League Co-Founder Breanna Stewart Tallies First Basket in Unrivaled History

The veteran forward inaugurated the new circuit in style.
Liberty forward Breanna Stewart before New York's 82–80 loss to the Lynx in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 18, 2024.
Liberty forward Breanna Stewart before New York's 82–80 loss to the Lynx in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 18, 2024. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Unrivaled—a new three-on-three basketball league that debuted Friday in Miami—was the brainchild of two of the WNBA's brightest stars.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, observing winter's dearth of women's professional basketball, put together a league that would disincentivize players from spending the offseason overseas.

It was only appropriate, then, that Stewart would provide the first basket in the history of the new league Friday evening—a midrange jumper that put her team, Mist BC, ahead of Lunar Owls BC 2–0.

Not to be outdone, guard Skylar Diggins-Smith scored to tie the game at 2–2 12 seconds later.

Stewart, 30, has won two MVP awards and three WNBA titles in a career that will almost assuredly land her in the Hall of Fame. In addition to her professional accolades, the UConn product is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a four-time college national champion.

For trivia-minded fans: the first basket in WNBA history was scored by Los Angeles Sparks guard Penny Toler in 1997, and the first basket in NBA history was scored by New York Knicks guard Ossie Schechtman in 1947.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .