Women's Fastbreak On SI

Kate Martin's Money Unrivaled Debut Has Fans Fired Up

Valkyries star Kate Martin's successful start in Unrivaled has fans feeling validated.
Grant Young|
Apr 7, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Kate Martin (20) reacts after a basket against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the finals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Apr 7, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Kate Martin (20) reacts after a basket against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the finals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Unrivaled 3x3 women's basketball league's opening weekend has gotten off to a fantastic start.

Friday night's two games brought a ton of intrigue and excitement while also serving as validation that the hype was real regarding this brand-new league.

Four of the league's six teams started their season on Friday while the two remaining reams (Phantom BC and Laces BC) began their campaigns on Saturday. This means that former Iowa Hawkeyes superstar and current Golden State Valkyries standout Kate Martin (who plays for Laces BC) was on the court for her Unrivaled debut.

Given the work that Martin has been putting in this offseason, fans were excited to see how the beloved wing would perform when pitted against the sport's best players.

Martin finished the game with 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the field while also adding 10 rebounds and 2 steals. She also produced the game-winning shot for the Laces.

Considering Martin has only been in professional basketball for one season and was a role player off the bench for the Las Vegas Aces, some fans had skepticism about how she would perform in Unrivaled.

Now fans are celebrating on social media after Martin proved her place after Saturday's performance.

"KATE MONEY MARTIN DOUBLE DOUBLE IN HER UNRIVALED DEBUT," one fan wrote along with a gif of Martin making it rain.

One fan commented, "She's perfect for this league."

"Kate Martin…YOU are the face of the Golden State Valkyries! 🤩

"It takes a lot of talent and discipline to play aggressively yet unselfishly at the same time. KateMartin is all of that! Take not WNBA free agents… 👀," added another.

It will be fun to see how Martin continues to improve as the Unrivaled season progresses.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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