Sky Fan's Quick Guide to Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball
Just as Unrivaled starts to kick into second gear, another offseason league will see its fifth season officially tip off in February.
Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball announced its final 40-player roster and coaching staff last week, which included an even 20/20 split between newbies and returning veterans. A number of notable WNBA faces will take part in the Nashville-based league along with a handful of WNBA rookies. Chaz Franklin, a former Director of Player Development for the Chicago Sky, will join the league's basketball coaching staff.
What is Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball? And who will represent the Sky's 2025 roster in the latest edition of offseason hoops?
The Basics
AU Pro Basketball, one of three AU leagues, features changing weekly rosters and a point scoring system that ultimately determines its individual winner. Athletes can earn or lose league points through their team's play (win points), their own play (individual stats) and whether they are voted one of the game's MVPs by players and fans. For Weeks 2-4, the top four point earners from the leaderboard will move on to be team captains, while the initial Week 1 captains will be randomly selected from a pool of returning players. The Gold Rush, Glow, Rhythm and Eclipse will make up the league's four teams.
The 5-on-5 league will start play on Feb. 4 and run until March 1, with its first player draft taking place on Feb. 1. It will play out of the Nashville Municipal Auditorium and will be available on ESPN and the WNBA app, according to a Wednesday release from the WNBA.
Who Should I Watch Out For?
As always, no offseason league can be complete without some Sky magic.
Sky guards Ariel Atkins and Kia Nurse were listed among a number of familiar names for the franchise on the league's 2026 roster, including a former champion in Lexie Brown and a few former vets in Rebekah Gardner, Isabelle Harrison, Brianna Turner and Natasha Mack.
Sky veteran Elizabeth Williams ended in sixth place in the league's standings last season, but has spent the last few months suiting up alongside a few other WNBA veterans for Turkish squad Galatasaray. Sydney Colson, who played in 17 games for Chicago in 2020, will join its broadcast team while entering her fifth season on its Player Executive Committee.
Ariel Atkins
Atkins will take part in another offseason league after suiting up in four Unrivaled games last season. The two-time WNBA All-Star would see limited minutes with a new teammate in forward Angel Reese with Rose BC, who would go on to win multiple league honors before the two would join back up on the Chicago Sky. Atkins would average just over 13 points and 3.6 assists per game in 34 games played for the Sky last season following seven years with the Washington Mystics, where she won a championship alongside a few Sky names of old in 2019.
Kia Nurse
Though not as seasoned of an AU veteran as some past Sky players, Nurse will be no stranger to the 5-on-5 league after taking ninth place in last year's standings. She played in 44 games and started in 18 for the Sky last season after signing a 1-year deal last February. The former UConn guard will be an unrestricted free agent for the Sky along with Atkins and now-Unrivaled guards Rebecca Allen and Rachel Banham, among others.
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Alex Sabri began contributing to the BIGPLAY Network in September 2025. He also contributes to Chicago Sky on SI and FanSided's High Post Hoops. The Purdue and Cleveland State graduate has over two years of journalism experience in collegiate and professional sports, as well as local journalism, and a few more years of sports blogging experience. Though he specializes in covering Ohio sports for BIGPLAY, his interests include the NBA, WNBA, NFL, Cleveland Guardians and college football and basketball.