Can you smell the roses?
Those inside Wayfair Arena certainly could Monday night.
Led by Chelsea Gray, Rose Basketball Club took home the first championship in Unrivaled history Monday night, defeating Vinyl Basketball Club 62-54.
Though Gray had only 3 points in the first half, she finished with 18 points and eight assists. Her half-court buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter gave Rose a 2-point lead heading into the fourth quarter that the club wouldn’t relinquish.
For her efforts, Gray was named Unrivaled’s Finals MVP, averaging 28.5 points and six assists on 49 percent shooting in her team’s two postseason victories. She scored an Unrivaled-record 39 points Sunday in Rose’s semifinal win over the Aces to push her team to the title game.
“Just a testament to my work that I’ve been putting in this whole year, and a testament to my team,” said Gray, who was a member of the all-Unrivaled first team. “I put in the work so I know it’s going to come to fruition.”
THE ROSE DID IT! Congratulations to the first ever Unrivaled Champions Rose BC pic.twitter.com/qtlLTZ3qcI
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) March 18, 2025
But Gray wasn’t alone in making key contributions. Guard Brittney Sykes scored a season-high 21 points, including sinking the championship-winning free throw. Forward Azurá Stevens added 19 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Rose trailed by 5 points heading into the halftime locker room but rallied in the third quarter and allowed only 5 points in the fourth quarter.
Wing Rhyne Howard led Vinyl with 22 points in the loss.
Unrivaled debuted this winter, entering the women’s basketball landscape at a growth moment in the sport. The 3×3 league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier hoped to be a domestic alternative for athletes who have historically competed overseas during the WNBA offseason. Unrivaled paid record salaries, an average of around $220,000 per player, and provided player equity, which the WNBA doesn’t provide.
Thirty-six of the world’s top players signed on for Year 1, taking part in the debut season which ran from mid-January to mid-March. Those who were victorious Monday night took home an additional $50,000 in prize money.
“They’ve just been relentless in their effort and their pursuit to success overall,” Rose coach Nola Henry said earlier this season. “It’s the mentality that they play with, where they stay hungry, no matter what. I have high expectations of them. They have high expectations of themselves and they just continue to find ways to essentially rise to the occasion.”
Rose did just that Monday night. And after it was all over, with confetti having rained down on the floor of Wayfair Arena, roses were also found in abundance across Unrivaled’s home court.
Here are takeaways on Unrivaled’s championship game, and the league as a whole:
Unrivaled had successful debut despite absence of multiple stars
Monday’s championship was a fitting conclusion to the league’s debut season. It featured a competitive game with nine lead changes, but it also involved two clubs that were short-handed with injuries.
Though Rose forward Angel Reese won the league’s inaugural Defensive Player of the Year, Reese (hand) and teammate Kahleah Copper (right leg) did not play in the postseason. Guard Arike Ogunbowale (right leg) sat out both of Vinyl’s playoff games. Several other stars missed multiple games throughout the year, leading the league to sign six replacement players. Still, the action was almost always hotly contested, even with Lunar Owls going 13-1 in the regular season.
Heading into the inaugural campaign, league officials stressed that the player experience was their North Star. And throughout the year, players lauded Unrivaled’s commitment to that promise, providing a first-class facility that featured not only a brand-new training facility and weight room but also robust child care options. (Wayfair Arena has a nursing room, nursery room and a kids’ room.)
Unrivaled stands to influence the WNBA, too, not only from a player-experience perspective but also from its partnership approach and how it increased winter promotion for top women’s basketball players. It succeeded in keeping players in the cultural zeitgeist. Celebrities and business executives flocked to games, with A’ja Wilson, Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union and Robin Roberts all present at the championship. Leading up to the launch, it had already raised $35 million in capital.
The league’s one-on-one tournament was another high point, in terms of excitement and TV viewership. The one-on-one tournament, won by Collier — she later was also named MVP — drew 377,000 viewers.
“I think it was successful,” Gray said of the first year. “A lot of fans came out. There’s a lot of energy behind it. I know people are excited for next season. Obviously, when you win you have a different appreciation and joy about it, but it was a great first season.”
Unrivaled is still looking for growth opportunities — that includes players
Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said he is proud of what the startup league was able to accomplish in its debut season.
“For me, there’s a deep level of gratitude but there’s also an even deeper drive to do a little bit more,” he said. “While it’s good to stop, reflect, think about what we’ve done right, I think it’s on us to continue to raise the bar with the players.”
How they do so will be the topic of the league’s offseason. Bazzell said that coming out of Year 1, he feels confident that the “product works” — that the 3×3 format can lead to intense competition and that the games themselves are fast-paced, exciting for fans and help players develop.
Expect some tweaks for Year 2, however. Bazzell previously told The Athletic the league would visit no more than four cities next season — targeting non-WNBA cities and college towns — while still having a home base in Miami. It sees implementing tour stops as a way to grow women’s basketball and help the league serve as a touchpoint for fans who might not be able to watch their favorite professional players in person otherwise. At the same time, Unrivaled will also look to strengthen its ties to the Miami-area community.
Commissioner Micky Lawler said there will be inevitable expansion as well, though what that looks like, and when, is still an open question.
“It’s great to expand, it’s great to grow, but I think for us, we got to continue to do right by the players who took a leap to be here,” Bazzell said.
Bazzell said the league will look at putting in a developmental pool of players who will be present the entire season, as doing so can offset players’ missing time with injuries. He said coming into the debut season, there were 11 players already under contract for the 2026 campaign. Now, there are more than 20 players under contract for the ensuing two years.
Required reading
(Photo: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
