WNBA Champion Missing Season Shows Risks and Kinks of Unrivaled

Unrivaled was unprecedented. That also means there are some kinks to be ironed out ahead of year two.

The new player-founded, player-owned domestic 3-on-3 women’s basketball league broke major ground with its average salary of $200,000—near the WNBA max—and several other player amenities a number of WNBA teams have yet to establish. But a major injury is a reminder that much about its inaugural season was experimental.

Monday, the New York Liberty announced their star shooting guard, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, will be out for “five to six months” following surgery for a knee injury she sustained as a relief player in Unrivaled. 

She played in just two games for Laces BC before the league announced she would be out for the remainder of the season. 

Specific terms of Unrivaled’s players’ contracts are not public, unlike the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement. According to multiple sources, relief players’ contracts varied per player. Chicago Sky guard Ariel Atkins, for example, was under contract with Fenerbahçe in Turkey before she joined Unrivaled’s Rose BC in February. She was paid a comparable salary to what remained on her Fenerbahçe contract, one source told Front Office Sports. Laney-Hamilton was not playing overseas before being signed by Unrivaled. 

Unrivaled’s relief player strategy will make still-to-be-determined tweaks in season two, a league source told FOS. In year one, contracts for relief players included but were not limited to compensation, championship bonuses valued at $50,000, accommodations in Miami, full access to player amenities, and medical coverage. The length of relief players’ contracts were contingent upon the needs of the league and player availability. 

Relief players’ contracts in Unrivaled are not unlike those of replacement players in the WNBA. 

In the WNBA, replacement players can be signed when multiple players are unavailable under the league’s hardship exception. Those contracts are valued at 75% of the applicable veteran minimum for the full season, and pay is prorated depending on which point in the season they sign. The replacement players must be waived once whoever they are replacing returns from injury, illness, or other extenuating circumstances. 

The biggest difference between Unrivaled’s relief players and the WNBA’s equivalent might be the pool from which they are choosing them. 

WNBA teams are often signing replacement players who have either previously been with the team in training camp or players who have been waived by another team. They could also sign an overseas player. In all of these scenarios, the players don’t have a lengthy ramp-up period. 

Injuries were a bigger problem for Unrivaled’s inaugural season, with several big names missing time, including guard Marina Mabrey, shooting guard Kahleah Copper, and forward Alyssa Thomas. 

The Liberty will now have to address what to do with Laney-Hamilton’s contract for the upcoming season. She signed a two-year extension with the Liberty at the end of the 2023 WNBA season worth $180,000 in 2024 and $185,400 in 2025, according to HerHoopStats.com. The Liberty could opt to suspend Laney-Hamilton, which would clear her salary from the cap and open up a roster spot while allowing the team to maintain control of her player rights. In this case Laney-Hamilton would not be guaranteed her full salary for the 2025 season. The Liberty would also control her player rights without having to issue a qualifying offer during free agency next year. 

The “five to six months” timetable from the Liberty’s press release puts her right up against the WNBA playoffs. If she can return this season and impact the team in a considerable way as they attempt to repeat as champions, then it wouldn’t be in the Liberty’s best interest to suspend her. The team will have until 5 p.m. on May 15, the evening before the season tips off, to make that decision.