Phoenix Mercury star is latest WNBA player to join Unrivaled Basketball League

Natasha Cloud will join Unrivaled, a 3x3 basketball league for 30 of the top women’s basketball players in the world to participate in during the WNBA offseason. The league will launch in January in Miami, and is the creation of WNBA All-Stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.

The UConn alumni wanted to find a way for WNBA players to stay in the U.S. during the offseason, build their brand, and earn fair pay to complement their WNBA earnings — all while continuing to stay in shape. Unrivaled is the creative solution they came up with.

The league will offer a $150,000 minimum salary for 8 weeks of play, making it the highest professional women’s sports league in the world. The 30 players slated to participate in the inaugural season in 2025 will also own equity. Six teams will be comprised of five players each, with each team being led by an experienced coach, some of whom will be coming from the WNBA.

Natasha Cloud is in her 9th year in the WNBA, and in her first in Phoenix. She spent 8 seasons with the Mystics, and was a member of the 2019 team that won the WNBA championship.

This season, she’s averaging 11.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.4 rebounds for the Mercury. She played overseas for a few years earlier in her career — in both Australia and Turkey — but will stay domestic in 2025.

Cloud joins a long list of players who have also announced they are joining the new league — including Mercury teammate Kahleah Copper.

With Cloud’s addition, the list of WNBA basketball players committed to Unrivaled has grown to include 16 players:

Over the coming weeks, 14 more players will be revealed as the league gears up to commence in January.