Unrivaled Announces Major Roster and Injury Updates Amid Inaugural Season
The first season of the Unrivaled 3x3 women's basketball league is beginning to wind down, as playoffs begin on March 16 with the season's final game arriving on March 17.
Given that Unrivaled is taking place during what's usually the heart of the WNBA offseason, it was going to be interesting to see how well players could remain healthy as the league progressed.
Of course, many WNBA players have played overseas during the offseason in the past, so this isn't anything new. But these games being 3x3 added an interesting wrinkle when it came to conditioning and endurance.
There have been some noteworthy injuries and roster moves made to this point. And on March 3, Unrivaled sent an email that disclosed some major roster updates and injury announcements.
First, Unrivaled announced that forward Naz Hillmon has signed a Relief Player Contract. She will remain in the Unrivaled Relief Player Pool through the remainder of the season and be assigned to a club when it becomes necessary.
In addition, Laces BC guard Natisha Hiedeman has been reassigned to Phantom BC, and Phantom BC guard Sabrina Ionescu's Unrivaled season is over due to what the email called, "commitments made prior to her joining Unrivaled."
It had been known that one aspect of Ionescu joining Unrivaled was that she'd been given freedom to miss some games because of prior commitments. But her missing the rest of the reason is certainly a tough blow for her Phantom BC team, who is currently in last place with a 3-8 record.
The email also added that relief Player Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is out for the remainder of the Unrivaled season due to injury.
The New York Liberty (who Laney-Hamilton plays for in the WNBA) made a statement about her injury that wrote, “The NY Liberty are in communication with Unrivaled, Betnijah, and her team. We are gathering information and determining best next steps with our medical staff. Further updates will be provided when available," per Madeline Kenney of the New York Post.
Liberty statement regarding Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s injury:
— Madeline Kenney (@madkenney) March 3, 2025
“The NY Liberty are in communication with Unrivaled, Betnijah, and her team. We are gathering information and determining best next steps with our medical staff. Further updates will be provided when available.”
Finally, the email revealed that Laces BC and Golden State Valkyries Kate Martin will not be present on the bench during her team's upcoming games, as she's still on the mend from an injury. In addition, Rose BC and Phoenix Mercury star Kahleah Copper will not be on the bench after tonight’s game.
However, both Martin and Copper are expected to return to their respective benches before the season ends.
Hopefully these are the last injury-related announcements Unrivaled has to make this season.
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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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