Hi Hoops Fans!

I spent the last five days taking in Unrivaled and all I can say is: aptly named!

The league kicked off with Phee vs. Stewie and Jewell Loyd vs. Skylar Diggins-Smith 👀 on the first night. Things settled in from there, and three teams emerged as early favorites. Diggins-Smith and the Lunar Owls, Kayla McBride and the Laces, and Teresa Weatherspoon’s Vinyl BC are all undefeated.

I was personally impressed by the facility. The experience for the athletes has no match, especially regarding the ability to use the league for development.

Through their partnership with Samsung Galaxy, players wear trackers and collect data they can use to elevate performance and establish individualized training programs. Tablets will provide access to real-time data for each of the league's six teams and coaching staff.

As far as recovery, athletes have access to an infrared sauna, a Finnish sauna, red light bed, two contrast tub rooms with private showers, and two recovery lounges. Unrivaled has also provided access to private sessions with a chiropractor + manual therapist, pilates instructor, and massages. The league also has a private chef on-site daily.

I’ve shared BTS content for our growing Slack Channel. As the social media landscape changes, Slack, YouTube, and our newsletters will be the best places to find our work in real-time.

Join our Slack Channel for FREE to view the genuinely Unrivaled Basketball facilities.

With love,

Erica L. Ayala, Head Black Rosie in Charge (HBIC)

After the first week of play, it’s already clear who came to play, who came to have a good time, and who is still recovering from injury. The Mist, Phantom, and Rose BC teams struggle to find cadence.

Mist player and 2024 WNBA rookie Rickea Jackson emphasized the importance of efficiency, especially as a player coming off the bench.

“I played eight minutes. And it's like, in a real game, you play 40 minutes. So it's like, I just have to be more efficient, focusing more at the beginning of the games. You get short spurts in the game. So it's like you gotta be productive in those short times,” Jackson said.

Her head coach, Phil Handy, followed up by taking responsibility for not doing enough to put Jackson in a position to impact the game.

“It's not her; it's not on her. I will always take responsibility for where I can improve as a coach. So looking at that, yes, I have to do a better job,” he said.

The comments underscore the importance of a good start. For Vinyl player Rae Burrell, Unrivaled is teaching the young star about pace.

“Keeping the pace on whatever we feel is necessary to run, or to not run. It also depends on the personnel that's on the floor. So if it's somebody that we know we can run more against, we're going to run more against. If it's somebody that you know can keep up with that a little bit more, then sometimes we'll be able to slow it down,” she said.

“At the end of the day, I think it's our decision to decide,” adding that is where she’s hoping to grow as the Unrivaled season continues.

Effectively, this season for Rae is focused on game management, and Vinyl, along with the Laces and Lunar Owl are winning at that game.

On the latest edition of Gotta Get Up, we took a look at Courtney Vandersloot’s 2024. Sloot went through a lot last year. She stepped away from the team due to the passing of her mother, Jan. When she returned, she resumed her role as starting point guard and helped push the team to the one seed and best record in the league.

However, her role changed as Leonie Fiebich replaced her in the starting five for the team’s championship run. It was a tough transition for the future Hall of Famer, but she did her best to keep things steady for the team on the court.

At Unrivaled Media Availability, Sloot explained her thought process as we draw closer to free agency.

“I wanna be valued. I want to be competitive,” the Washington native told the media.

Vandersloot and the Liberty both find themselves in fascinating positions. For Sloot, she has shown she’s still a good player and someone who can contribute to a championship contender. She believes that she can take on an increased role while guiding her team to success.

For the Liberty, they have to determine if Vandersloot wants to return it will likely be at a reduced salary ( she earned $194,670 in 2024) and as a reserve player. The new starting five carried the day in the postseason, and the Liberty’s wing depth was the deciding factor in their championship.

Can they come to an agreement that will keep Vandersloot on the team while giving her the minutes and roles she thinks she can excel in?

Time will tell.

As the WNBA calendar draws closer to signing day, the champs will have some tough decisions to make.

The Seattle Storm has PLENTY to figure out decisions before Opening Night. One player they won’t have to worry about is Ezi Magbegor.

In the latest episode of Tempestade Talk, Erica and Roberta Rodrigues took a deep dive into Ezi’s 2024:

As Roberta mentioned, Ezi has improved each season and is already considered a top defensive player. In 2024, Magbegor:

As Erica noted in this episode:

“Ezi has the potential and skill set right now to be a go-to player.”

At just 25 years old, Magbegor will be a critical part of the Storm’s future as they try to become contenders again.

Leading up to the big debut on January 17, the Unrivaled team went behind the scenes with Boardroom. In a wide-ranging cover story, Vinciane Ngomsi got a firsthand look at what the new league is putting together.

We got to hear from the players as they discussed the importance of the league, how they went about finding investors, every player receiving equity in the league, and the exciting future it may lead to. There was also a discussion about the fan experience, and former TNT Sports executive David Levy gave what I thought was a fascinating answer.

This quote stands out when thinking of the WNBA’s TV future. Last summer, the W inked a new, 11-year media rights contract with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal. With the new contract, we will be seeing more investment in the game along with better, more expansive coverage.

In the Boardroom story, Collier mentioned that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was “really supportive,” gave guidance on the logistics of game day preparation, and offered some of her contacts.

In looking at the partners and sponsors Unrivaled has already connected to, we see that they’re off to an amazing start off the court as well.

“It’s a great time for women’s sports,” Courtney Vandersloot said at Unrivaled Media Day. “And the CBA being up, we’re gonna push the envelope and make sure that we’re taken care of as elite athletes.”

The league is off to a tremendous start, with room to grow.

There hasn’t been much movement at the top of the standings, as UCLA keeps cooking behind a great season by Lauren Betts who set a program record for blocks in a win over Baylor on Monday.

AP Rankings (as of January 20):

1 UCLA

2 South Carolina

3 Notre Dame

4 USC

5 LSU

6 UConn

7 Texas

8 Maryland

9 TCU (↑1)

10 Kansas State (↑1)

11 Kentucky (↑1)

12 Ohio State (↓3)

13 North Carolina (↑1)

14 Duke (↑2)

15 Oklahoma (↓2)

16 West Virginia (↑4)

17 Tennessee (↓2)

18 Georgia Tech (↓1)

19 Alabama

20 North Carolina State (↑1)

21 Michigan State (↑1)

22 California (↓4)

23 Minnesota (↑1)

24 Michigan

25 Baylor

At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in women’s basketball.

Here’s what we’re reading:

If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider subscribing to receive the latest updates from Black Rosie Media directly in your inbox—it's completely FREE! Feel free to share this with a friend so they can also stay informed.

Join our Black Rosie Media Slack Channel to interact directly with our contributors, participate in game-day chats, and much more!

You can also connect with us on BlueSky, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube!