Napheesa Collier is one of the league’s co-founders. Her team, the Lunar Owls, is undefeated at 8-0, the last team with no losses. She’s the league’s top scorer, averaging 29.4 points, and grabs 11.5 rebounds per game. On Friday night, Collier made Unrivaled history by winning its first one-on-one tournament, which came with a $200,000 prize.
Collier’s final basket in the third game of her finals match against Aaliyah Edwards was a signature Phee fadeaway. It was fitting, as Collier’s footwork and skill have made her midrange jumpers some of the hardest to block in women’s basketball.
Wearing the same Nike Kobe 9s she wore during the WNBA Finals with the Minnesota Lynx, Collier, the No. 1 seed, jumped in excitement after making her final shot. She shared hugs with her Lunar Owls teammate, Skylar Diggins-Smith, who was sitting courtside, and with her family. “Queen Phee” was then crowned to mark the moment.
“I just wanted to celebrate with them, the people in my corner,” Collier said.
The tournament took place near Miami this week at the midpoint of Unrivaled’s first season, bringing together some of the best women’s basketball players in the world.
In Friday’s final, Collier lost the first game of the best-of-three series to Edwards 9-6. But Collier adjusted, staying calm against Edwards’ many pump fakes, and won the second game 9-4. In the deciding game, she shut down Edwards, winning 8-0.
Edwards reached the finals after beating Arike Ogunbowale in the semifinals, while Collier knocked out Azurá Stevens earlier that night.
The ever-changing landscape of the NBA and WNBA
Change is common in the NBA and WNBA’s All-Star Weekends, with new events and competition formats being introduced regularly. However, neither league has ever tried a one-on-one tournament, which is one reason why Unrivaled’s tournament generated so much excitement.
Holding a one-on-one tournament during the NBA’s and WNBA’s midseason breaks might interrupt a relaxing weekend for the players. It would also require players to set their egos aside and be okay with the possibility of losing. Still, Unrivaled showed how much excitement such a competition can create — for both fans and players.
“You’re putting yourself on the line,” Collier said. “So I do think the money would have to be worth it for players, but if it was, I think it’s a great thing for fans to watch. It’s super exciting. It’s fun for us to do, but on the upside, obviously, you have to make it worth it.”
Unrivaled made it worth it. As a result, it created a great midseason event. Other leagues should take note and make their own must-watch event.
Breanna Stewart reacts after missing a free throwNot afraid to lose
Breanna Stewart was one of the players who pushed for the single-elimination tournament to be part of Unrivaled’s schedule. She thought that with a financial reward, it would make for an exciting event.
However, Stewart, who was one of the No. 1 seeds, didn’t last long in the tournament. She lost her first-round match to Edwards and was shut out 12-0 in a game that lasted less than two minutes.
Stewart’s place in women’s basketball hasn’t changed because of the result. She played, missed all her shots, couldn’t get consistent stops, and lost. She congratulated Edwards (who is also her Mist teammate), and the tournament continued.
This is one of the lessons from the one-on-one tournament. A game played to 11 points isn’t going to change a player’s entire career. Stewart had one of the worst performances possible in the event, but her legacy remains the same.
Free throws should not end the game
Three of the tournament’s best matchups ended with free throws: Courtney Williams’ second-round win over Rhyne Howard, and Ogunbowale’s second-round and quarterfinal wins over Skylar Diggins-Smith and Satou Sabally. While these were some of the most intense games, the finishes were disappointing.
Ending games with free throws in Unrivaled’s regular season already feels anticlimactic compared to other ways games could end. This was even more true in the tournament.
Here’s a possible fix: If a player is one basket away from winning and gets fouled, the game could reset, and the player would start a new possession at half court. If the player is fouled three times in a row, she would automatically be declared the winner (similar to an NFL rule that almost gave the Eagles a touchdown in the NFC Championship).
This might not be the perfect ending, but it should discourage fouling in the last moments and lead to more exciting game-winning baskets. Even if a game ends by default sometimes, would it really be worse than finishing at the free-throw line?
Finance is the major pusher
The prize money played a big part in the tournament’s success. The prize pool was divided so that the winner got $200,000, the runner-up $50,000, semifinalists received $25,000 each, and even the winner’s teammates got $10,000 each. Everyone knew what was at stake.
“That’s the only thing I’m thinking about,” Shakira Austin said after beating Chelsea Gray in the first round. “I’m tired as hell. All I’m thinking is, ‘2-hunnit, 2-hunnit.’”
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement offers less than $7,500 combined to the winners of the skills challenge and 3-point competition. That’s why last summer, the WNBPA and Aflac partnered to give the winner $110,000. It made the event better, and if it happens again this summer, the quality of players participating will keep improving. Unrivaled’s one-on-one tournament worked the same way. Money mattered.
Arike Ogunbowale smiles after scoring a 3-pointerBy reaching the semifinals, Edwards earned more than one-third of her WNBA salary ($74,909) in less than 10 minutes of game time. As a No. 8 seed, she beat two No. 1 seeds (Stewart and Ogunbowale) to reach the final. But she fell short of beating a third top seed. Still, her second-place finish added to her earnings.
“It’s kind of crazy. I didn’t think about it like that,” Edwards said. “But I think that Unrivaled is a great space for athletes, especially young athletes like myself, to capitalize on making money here in North America and providing for our families.”
Can this tournament shape the basketball culture?
Unrivaled league leaders were excited to do something different that other leagues haven’t done in an official setting. But they hope the tournament’s impact will be more than just a weeklong event.
“We’re trying to really change the culture of women’s basketball,” Collier said. “You go to the playground or the park and you see guys playing pickup or they’re playing 1s, you don’t see that with women a lot, and we’re really trying to change that, just what it means to be a female athlete and the culture of playing in your backyard, playing at the park, playing 1s, like we’re doing. We’re not seeing that a lot and so we’re trying to change that.”
Whether Unrivaled will succeed in creating a shift is still to be seen, but the event definitely gave players a chance to show skills they might not usually display in other situations.
