Unrivaled announces Alyssa Thomas and Stef Dolson signings

The expansion of six additional roster spots means that each of the six teams in the league will have six players. The league will be played in a 3×3 format on a smaller court in Miami, Florida, with tip-off set for Jan. 17, 2025. Each team will also have a head coach, an assistant coach and a team manager.

The signing of Thomas adds another women’s basketball veteran to the league. Thomas has played 10 full seasons in the WNBA (11 if you include her two-game season in 2021), is an Olympic Gold medalist with Team USA, as well as a long list of accomplishments in international basketball. Notably, she’s played her entire WNBA career with the Connecticut Sun, reaching multiple WNBA Finals.

Thomas holds the WNBA record for most career triple-doubles with 15 total, and is also the only player in league history to have multiple playoff triple-doubles. She has recorded 11 in the regular season and four in the playoffs. Her versatility as a scorer, playmaker and defender allow her to make an impact everywhere on the floor, contributing to why she is referred to as “the engine.” She gets her team going when they need her most.

Order ‘Rare Gems’ and save 30%

Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, released his next book on May 7, 2024. This deeply reported story follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.

If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.

Meanwhile, Dolson, another veteran of the sport, is player No. 32 in the league. She played college basketball for the UConn Huskies, winning two national championships and was a part of the Chicago Sky’s 2021 WNBA Championship team, also winning an Olympic Gold Medal that year with the Team USA 3×3 team. In the 2024 WNBA season, Dolson played for the Washington Mystics. She’s also played for the New York Liberty.

While the Unrivaled league has not announced which teams any of the players will be representing, they have announced the team identities. The six teams will be names the Laces, the Vinyl, the Rose, the Phantom, the Lunar Owls and the Mist. While none of these teams have any affiliation to cities, they were designed to possibly be matched with geographical locations in the future. Players will be chosen for teams by a selection committee that will even out the players based on skill set and positioning needs.

The league also announced the hiring of former Minnesota Lynx general manager Clare Duwelius as the league’s executive vice president and general manager this week. Duwelius served as the Lynx’s general manager from 2022-2024.

Unrivaled aims to begin a new era for professional women’s basketball players, where they can play in North America during the WNBA offseason. The league was founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, giving players a domestic offseason league that would help them avoid the WNBA’s prioritization rules and help supplement their income.

The league also boasts the highest average salary in U.S. women’s professional sports as well as a minimum six-figure salary. Unrivaled will also offer all 36 of the league’s original players equity in the league and has also already signed college star Paige Bueckers to an NIL deal, with Bueckers set to join the league in 2026.

Unrivaled also announced a multi-year media partnership with TNT Sports, with the network being the primary broadcaster for the league.

Thomas and Dolson bring the league’s announced players to 32, with four remaining players yet to be announced. As reported by Noa Dalzell of SB Nation, the league will announce the remaining players by Nov. 20, with more announcements regarding the league set to be released soon.

Win a New York Liberty trading card when you subscribe!

Until the end of November, every new subscriber (and subscription renewal) to The Next will be entered to win a Panini trading card celebrating the WNBA champion New York Liberty. And maybe, just maybe, it will be the highly coveted Ellie rookie card!