After weeks of anticipation, social media buzz, and anticipation, Unrivaled has released its six club rosters and accompanying head coaches. And, on November 20th, perhaps the biggest participation question was answered, with ESPN’s Michael Voepel reporting that Clark will not participate in the new 3-on-3 professional basketball league co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
Caitlin Clark will not play in Unrivaled — but here’s which WNBA stars will
Unrivaled will pair Arike Ogunbowale with Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Plum with Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington with Breanna Stewart, Jackie Young with Brittney Griner, and more.
Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Clark has previously insinuated that she wasn’t planning on participating on a number of occasions. Now, it’s officially confirmed that the rookie phenom will sit out, at least this time around.
Still, although no WNBA player impacts viewership like Clark, there are a ton of All-Stars and MVP-caliber players who have opted to participate. 14 players from the 2024 All-Star class alone will be headed to Miami for the January 17th tip-off, headlined by league rebounding leader Angel Reese, All-Star Game MVP Arike Ogunbowale, and Olympic guards Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young, among others.
Here is the full list of participating players, divided according to their clubs:
Vinyl, coached by Teresa Weatherspoon
WNBA Players: Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream), Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever), Jordin Canada (Atlanta Dream), Rae Burrell (Los Angeles Sparks), Dearica Hamby (Los Angeles Sparks)
What Weatherspoon is saying about her squad: “The talent that’s on Vinyl — it’s amazing. It’s absolutely amazing what each one of these young ladies can do — the versatility and athleticism, it’s unreal what they can do.”
Laces, coached by Andrew Wade
WNBA Players: Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx), Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun), Courtney Williams (Minnesota Lynx), Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics)
What Wade is saying about his squad: “It helps a ton [to have players with 3-on-3 experience]. Not only Stef, but Kelsey as well. From a 3-on-3 standpoint, a lot of this stuff, schematically will be transferable.”
Mist, coached by Phil Handy
WNBA Players: Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm), DiJonai Carrington (Connecticut Sun), Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty), Courtney Vandersloot (New York Liberty), Rickea Jackson (Los Angeles Sparks), Aaliyah Edwards (Washington Mystics)
What Handy is saying: “Imma lean on these ladies a lot. Look, I’m a coach that believes in learning from your athletes and the collaboration of just, what have you all experienced? What do you see? What do you feel?”
Phantom, coached by Adam Harrington
WNBA Players: Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces), Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun), Satou Sabally (Dallas Wings), Tiffany Hayes (Las Vegas Aces), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Wildcard
What Harrington is saying about his squad: “At the end of the day, I mean, Jackie and Satou on the same team — that’s a pretty dynamic duo. So, I’m really, really excited about that. And then just surrounding it, looking at our squad — versatility, basketball IQ, that’s exciting.”
Lunar Owls, coached by DJ Sackmann
WNBA Players: Skylar Diggins-Smith (Seattle Storm), Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Natasha Cloud (Phoenix Mercury), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Shakira Austin (Washington Mystics), Wildcard
What Sackmann is saying about his quad: “I’m very, very excited about this — we got extremely versatile fast-paced [players]. Any player off a defensive rebound can push the basketball up the floor and initiate the offense, which is going to be crucial for this 3-on-3 environment. All high IQ players.”
Rose, coached by Nola Henry
WNBA Players: Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces), Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury), Angel Reese (Chicago Sky), Brittney Sykes (Washington Mystics), Lexie Hull (Indiana Fever), Azura Stevens (Los Angeles Sparks)
What Henry is saying about her squad: “I would consider myself a players coach, so I’m kind of going to pour into them just in terms of just letting them know that I have the ultimate trust and belief in them and their abilities.”
