Unmatched co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart will hold their eyes on their gamers’ prizes with Undertaking B looming.
Unmatched will look to be on its A-game as Undertaking B’s entry looms.
With the WNBA’s labor negotiations trapped in a relative holding sample, the nice names of girls’s basketball haven’t any scarcity of latest choices. Unmatched, the home 3×3 league co-founded by former Finals foes Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, is ready to tip off its second season in two weeks.
“Making the fan expertise actually nice and ensuring we’ve a fantastic product is all the time primary for us,” mentioned Collier, she of Lunar Owls BC, when requested concerning the potential landmarks for season two success. “Doing issues like getting a couple of extra seats, particularly behind the bench, as a result of that’s the way in which the digital camera faces, including much more gamers.
“Followers know to count on that they’re going to see superb gamers enjoying superb basketball each single night time,” Collier mentioned, taking additional satisfaction within the continued tv success with TNT Sports activities. “Simply delivering one of the best product that we are able to is how we attempt to develop our viewers and maintain them.”
Stewart on Undertaking B: “They Noticed What Labored”
However the battle for post-WNBA motion will intensify come fall, upon the arrival of Undertaking B: partly funded by tech moguls with expertise from each Fb and Skype, that new league shall be a globe-trotting endeavor that options 5×5 motion in a match setup.
Flush with potential nine-figure funding, Undertaking B has landed a number of completed names and fan favorites (i.e., Kamilla Cardoso, Sophie Cunningham, Leonie Fiebich, Jonquel Jones, Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, and extra) on its ledgers earlier than the ball has touched the hardwood. Its motion is scheduled to tip off within the fall, which normally options the beginning of the WNBA offseason.
That might place a bigger sense of stress on Unmatched, which opened to principally constructive evaluations in its debut final winter. If it’s there, it actually wasn’t seen on the faces or within the demeanor of Collier or Stewart, the UConn alumnae who helped assemble the unique and present names in Miami. Stewart, for her half, noticed the endeavor as a praise, hinting on the idea of imitation being essentially the most honest type of flattery.
“I used to be sort of, like, properly, they noticed what labored,” Stewart, returning to Mist BC, mentioned. “They noticed the success that we had right here with Unmatched, and so they wished to be part of that in their very own manner and attempt to do it.”
Undertaking B: Is the New League a Competitor?
Stewart additional said that she couldn’t view Undertaking B as a competitor fairly but, ready till they’re “on the bottom and operating” earlier than partaking in a prolonged evaluation. She and Collier as an alternative sought to deal with their very own enterprise, which continues to rake in high-profile names each on and off the ground.
Whereas neither Collier nor Stewart seems to be within the realm of getting to pitch Unmatched because the premier various choice simply but, each implied {that a} sense of consistency may really work in its favor. Whereas Undertaking B occasions are slated to be staged in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, Unmatched will stay stationed in Miami, aside from a quick foray into Philadelphia subsequent month.
Sophie Cunningham has joined Undertaking B, which has been providing WNBA stars salaries as much as $2 million.
Right here is each participant that has dedicated to the startup league to this point ⬇️
— Entrance Workplace Sports activities (@FOS) November 25, 2025
Additional stability, they declared, can even come within the type of taking continued care of the gamers which might be already underneath the Unmatched umbrella. The brand new batch, which can get to partake within the fairness shares provided by the league, has come south for this winter, becoming a member of a returning debut class starring Collier and Stewart. Additionally taking their abilities again to South Seashore are Kahleah Copper and Chelsea Grey, each of whom will look to assist Rose BC defend its championship.
Bueckers, Plum Headline Unmatched Season 2
Paige Bueckers and Kelsey Plum lead the headliners, a bunch that additionally contains Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Dominique Malonga, Kelsey Mitchell, and Alanna Smith. Fellow newcomer Erica Wheeler was one to reward the comparatively remoted nature of Unmatched, remaking the “normal is out the window” with the motion staged in her hometown of Miami.
Paige Mic’d Up = Chaos in one of the best ways 🤣 pic.twitter.com/uhkJX7u6cq
— Unmatched Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) December 18, 2025
Whereas this 12 months’s Unmatched sport will look much like the maiden voyage, transactional improvements will account for the brand new pleasure, put together for the surprising, and provide new alternatives. Two groups (Breeze and Hive) have been added to final 12 months’s mixture of six, and a prospect pool partly headlined by 2025 WNBA draft picks Aziaha James, Makayla Timpson, and Hailey Van Lith has additionally been added.
“I feel it’s simply totally different,” Stewart mentioned. “We’re enjoying three-on-three, we’re staying in a single metropolis. They’re enjoying five-on-five, and so they’re going all over. The wage is, comparatively talking, they’re fairly related. So I suppose it’s [about] what you need to do, journey throughout or keep right here and play for 10 weeks.”
“I feel actually simply specializing in us and what makes us nice [will be key],” Collier mentioned. “Seventy-five p.c of our league is on multi-year contracts, so ensuring that we safe the long run, ensuring that we’re placing one of the best product that we are able to on the court docket each single night time. Our league thrives as a result of we’ve one of the best gamers on the planet, and we’re protecting them dwelling domestically. We’re constructing their manufacturers, and we provide issues that different leagues can’t provide. So we really feel actually good about what we’ve to convey to the desk.”
“We’re fearful about ourselves, and our personal progress, and ensuring that we are able to ship on these issues and ensuring that our gamers are pleased.”
Season two of Unmatched will kick off on Jan. 5 in Miami.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X, @GeoffJMags
