The dry heat radiating within the sauna caused sweat to drip down Courtney Williams’ brow.
Williams had plopped herself onto the wooden bench as part of her recovery from Lunar Owls practice. She had plans to get a massage, too, after she wrapped up her Unrivaled media obligations.
Life as a player in the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league appears to be quite swell.
“They literally are laying out the red carpet,” said Williams, who’d likely be playing in China this offseason from the Minnesota Lynx had Unrivaled not called. “We have everything available to become the best versions [of ourselves], the best basketball players we could be.”
Unrivaled Basketball is the latest sports league launching during this unprecedented surge of interest in women’s sports and has already had an impact on the women’s professional basketball ecosystem.
Co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled is set to tip off its inaugural season in Miami on Friday with many of the best 36 WNBA players in tow, including Sabrina Ionescu, Brittney Griner and Angel Reese.
The biggest takeaway from Unrivaled’s preseason has been about the luxury offerings for participants. And several players, including Griner, said the league’s setup is going to “put pressure” on the WNBA.
“Unrivaled is showing that you don’t need a lot of time to pull resources together to be able to put a good product out there,” Griner said. “Being happy with what we already have is not gonna fly here at Unrivaled and I think that’s what’s going to help the W — or it should, hopefully … help the W push forward.”
Unrivaled was not only created to offer players another offseason avenue to supplement their WNBA income, but it was also constructed with skill development and the player experience as top priorities. One of the aims of Unrivaled is to set a standard for how women professional athletes should be treated. Additionally, keeping some of the WNBA’s biggest stars stateside helps increase year-round exposure.
Those were all selling points to players during the recruiting process, Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told The Post.
“[Players] were really just shocked in a positive way of how much we have thought about,” he said. “It’s a huge education component of showing them how this is going to be the best option for them and how it’s going to maximize their offseason for them.”
No details were overlooked when it came to the facilities, which outshine some WNBA organization’s digs.
Games will be played on an elevated stage, with intimate seating for 850 fans. The facility features a practice court, a fully outfitted weight room and a recovery room with saunas and hot and cold tubs. Each team has its own locker room. There’s a glam room suitable for New York Fashion Week.
A massage therapist and chef are also on site to cater to athletes’ needs.
“One of the biggest things they said in kind of getting players here,” Indiana Fever/Rose BC guard Lexie Hull said, “was the player experience was going to be really good and they’ve really held up that side of the bargain. So they’re giving us everything that we need on and off the court.”
Added Atlanta Dream/Lunar Owls guard Allisha Gray: “It’s just nice that we get the treatment that we deserve.”
With the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire after the 2025 season, Unrivaled’s fully outfitted facility and investment in the player experience could influence the ongoing negotiations between the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and WNBA officials
“It’s perfect timing,” said 14-year WNBA veteran Courtney Vandersloot, who will play for the Mist. “Unrivaled’s ability to put everything we need here, really treat us like first-class athletes, it’s a great time for women’s sports. [With] the CBA being up, we’re going to push the envelope and make sure that we’re taken care of as elite athletes and I think this is a good stepping stone.”
Unrivaled officials have said the league surpassed $35 million in funding, with 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff and USC star JuJu Watkins as some of the more recent investors to jump onboard. Other investors include Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps.
Bazzell told SB Nation last month that Unrivaled has a total salary pool of $8 million, which puts the league’s average salary around $222,222. The average salary in the WNBA last season was roughly $119,500. Unrivaled players will also get equity in the league, though it’s unclear how much.
Unrivaled officials said the league offers the highest average salary for women’s professional team sports, but has declined to share specifics on the salary range. Since Unrivaled started signing players last year, though, Collier said she knows of some players who’ve seen international clubs offer more money to play overseas during the offseason.
“We’ve already left the impact,” Bazzell said. “We’ve already reached a level of success that probably no one thought we could do. … Now, where do we take that success? Who knows. But we’re not going to sit here and worry about what if it fails because I think if you do those things, it consumes you and we don’t have time for that.”
