howard, forward Dearica Hamby and guard Rae Burrell. Last season Vinyl was able to upset the No. 1 Lunar Owls to reach the final. The team will be able to build off of the chemistry between these players.
They also added guard Courtney Williams from Lunar Owls as well as center Brittney Griner and guard Erica Wheeler.
The league has a few new head coaches in Noelle Quinn (Breeze BC), Rena Wakama (Hive BC), Zach O’Brien (Mist BC) and Roneeka Hodges (Phantom BC). It is worth noting that both Mist and Phantom have new coaches after falling short of making the playoffs.
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A longer runway
Most players have only been in Miami for only a few days but preparation has already begun. This yea,r Unrivaled implemented more time for players to train and condition before the start of the season.
Hillmon was a part of winning the inaugural championship with Rose BC after it ran into injury problems. The small taste of Unrivaled that she got is helping her prepare for her first full season in the league.
Hillmon earned sixth player of the year honors this past WNBA season, buoyed by her improved three-point shooting. She also led the USA women’s 3×3 team to gold in the 2025 FIBA 3×3 Women’s Americup.
“I think last year was a lot about confidence, confidence in my game, but also confidence in expanding my game obviously with a three-point shot. So I think that is going to propel me into this season. I have to continue with that confidence and stay strong on it,” Hillmon said.
“But for me, that confidence comes from reps. So in this short time of the offseason, I’m just making sure that I’m getting my reps, but I’ll continue to do that to make sure that I’m staying sharp and as confident as I can be, because I think that it’ll be a huge part of you know, continuing to grow my game in general, and it’d be nice to be able to display that a little bit here.”
Siegrist, who won top individual honors last season at Athletes Unlimited, plans to be a sponge in her first Unrivaled season.
“[I’m] just super excited to just be able to play alongside a bunch of different players, a bunch of great players, and try to learn from them… and… trying to play the game at a high level, [with] a lot of energy,” Siegrist said.
The second season, with a variety of new faces and talents to show, kicks off Jan. 5 featuring all eight clubs.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
‘Unity is the best way to display strength’
The players in Unrivaled have a unique situation where they will all be in one place at a time where current CBA negotiations can change the future landscape of women’s basketball forever. Messages between players will be able to be relayed easier, discussions can be had and questions can be asked with the convenience of being together in Miami.
“I think unity is the best way to display strength,” Bueckers told reporters. “…For a lot of very strong women to be in one area and display that unity, it’s very important and it’s very unique in a sense that it doesn’t happen often so we wanna take full advantage of that and have those tough conversations and really just continue to stand firm on what we believe we deserve and have earned.”
The WNBPA first vice president Plum spoke on her important role in CBA negotiations.
“I bring a level of, I’ve always been very outspoken and very opinionated on certain topics, and I think they brought me in, particularly in this round, because we knew it was going to be a very tough CBA negotiation, but also because I’ve always stood up for what I believed in…a little bit of a spark, you can call it, just in terms of my personality, and I’m proud of that, and obviously we still have a long way to go, but I have all the faith in the world that we will figure that out,” Plum told reporters.
Plum also said that the ability for teams to core players (claim them as franchise players to eliminate their ability to pursue free agency) is something that hasn’t gotten enough attention in CBA negotiation news but it is something that the players feel is important. The players feel that it is restricting to them and they want it to be eliminated for the next CBA.
Opening day games
Here is the opening day schedule (ET):
Monday January 5
1 p.m.: Mist BC vs Hive BC
2:15 p.m.: Vinyl BC vs Laces BC
8 p.m.: Lunar Owls BC vs Rose BC
9:15 p.m.: Phantom BC vs Breeze BC
Unrivaled adds a fourth day of weekly games this season with the addition of two new clubs. Games will be played on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday each week and be featured on TruTv and TNT Sports.
