Unrivaled Open to Collaboration with the WNBA: Future in Women’s Basketball?

Unrivaled Considers Future Collaboration with the WNBA

The president of the Unrivaled league, Alex Bazzell, did not rule out a possible partnership with the WNBA in the future, coinciding with the start of its second season.

We are not in constant dialogue about that… but as I have made very clear, we are open to growing the ecosystem, in whatever way,” Bazzell stated on Monday. “Nothing is off the table. … I’m not going to speculate on what might happen in the future, but everyone knows that our doors are always open.

Alex Bazzell, President of Unrivaled

Bazzell compared the opportunity Unrivaled offers WNBA players to events like the predraft combine, offseason pro-am leagues, and the summer league in which NBA players participate, all with the ultimate goal of “growing the ecosystem” of their respective sports. The main difference is that Unrivaled remunerates its players.

But those are formal associations,” Bazzell said on Monday. “You can even observe the collaboration that is taking place in the NBA Europe. That wasn’t a formal association before. Whenever you can consider the space from an innovative perspective, everything is feasible. Everything is possible.

Alex Bazzell, President of Unrivaled

Since the league’s inaugural season last year, Bazzell has reiterated on several occasions that Unrivaled does not compete with the WNBA, but rather considers it complementary. The league’s goal has been to provide WNBA players with a domestic opportunity in the offseason and has also emphasized the desire to be a development center. Bazzell maintained that, as the landscape of women’s basketball continues to grow and evolve, there is room for both leagues to thrive.

You have to consider all the space offered as an opportunity,” said Bazzell. “Where women’s basketball is today, and what we have built is so unique, that one does not need to exist without the other for both to succeed.

Alex Bazzell, President of Unrivaled