Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier drew a blueprint of the Unrivaled League in order to popularize the 3*3 format that won Team USA a bronze in this Olympics. Dated to start its first season in January next year, Stewie has attracted a lot of stars including Angel Reese, Marina Mabrey, and Dearica Hamby among others. And now, her WNBPA links have assisted her in getting Satou Sabally as the 14th player, making her the first international star to join the league. A post regarding the same was shared by Unrivaled on their platform on Monday.

Notably, both Sabally and Stewart are vice presidents at the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association (WNBPA). Sabally was elected to the post in December 2022 and is sharing the title with Stewart and Brianna Turner. Similar to her, even Stewie was elected as the vice president of the executive committee in December of that year after she chose to take up crucial issues including but not limited to prioritization rule, WNBA travel, and Brittney Griner’s fiasco.

Meanwhile, Sabally was drafted as the second overall pick by the Dallas Wings in the 2020 WNBA draft. Since then, she has been performing consistently for the Wings with her best season coming in 2023 when she averaged a decent 18.6 points with 8.1 rebounds per game. However, this season she hasn’t been able to do much, appearing in just one WNBA game as she was nursing a shoulder injury prior to the Paris event.

As for her international career update, Sabally, who was born in New York, has three nationalities- American, Gambian, and German. And she represented Germany at the quadrennial event before coming back to the WNBA in August. However, it is not only Sabally who has joined Unrivaled.

Which stars have joined Unrivaled?

As mentioned, Sabally is the fourteenth player to join the Unrivaled League, which is the first player-led women-basketball league. The women’s league is expected to popularize the 3*3 format which will also be based in Miami, helping local WNBA stars avoid international avenues to earn additionally in the off-season. Some of the popular WNBA stars to join the event include Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Kahleah Cooper, Jackie Young, Angel Reese, Dearica Hamby, Kayla McBride, Marina Mabrey and our very own Breanna Stewart.

The league is expected to draft 16 more players taking the tally to 30 who will then be divided into six teams of 5 each. Since the newest format allows only 3 players on the court from one team at a time, the 5 player group is expected to be ample for each team.

Hopefully, after Sabally, the Unrivaled can rope in more international stars which can get them a spot on different networks across the globe and help bring more eyes to the league. As for fans, they can only anticipate the thrilling encounters that lie ahead.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.