Unrivaled Basketball Season 2: Who All’s Gay in Tamper Bay?

It’s been a long time.

It’s been 111 days since Paige Bueckers won Rookie Of the Year; 109 days since Erica Wheeler’s jump shot bounced off the rim, denying the Seattle Storm a first-round playoff upset. It’s been 97 days since we all gasped as Kelsey Mitchell collapsed on the floor of Michelob Ultra Arena and subsequently had to be helped off the court. It’s been 87 days since A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces swept their way to their third WNBA championship in four years, cementing themselves as a dynasty. It’s been too long since we’ve gotten to see some of our favorite players on the court.

But, finally, the wait is over: today, we welcome some of our favorite players back to the court with the return of Unrivaled. The league’s inaugural season was a success by almost every metric and now it returns for its second year with two additional teams, 12 new main roster players, a player development pool, four new coaches, and plans for its first ever road trip to Philadelphia.

The launch of Unrivaled’s second season comes at a contentious moment for women’s professional basketball in the United States. We are just four days away from the deadline for the latest round of negotiations between the WNBA and the players’ union on the new collective bargaining agreement. Based on what’s been reported, I’m hardpressed to imagine both sides coming to an amicable compromise; in fact, they don’t seem any closer to an agreement than they were when they extended talks in early December. The deadline won’t necessarily mean the end of talks between the two sides: they could agree to yet another extension of talks or they could enter into an in-between stage known as the “status quo.” This period allows negotiations to continue and allows players to have continued access to franchise facilities but, at any moment, either side could call for a work stoppage. The WNBPA’s executive committee has been empowered to call a strike “when necessary” thanks to a decisive vote by the league’s players.

Admittedly, I thought — or hoped — that the start to the Unrivaled season would spur more cooperation from the league. In addition to whatever’s being debate in a boardroom somewhere, the league and its players are in the middle of a protracted public relations battle. Each side has a vested interest in portraying themselves as the benevolent one and the other side as greedy and irrational. Both sides are invested in winning this battle: it’s why WNBA players showed up to the All-Star Game wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts and why the league continues to selectively release their proposals with “big” salary numbers to sports media. They both believe that public pressure can create the right environment for a deal. By not striking a deal ahead of the start of Unrivaled, the WNBA (and their MNBA overlords) have ceded the public square to these 58 women. For the next nine weeks, 35% of the WNBA’s workforce will be in one place, interacting regularly with sports media and getting an opportunity to showcase their value on a national stage. It feels like a tremendous win for the players and I’m not sure how the league rebounds in the CBA’s public relations battle.

Much of Unrivaled’s second season will mirror its first, only with more players and more teams. This year, Unrivaled will feature eight basketball clubs — the Breeze, Hive, Laces, Lunar Owls, Mist, Phantom, Rose, and Vinyl — that will compete with a six-person roster. Back in November, players were slotted into position pods and subsequently drafted by the league’s coaches. Unrivaled’s newest squads, Breeze and Hive, got the first two picks while legacy franchises got the ability to protect at least one player from last year’s roster (teams that made the playoffs were able to protect two players). In response to injury issues that plagued the league in its inaugural season, Unrivaled has eliminated back-to-back games and launched a player development pool to fill any unanticipated empty slots.

This game is all about a relentless, uptempo pace. Unrivaled’s brand of 3×3 uses a 18-second shot clock and the game clock only stops on made baskets in the last 30 seconds of a period. Games will feature three seven-minute quarters. After three quarters, the winning score will be determined — the highest point total, plus 11 points — and the fourth quarter comes a race to get to that “winning score.” So if, for example, the score of a game after three quarters is 42-35, the winning score is for that game is 53 points and the first team to get there, wins. I didn’t fully appreciate, until I watched the league’s inaugural season, how much excitement the “winning score” would add to the game. It’s like getting a buzzer beater in nearly every game (admittedly, the game winners from the line are a bit anti-climactic).

Unrivaled’s season run for nine weeks, starting today and wrapping up as NCAA conference tournaments kick off in early March. Games will be played on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with no team being forced to play back-to-back games. The eight clubs will play each other in a round-robin format, with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs. The top two teams earn a bye into the semifinals while the other four battle it out in a single-elimination tournament. On March 4, Unrivaled will crown its second champion.

Mid-season, the league will pause to crown the best individual player in the game in a 1v1 tournament… a tournament that garnered so much attention last year, fans are begging the MNBA to incorporate a tournament like it into the league’s All-Star festivities. With last year’s winner, Napheesa Collier, out for the season following surgery on both ankles, the crown is up for the taking…and the $200k prize exceeds most players’ WNBA salaries.

All games will be broadcast live, on TNT or TruTV and HBO Max. Canadian fans can watch Unrivaled on TSN+ while other international viewers can follow the games on YouTube.

There are a few faces missing from this years’ Unrivaled rosters that were part of the league’s inaugural season: some, like Collier, DiJonai Carrington, and Courtney Vandersloot, are out due to injury; others are focusing on other priorities, like Sabrina Ionescu and Angel Reese, and Kayla McBride is balling out in Euroleague this winter. Their departures, on top of the league’s expansion, have given opportunities to a lot of new players to make their way to Unrivaled rosters. For me, one of the changes that speaks to Unrivaled’s growth and stability: the recruitment of international talent. Another thing to pay attention to is the relationship building between players at Unrivaled: could chemistry in Miami — or as some dubbed it last year, “Tamper Bay” — translate to moves during free agency? Assuming a collective bargaining deal gets struck, it’s hard to imagine Unrivaled teammates, most of whom are free agents in the WNBA, not considering what’s possible during free agency.

But that’s beside the point…we all know why we’re here: we want to know who all’s gay in Tamper Bay.

Paige Bueckers

Kate Martin

Natisha Hiedeman

Saniya Rivers

Jordin Canada

Brittney Sykes

Alyssa Thomas

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As of press time, this team is seemingly straight. But we should be honest and note that Marina Mabrey is on this team, and there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that she is not straight!

Arike Ogunbowale

Breanna Stewart

Natasha Cloud

Tiffany Hayes

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Kahleah Copper

Chelsea Gray

Sug Sutton

Brittney Griner

Erica Wheeler

Courtney Williams

Emily Engstler

Aziaha James

The first slate of Unrivaled games kick off today and continue this weekend:

There might not be as many queer players this season as there were in Unrivaled’s inaugural run, but I’m excited to see what Year 2 brings. I’m looking forward to seeing who grows their game the most in Miami and can apply that when the WNBA season starts (correction: if the WNBA season starts).

What about you? Did your team allegiance from last season survive the roster shuffle? Who will you be cheering for this season of Unrivaled?