WWhether you’re on Broadway, in the audience at Radio City or marveling at what you just saw at Carnegie Hall, New York is the home of encores. But when it comes to one of the Big Apple’s brightest stars, coming back to the stage doesn’t just mean another big performance. For Breanna Stewart, this means co-creating an entirely new sports competition. This Friday, ‘Stewie’ – whose New York Liberty team just won the 2024 WNBA title – and 35 other of the biggest names in the sport will kick off the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a new three-on-three basketball league based on in Miami and aired on TNT.
“It’s unbelievable,” Stewart told The Guardian. “If you look at the people who have been there [the WNBA] They have been used to going abroad during the W season for seven, eight, more than nine years. We haven’t been home. We have not been marketable. We haven’t really been there. Now the season opener… is on TNT and there is no bigger platform than that.”
Along with Stewart, the new league has many other big namesincluding unparalleled co-founder Napheesa Collier, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese and Jewell Loyd (others have said they opted for rest instead of competing this year.) The competition is consisting of six teams with six players each, and the matches will feature a three-on-three competition on a full 18-metre pitch. There will also be one-on-one half-court matches, affectionately referred to by some as “Queen of the Court.” But what Unrivaled offers most for its players, all of whom have also been granted equality in the league, is a way to make money and showcase their skills in the United States.
“To take advantage of that,” says Stewart, “I think it will only grow our game and get us seen from a lot of different places.”
For 30-year-old Stewart, this is a time to rejoice. “I’m doing well,” she says. “I’m very happy with the way the W season ended. Clearly this can’t be better than winning. I’m excited to be here and get Unrivaled off the ground. All the players are certainly enthusiastic – the training and matches were very intense.”
Unlike a WNBA season or a season abroad like China or Russia, Unrivaled brings all its players into one place (without the need for risky trips). That gives all 36 players the chance to compete against each other whenever they want. During media sessions last week, many players used the phrase ‘iron sharpens iron’, meaning the competition was extremely fierce. That’s what they’re most excited about now that the competition is starting up again. Players also said there was a “void” during the WNBA offseason that this new league is filling. “It will keep us a lot sharper,” Griner said.
And while Stewart is a co-founder of the league, a celebrity and a multiple-time WNBA champion, she is focused on keeping the most important the most important. “I’m looking forward to just playing,” she says. “Compete. Learn from everything I can [coach] Phil [Handy]. The fact that we’re playing full-court three-on-three, it’ll be different. The matches will be exciting. But just being here – honestly, this is something that has never happened before and it’s going to be special.”
Games will also be broadcast from the intimate 850-person arena in Miami Monday and Friday at Max during the season. And while some may think Unrivaled is intended to take some of the shine off the WNBA, Stewart and the other players believe the two can and will “support” each other. Players in Unrivaled receive the highest average salary – reportedly about $250,000 – in the history of women’s team sports. And the league, Stewart has said, has funding for at least the next three years. The list of celebrity sponsors includes Coco Gauff, Carmelo Anthony, Michael Phelps and Giannis Antetokounmpo. But what was it like co-creating Unrivaled while playing in the WNBA and winning a title at the same time?
“There were definitely some challenges, playing and trying to be a part of the Zoom meetings,” Stewart said. “But the team here at Unrivaled is top class. And to make sure Phee or I can’t call, they keep informing us about what happened and what’s going to happen. They also gave us that space [we needed] during the W play-offs. There’s not much more intense than that and we were able to focus on where we were.
Stewart, who spent the first seven years of her pro career in Seattle, was helped by stellar guard play with the Storm. Several of those seasons in the Pacific Northwest featured All-Star scorer Jewell Loyd. Now Loyd and Stewart are on the same team in Unrivaled. The two have also been Olympic teammates. For Stewart, the reunion is welcome. “It was great in practice with Jewell,” Stewart said. ‘I certainly intend to share the court with her. Just join in and really have fun. We had a great time when we were together in Seattle. I can’t wait to revive it here.”
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A two-time MVP, six-time All-Star, three-time WNBA champion and four-time NCAA champion, Stewart has won just about everything she can in the game – everything now except an unprecedented championship. “It would be best to win Unrivaled,” she says. “Just because it’s the first season. There will never be another first. And it would be a bit: what, the triple crown? [An Olympic gold medal, a WNBA title and an Unrivaled title.]”
Although Stewart has learned a lot from basketball so far in her life, she now says she is giving back in a meaningful way.
“I think the growth of the game has influenced me by creating more opportunities,” Stewart said. “And you could say that I have already had a lot. But there is a need and a desire to empower and work together as a female basketball player, and that continues to grow now. Just the way we can make an impact in our community, with our fans and even now in a non-WNBA market like Miami. People know us. People recognize us and appreciate us for what we do.”