MIAMI — Unrivaled shined brightly on its opening night.
The 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty debuted Friday night.
Three months after the Liberty beat the Lynx in a WNBA Finals that went all five games, the two squared off in the opening game for Unrivaled, and fittingly Stewart scored the first basket in league history — a baseline jumper for the Mist. Collier’s Lunar Owls got the last laugh, though, rallying to win the inaugural game.
“I think this was a great first game just showing what we can do and showing what the experience can be like,” Collier said after the 84-80 win.
The idea for the domestic league was first discussed a couple of years ago — an alternative to WNBA players spending their offseason in foreign five-on-five leagues — and now it has come to fruition.