What hasn’t gone right for Napheesa Collier at Unrivaled?
She is one of the league co-founders. Her team, the Lunar Owls, is 8-0 and the last unbeaten club. She’s the league’s leading scorer (29.4 points) and grabs 11.5 rebounds per game. And Friday night, Collier made Unrivaled history, winning its inaugural one-on-one tournament, which comes with a $200,000 prize.
Collier’s final basket in the third game of her finals matchup against Aaliyah Edwards came on a patented Phee fadeaway. It was fitting, as Collier’s combination of footwork and finesse has made her mid-range jumpers some of the most difficult shots to stop in women’s basketball.
Wearing the same sneakers, a pair of Nike Kobe 9s, that she donned in the WNBA Finals with the Minnesota Lynx, Collier, a No. 1 seed, leaped in excitement after her last shot fell. She shared embraces with her Lunar Owls teammate, Skylar Diggins-Smith who had been watching courtside, and her family members. “Queen Phee” was later presented with a crown to mark the occasion.
“I just wanted to celebrate with them, the people in my corner,” Collier said.
THE ONE. 👑 pic.twitter.com/bha9OZuMVA
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) February 15, 2025
The tournament took place near Miami this week at the midseason point of Unrivaled’s inaugural season, pitting some of the world’s best women’s basketball players against each other.
In Friday’s final, Collier dropped the first game of the best-of-three final series against Edwards, 9-6. But Collier adjusted, staying grounded on Edwards’ many pump-fakes, and rebounded to win the second game 9-4. She stifled Edwards in the deciding game, blanking her, 8-0.
Edwards had advanced to the finals after defeating Arike Ogunbowale in the semis, while Collier knocked Azurá Stevens out earlier on Friday night.
Here are five takeaways from the tournament.
1. NBA and WNBA should copy Unrivaled
Change is common across the NBA and WNBA’s All-Star Weekends, with new events and competition formats regularly cycling through the festivities. Never, though, has either league tried a one-on-one tournament, which is partly why Unrivaled’s tournament was so highly anticipated.
Holding a one-on-one tournament during the NBA’s and WNBA’s midseason breaks might cut into a relaxing weekend for the sport’s stars. This would also require players to put their egos aside and not fear the possibility of losing. Nevertheless, Unrivaled showed how much excitement can be generated in this competition — both for 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 has made it worth it. As a result, it has a stellar mid-season showcase. Other leagues should follow suit and create an actual must-watch event.
2. No shame in losing
Breanna Stewart was one of the players who advocated for the inclusion of the single-elimination tournament in Unrivaled’s schedule. She believed that with a financial incentive, it would produce an exciting event. But Stewart, one of the bracket’s No. 1 seeds, didn’t last long in the draw. Not only did she lose her first-round matchup to Edwards, but Stewart was skunked, 12-0, in a game that lasted less than two minutes.
Stewart’s place in the women’s basketball hierarchy isn’t any different because of the result. She competed, missed all three of her shots, failed to get consistent stops and lost. She congratulated Edwards (who is also her Mist teammate), and the tournament continued.
May that be one of the lessons of the one-on-one tournament. A game that’s played to 11 isn’t going to tear down a player’s body of work. Stewart performed as poorly as a player could in the event, and her legacy is unchanged.
Tough night for me but shoutout to my Mistie @AaliyahEdwards_ !!! Keep that thing going and go get that bag 💰!!
— Stewie (@breannastewart) February 11, 2025
3. Games shouldn’t end on free throws
Three of the tournament’s best matchups ended on free throws as Courtney Williams’ second-round victory over Rhyne Howard finished at the free throw line, as did Arike Ogunbowale’s second-round and quarterfinal wins over Skylar Diggins-Smith and Satou Sabally, respectively. Those were three of the tournament’s more intense contests, but the finishes were underwhelming.
Ending games on free throws during Unrivaled’s regular season is already anticlimactic compared to the alternative. It was especially so in this event.
Here’s a possible solution: If a player has point-game and is fouled, play resets and the players begins a new possession at halfcourt. If the player is fouled three consecutive times, she is just deemed the winner by default. (Think the NFL rule that nearly awarded the Eagles a touchdown in the NFC championship.) Is that an ideal ending? No. But it should disincentivize hacking in late-game moments and lead to more game-winning baskets. Even if an occasional game ends by default, is that really worse than it concluding at the free-throw line?
4. Money was a significant motivator
Prize money played a key role in the tournament’s success. The prize pool was split so that the winner ($200,000), runner-up ($50,000), semifinalists ($25,000 for each player who didn’t advance to the final), and even the winner’s teammates ($10,000 each) all took home cash. Participants knew the stakes.
“That’s the only thing I’m thinking about,” Shakira Austin said after defeating Chelsea Gray in the first round. “I’m tired as hell. All I’m thinking is, ‘2-hunnit, 2-hunnit.’”
The WNBA collective bargaining agreement allocates less than $7,500 combined to the winners of the skills challenge and 3-point competition, which is why last summer the WNBPA and Aflac partnered to give the winner $110,000. It produced a better event, and assuming it returns this summer, the caliber of participating players will only improve. Unrivaled’s one-on-one tournament was no different. Money talked.
In advancing to the semis, Edwards needed less than 10 minutes of game time to earn more than one-third of her WNBA salary ($74,909). A No. 8 seed, she knocked off two No. 1 seeds (Breanna Stewart and Arike Ogunbowale) en route to the final. But the Mist forward came short of knocking off a third top-seed. Still, she added to her take-home pay with her second-place finish.
“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.”
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5. Can the tournament impact basketball culture?
Unrivaled league executives were eager to do something other leagues haven’t in a formal setting. But the hope is that the tournament’s legacy will be bigger than just a week-long 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.”
How successful Unrivaled is in creating a shift remains to be seen, but the event certainly provided an opportunity for players to showcase skills they might not always display in other settings.
(Photo of Napheesa Collier: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
