Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball tipped off this week, with game play beginning on Feb. 5 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lexie Brown, Ty Harris, and 5 other WNBA standouts from Athletes Unlimited opening week
The first week of Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball is complete — here’s who stands out.
Jade Hewitt / Athletes Unlimited
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.
The month-long women’s professional basketball league, which launched in 2022, provides another pathway for WNBA players to stay in the U.S. during the offseason, earn supplemental income, and develop as players. Participating athletes will earn a minimum of $20,000, a figure that can increase to $50,000 with bonuses.
And, this season, it features a slew of WNBA players, such as Kierstan Bell (Las Vegas Aces), Alysha Clark (Seattle Storm), Sydney Colson (Indiana Fever), Isabelle Harrison (Chicago Sky), Elizabeth Williams (Sky), Jordan Horston (Storm), Kia Nurse (Sky), Alissa Pilli (Minnesota Lynx), and Maddy Siegrist (Dallas Wings).
Los Angeles Sparks guard Lexie Brown, who serves as the chairperson of the league’s Player Executive Committee, told SB Nation in December that Athletes Unlimited changed the trajectory of her career.
“I really was feeling lost as a pro, not really knowing where my confidence went, where my role was going to be in this league,” Brown said.
Now, 40 women’s basketball standouts get the opportunity to compete in AU Pro each year.
How WNBA players fared in Week 1 of Athletes Unlimited
Athletes Unlimited maintains a running leaderboard that tallies points for each player; players earn points for team success (such as their team winning a game or a quarter) as well as for individual success (like scoring, assisting, or rebounding).
Players also gain points if fans, and other players, vote for them as one of the MVPs of a particular game. Conversely, they lose points for negative plays, like missed shots, turnovers, or fouls.
“We have formulas in place that make sure that the individual points, and the team points, are weighted in a way where one person can’t just decide to take the game over, shoot up all the shots, pull all the points, and expect to be at the top of the leaderboard,” Brown told SB Nation.
Here’s who tops the leaderboard through one week of play:
- Crystal Bradford: Crystal Bradford hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2021, but after the first week of gameplay, she’s topped the leaderboard with 1525 points. Bradford has also played for numerous overseas teams, including the Polish club AZS Poznań and the Turkish club Beşiktaş JK. Bradford was one of the league’s assist leaders in Week 1 and currently stands as the league’s rebounding and steals leader.
- Maddy Siegrist: Maddy Siegrist leads AU in first-week MVP votes (120) after one week of play. Siegrist is fresh off her sophomore season with the Dallas Wings, in which she averaged 9.4 points on 50.5% shooting. She missed some time with a hand injury but was in the mix for Most Improved Player prior to that. So far in AU, Siegrist has made more two-point shots than any other player.
3. Kia Nurse: Kia Nurse is tied for the second-most MVP votes (90) after Week 1. Nurse signed with the Chicago Sky last week after spending last season with the Los Angeles Sparks. In her 6-year WNBA career, the 6’0 guard averages 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. Nurse has been particularly effective at getting to the line, and she’s also been one of the top three-point shooters in the league through the first week of action.
4. Tyasha Harris: Ty Harris went right from the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association to Athletes Unlimited, and she hasn’t missed a beat since. Harris is fresh off her biggest season in the WNBA, and was recently traded from the Connecticut Sun back to the Dallas Wings, where she spent the first three years of her WNBA career. Last season, she averaged 10.5 points per game and shot 39.5% from three. In Week 1 of Athletes Unlimited, Harris was the league’s most efficient high-volume three-point shooter.
5. Bria Hartley: Bria Hartley hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2022, but the 10-year WNBA veteran has stood out in the early days of Athletes Unlimited play. Hartley, the No. 7 draft pick in 2014, holds career averages of 7.9 points and 2.6 assists in the WNBA. Her career included stints with the Washington Mystics, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Indiana Fever, and Connecticut Sun. At AU, she’s been one of the best distributors through one week.
6. Elizabeth Williams: Elizabeth Williams, when healthy, has served as the Chicago Sky’s starting center in each of the last two seasons. For her career, she averages 8.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 287 games. But, the 31-year-old veteran missed most of last year after tearing her meniscus. So far, she’s looked great at AU, particularly as a rim protector — she has tallied more blocks than any other player.
7. Lexie Brown: Lexie Brown has excelled in the early days of Athletes Unlimited after missing substantial time in each of the past two seasons dealing with illness. Brown, a 30-year-old guard who was drafted with the No. 8 pick in 2018, stood out in the first few games of AU — she’s in the top 7 in wins, MVP votes, and three-pointers made.
Athletes Unlimited continues this week in Nashville, with all games broadcast on ESPN+.
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