Source: Candice Ward / Getty
WNBA star Angel Reese is staying booked and busy. Though the Chicago Sky rookie wasn’t selected to play on the Olympic team, she headed to Paris to cheer on the participating WNBA players. But recently, she joined another team.
The Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball team founded by Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart announced Reese will join the new league. Unrivaled says they will offer the highest average salary in women’s professional sports history and each player will have equity in the new venture.
“For years, women have relied heavily on off-court sponsorships for a majority of their income,” Stewart said. “With Unrivaled, we’re revolutionizing the game by prioritizing investments in our stars and ensuring their on-court performance is reflected in their pay.”
Reese’s current WNBA contract is worth more than $324,000 and her current endorsements include Skims and Mielle Organics. She’s the tenth athlete to commit to the league. Reese, the 7th pick of the WNBA draft won an NCAA championship with LSU, set a WNBA record for 15 consecutive double doubles. She’s currently averaging 13.8 points and 11.8 rebounds, shooting 41.1% shooting from the field.
The six-team league will play in Miami from January through March starting in 2025, during the WNBA off-season. Games will be played on a compressed full court and the league will start with 30 players. Heavy hitters John Skipper and David Levy, the former presidents of ESPN and Turner respectively, are investors in the new league.
They hope to drum up support from media outlets where they have deep contacts. Other investors include Ashton Kutcher, Carmelo Anthony, golfer Michelle Wie West, soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan and several other deep-pocketed entrepreneurs.
Collier and Stewart will also play for Unrivaled and have secured commitments from WNBA players Kahleah Cooper, Rhyne Howard, Jewell Loyd, Arike Ogunbowale, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. In August there will be another announcement of players to fill out the rosters for the league’s inaugural season.
“I think there was a movie at one point called A League of Their Own,” Skipper said. “That was the 1992 movie starring Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell as players on a women’s baseball team. “This is literally a league of their own.”