Unrivaled Basketball League to Feature High Stakes One-on-One Tournament
With each passing day, it seems like the women's basketball community receives another announcement or update about the new Unrivaled League.
There was certainly no shortage of announcements over the past two days, as Unrivaled revealed over social media on Tuesday that they'd be releasing the six-player rosters for its six-team league on Wednesday (which included a couple of not-so-subtle references to the number 22, which many fans took to mean Caitlin Clark would be joining the league).
Unrivaled made these roster announcements on Wednesday, and Clark ended up not being mentioned — although that doesn't necessarily mean the new league is done pursuing her.
Given the sheer volume of announcements Unrivaled has made in recent months, some things were always destined to fly under the radar. And that was the case with what might end up being one of the most compelling aspects of the league.
A press release that was sent by Unrivaled PR representatives on Wednesday disclosed more details about a competition outside of the league's 3x3 slate.
"In addition to the 3-on-3 season, the league will host a 1-on-1 tournament from February 10-14, 2025, pitting the top players in the world against each other in a $250,000 winner-take-all exhibition to crown the best individual player in the game," the press release wrote.
This one-on-one tournament isn't news. On August 9, Napheesa Collier (who is an Unrivaled co-founder) wrote on X, "So it’s a single elimination tournament to determine the best 1v1 player in the world. And I’m ACTUALLY not supposed to say this but…first place gets minimum $250k 💰🤑".
So it’s a single elimination tournament to determine the best 1v1 player in the world. And I’m ACTUALLY not supposed to say this but…first place gets minimum $250k 💰🤑 https://t.co/8Jb2DYEXhs
— napheesa collier (@PHEEsespieces) August 9, 2024
The one-on-one tournament might end up being the most competitive part of this new league.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.