As the unrivaled season is set to tip-off this Friday, January 17th, here are 3 teams that I could see winning the league’s debut season.
1. Phantom Basketball Club
This team already has some chemistry with one another, as two former Oregon Duck teammates, Satou Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu, are on the roster. These two have been campaigning for another opportunity to share the court together as teammates again. These two won a lot of big basketball games together at the University of Oregon and I think that will carry on with this competition, especially with the help of Brittney Griner patrolling the paint. Phantom will have the advantage of being able to utilize the best pick-and-roll pairing in the entire league, Sabrina and BG. Sabrina coming off of a screen set by the athletic and physical Griner is going to be a nearly unstoppable play for opposing Unrivaled clubs because Sabrina is one of the best playmakers and floor readers in the game today that can easily pick apart a defense with her passing. She’s now surrounded by many shooters like Katie Lou Samuelson and Marina Mabrey, who can knock down perimeter shots; Mabrey was even top 10 in the WNBA in 3-Pointers made this past season. They will get an abundance of open looks thanks to playing with Sabrina and Natasha Cloud, who are exceptional distributors of the basketball. I can see this group being extremely efficient overall, especially when it comes to scoring the basketball,because they’re all fundamentally sound, possess a high basketball IQ, and are willing passers. With the combination of this great three-point shooting and passing, accompanied by the phenomenal and dominant inside presence that is Brittney Griner, I honestly don’t see this team having much trouble getting to the championship.
2. Mist Basketball Club
The Mist Basketball Club is another team that I could see potentially winning it all due to their depth as a roster and how tremendously skilled each player is. For starters, they possess one of the founders of Unrivaled, Breanna Stewart, who is also considered to be arguably one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever. “Stewie” is a killer on the court and that killer mentality constantly turns into wins on whatever level she’s competed on, so it’s hard to pick against her in any competition. This 2-time WNBA and 3-time WNBA champion will continue to produce from anywhere on the floor, and she’ll have a lot of help on this team with teammates that can do the same. Their backcourt of Jewell Lloyd and Dijonai Carrington are going to be a serious playmaking tandem. Jewell Lloyd and Breanna Stewart have already had success together dating back to their days as teammates on the Seattle Storm. Together, they propelled the Storm to 2 WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020, showcasing how their abilities meshed exceptionally well with one another, as Stewart’s dominance in the post and versatility as a forward complemented Lloyd’s sharpshooting and ability to create offense, making them impossible to contain. Now they get to add a younger guard in Dijonai Carrington, who has recently burst onto the scene this season by finishing with a career year in points, assists, and rebounds that led to her being named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player. However, it doesn’t stop at those three women; Rickea Jackson is also on this team, and she will make her presence felt. This rookie put on a show this year by averaging 13.4 points per game. Her game will only illuminate alongside Breanna Stewart because she’s another aggressive 3-level scorer who has a knack for knowinghow to get her shot off. I think Stewie and Rickea could develop some rapport with one another once they share the floor together because they just have a knack for putting the ball in the basket and I believe they can start creating high-percentage looks for each other.
3. Vinyl Basketball Club
Rhyne Howard and Arike Ogunbowale are the best backcourt pairing that the Unrivaled League has assembled, and it will be a blessing to watch these two brilliant scorers mesh their elite talents together. Both of these women can score at an insanely high clip from all 3 levels, and it will be pretty hard to keep them in front, especially within this 3v3 format since there are not two extra defenders to help. Aside from scoring, this club has defensive enforcers on both the perimeter and interior. Aliyah Boston is a unique big that can guard positions 1-5, and as a forward/center playing 3v3, that’s an important asset to have as a part of your individual ability because due to the smaller amount of players, there’s a higher chance of her being switched onto shorter and faster players, which she can handle. She’s such a great overall talent as she can do just about anything on the floor offensively and defensively. For the 2024 WNBA season, she finished averaging 14.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steals per game, which depicts how active she is on the floor. Rhyne, Arike, and Aaliyah are complimented by an incredibly crafted supporting cast in Rae Burrell, DeArica Hamby, and Jordin Canada. Hamby is a 2 time 6th-woman of the year award winner who comes off her 2024 season averaging a near-double-double with 17.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Canada is a lockdown defensive specialist who has been named to the WNBA all-defensive first team twice. This is the most complete offensive and defensive team in the competition because they can score in bunches and guard any position.