If you ask anyone what Unrivaled’s biggest highlight has been so far, it has to be the 1v1 tournament. The fast pace, the intensity, and just the pure entertainment of it all kept fans glued to their screens. And now, we have our champion—Napheesa Collier. But the road to her crowning moment wasn’t without some controversy. Officiating drama took center stage- once again. 

And this time, one of the league’s most outspoken veterans, Courtney Williams, had something to say about it. You know what happened in the second round, right? It was Williams vs. Rhyne Howard, a battle for survival. Howard came in hot, taking an 8-0 lead, but Williams clawed her way back, making it 9-8. 

Then, boom—a foul call on Howard gave Williams a three-point free throw, ultimately sealing her win. Fans were not happy, calling out the refs for another suspect call. But W veteran may have been quiet then, but she wasn’t having it after Collier’s dominant win. 

“And to everybody that’s about to cry and say she rigged it….. GET IN THE GYM AND GET YA MONEY UPPP 😂🤑 #HOOTIEHOOOOO,” she fired back on Twitter.

But despite all the energy, fans weren’t exactly siding with her in the comments. Howard too had stirred the pot earlier, resharing the posts that said the tournament was rigged, with a few rallying behind to place the blame on Phee. But the Lynx star had made it clear she was here to show she was the best player and played like it.

When Williams ran into Collier after the controversial win against Howard, the game wasn’t even close. Her Minnesota Lynx teammate shut her down, winning 12-4. Collier shot 50% from the field, while Williams struggled at just 20%. Then the league co-founder stormed her way into the semis, where she took down Azurá Stevens, setting up a finals clash with another UConn alum—rookie Aaliyah Edwards. 

And these two were the standouts of the entire tournament. Edwards had knocked out Arike Ogunbowale in the semis, proving she wasn’t here just to make up numbers. But against Collier it was a different story.

Unlike the earlier rounds, the final was a best-of-three series, with games played to 8 points instead of 11. Edwards took Game 1, winning 9-6. But Phee came back with a smooth 9-4 win in Game 2, setting up a decisive Game 3. And she shut out Edwards 8-0 to become the first-ever Unrivaled 1v1 champion. 

Oh, and she took home a $200,000 in prize money.

Napheesa Collier’s cash grab: Near match to her WNBA salary 

That $200,000 prize is just $8,000 less than what she made for her entire WNBA season last year. One tournament, one month, almost her entire yearly WNBA salary. “My entire WNBA salary is what I got for 30 minutes of playing 1-on-1 – which is insane to even say,” Collier said during her postgame press conference.

Meanwhile, runner-up Aaliyah Edwards pocketed $50,000, while semifinalists Ogunbowale and Stevens each got $25,000. On top of that, Collier’s 3-on-3 teammates—Allisha Gray, Courtney Williams, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Shakira Austin—walked away with an extra $10,000 each.

And the players are definitely happy with the monetary aspect. When asked what motivated her in this tournament, Kahleah Copper kept it real, “The money.” Also, Gray has the same energy. After her first-round win, she simply said, “Who don’t want no money?”

Not to forget, this is all EXTRA cash. Unrivaled players are already making an average of $220,000 for a three-month season. That’s nearly double the WNBA’s average salary of $119,590 in 2024. And with the bonuses and tournament prizes, some players are walking away with more money in Unrivaled than they do in the WNBA.

So all in all, this disruption is good. The WNBA has made strides, but Unrivaled is showing that there’s still a lot more that can be done in terms of pay and opportunities. 

At the end of the day, competition breeds progress!