Unrivaled co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart will keep their eyes on their players’ prizes with Project B looming.
Unrivaled will look to be on its A-game as Project B’s entry looms.
With the WNBA’s labor negotiations trapped in a relative holding pattern, the great names of women’s basketball have no shortage of new options. Unrivaled, the domestic 3×3 league co-founded by former Finals foes Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, is set to tip off its second season in two weeks.
“Making the fan experience really great and making sure we have a great product is always number one for us,” said Collier, she of Lunar Owls BC, when asked about the potential landmarks for season two success. “Doing things like getting a few more seats, especially behind the bench, because that’s the way the camera faces, adding even more players.
“Fans know to expect that they’re going to see amazing players playing amazing basketball every single night,” Collier said, taking further pride in the continued television success with TNT Sports. “Just delivering the best product that we can is how we try to grow our audience and sustain them.”
Stewart on Project B: “They Saw What Worked”
But the battle for post-WNBA action will intensify come fall, upon the arrival of Project B: partly funded by tech moguls with experience from both Facebook and Skype, that new league will be a globe-trotting endeavor that features 5×5 action in a tournament setup.
Flush with potential nine-figure funding, Project B has landed several accomplished names and fan favorites (i.e., Kamilla Cardoso, Sophie Cunningham, Leonie Fiebich, Jonquel Jones, Jewell Loyd, Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, and more) on its ledgers before the ball has touched the hardwood. Its action is scheduled to tip off in the fall, which usually features the start of the WNBA offseason.
That could place a larger sense of pressure on Unrivaled, which opened to mostly positive reviews in its debut last winter. If it’s there, it certainly wasn’t visible on the faces or in the demeanor of Collier or Stewart, the UConn alumnae who helped assemble the original and current names in Miami. Stewart, for her part, saw the endeavor as a compliment, hinting at the concept of imitation being the most sincere form of flattery.
“I was kind of, like, well, they saw what worked,” Stewart, returning to Mist BC, said. “They saw the success that we had here with Unrivaled, and they wanted to be a part of that in their own way and try to do it.”
Project B: Is the New League a Competitor?
Stewart further stated that she could not view Project B as a competitor quite yet, waiting until they’re “on the ground and running” before engaging in a lengthy analysis. She and Collier instead sought to focus on their own business, which continues to rake in high-profile names both on and off the floor.
While neither Collier nor Stewart appears to be in the realm of having to pitch Unrivaled as the premier alternative option just yet, both implied that a sense of consistency could truly work in its favor. Whereas Project B events are slated to be staged in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, Unrivaled will remain stationed in Miami, except for a brief foray into Philadelphia next month.
Sophie Cunningham has joined Project B, which has been offering WNBA stars salaries up to $2 million.
Here is every player that has committed to the startup league so far
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 25, 2025
Further stability, they declared, will also come in the form of taking continued care of the players that are already under the Unrivaled umbrella. The new batch, which will get to partake in the equity shares offered by the league, has come south for this winter, joining a returning debut class starring Collier and Stewart. Also taking their talents back to South Beach are Kahleah Copper and Chelsea Gray, both of whom will look to help Rose BC protect its championship.
Bueckers, Plum Headline Unrivaled Season 2
Paige Bueckers and Kelsey Plum lead the headliners, a group that also includes Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Dominique Malonga, Kelsey Mitchell, and Alanna Smith. Fellow newcomer Erica Wheeler was one to praise the relatively isolated nature of Unrivaled, remaking the “standard is out the window” with the action staged in her hometown of Miami.
Paige Mic’d Up = Chaos in the best way
pic.twitter.com/uhkJX7u6cq
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) December 18, 2025
While this year’s Unrivaled game will look similar to the maiden voyage, transactional innovations will account for the new excitement, prepare for the unexpected, and offer new opportunities. Two teams (Breeze and Hive) have been added to last year’s mix of six, and a prospect pool partly headlined by 2025 WNBA draft picks Aziaha James, Makayla Timpson, and Hailey Van Lith has also been added.
“I think it’s just different,” Stewart said. “We’re playing three-on-three, we’re staying in one city. They’re playing five-on-five, and they’re going all over the place. The salary is, comparatively speaking, they’re pretty similar. So I guess it’s [about] what you want to do, travel all over or stay here and play for 10 weeks.”
“I think really just focusing on us and what makes us great [will be key],” Collier said. “Seventy-five percent of our league is on multi-year contracts, so making sure that we secure the future, making sure that we’re putting the best product that we can on the court every single night. Our league thrives because we have the best players in the world, and we’re keeping them home domestically. We’re building their brands, and we offer things that other leagues can’t offer. So we feel really good about what we have to bring to the table.”
“We’re worried about ourselves, and our own growth, and making sure that we can deliver on those things and making sure that our players are happy.”
Season two of Unrivaled will kick off on Jan. 5 in Miami.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X, @GeoffJMags
The post As Project B Looms, Unrivaled’s Founders Keep Focus on Themselves appeared first on Ballislife.com.