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Staying home, getting healthy and familiar with new teammates in the Unrivaled league during the WNBA offseason might be vital to the Phoenix Mercury's success this year.
The inaugural Unrivaled 3-on-3 league's season in Miami provided its 36 elite WNBA players the offseason conditioning and incentivized compensation to not fly more than 10 hours to Europe and Asia for lucrative salaries during the WNBA's seven-month break.
The Mercury's top three players Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas competed in Unrivaled from January to March. They were available at the first day of training camp on April 27 with the Mercury's younger roster this season.
“It’s a huge advantage, especially for such a new group," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said at practice Sunday, May 4. "They were here a couple weeks early, so we got to go through some different drills and show them film and stuff like that. Those times help, right? Because now they know what we’re doing and then the new people come in.”
Depending on how well their would-be international team fared in their league's playoffs, those team schedules overseas could've overlapped with the start of the players' WNBA camp.
Launched in May 2024, Unrivaled was the brainchild of the WNBA defending champion New York Liberty's two-time MVP Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx.
Unrivaled boasts a gaudy list of investors, ranging from celebrities, media moguls and Hall of Famers such as Carmelo Anthony and Phoenix Suns legend Steve Nash. The 3-on-3 league had six teams and each player was paid a six-figure salary, averaging $200,000.
“The most exciting thing about Unrivaled was just not going overseas," Thomas said at the Mercury's media day on April 30. "As somebody who’s spent their whole career playing year-round, it was a great switch-up to be in Miami and just focus on what you needed to focus on. It’s been a long time since I’ve just been able to work on my game and do the type of (weight) lifts that I wanted to do. It was just really refreshing and it was a time to just reset," Thomas added.
Copper, Phoenix's top returnee and the WNBA's third-best scorer last season, was on the Unrivaled's champion Rose BC. She played with Chicago Sky's 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up Angel Reese and Las Vegas Aces All-Star Chelsea Gray. Thomas was a member of Laces BC.
Copper ended her Unrivaled season early because of a right leg injury on Feb. 7, more than a month before Rose won the title on March 17.
The 30-year-old Copper got a much-needed break for about two months to recover instead of playing abroad, followed by a short turnaround, which was the norm after she entered the WNBA in 2016. She was a EuroLeague regular-season MVP in 2022, just months after she led her former team, Chicago, to the 2021 WNBA title over Phoenix.
Last season, Phoenix was the WNBA's oldest team that barely made the playoffs as a No. 7 seed on a 19-21 record. Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner were two of the Mercury's Big 3 with Copper. Griner, who played in Unrivaled on Phantom BC with Sabally, left the Mercury for the Atlanta Dream as a free agent in January. Taurasi retired after 20 years in February.
Although Taurasi and the 13-year veteran Griner didn't play overseas last offseason, they had a lot of miles on their legs and frequent travel from most of their off-season pro career in Russia.
Also, Griner, Taurasi and Copper each played on Team USA during the WNBA's Olympic break last year, right after the All-Star break in late July through mid-August. Copper's Rose BC teammate Gray won a gold medal with Copper, Griner, Taurasi and Thomas at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Unrivaled was great because having everyone in one spot, just not having to travel. It might seem like a small thing, but not having to travel is a lot," Copper said at media day. "It takes a lot on your body. You're able to just be in one place. Also, able to connect with your teammates, other teams.”
Phoenix plays its first preseason game at the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday, May 6, followed by another preseason game at home on May 11 against the Golden State Valkyries. The Mercury will open the regular season on May 17 at home vs. the Seattle Storm.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mercury got 'huge advantage' from Unrivaled entering training camp
Continue reading...
The inaugural Unrivaled 3-on-3 league's season in Miami provided its 36 elite WNBA players the offseason conditioning and incentivized compensation to not fly more than 10 hours to Europe and Asia for lucrative salaries during the WNBA's seven-month break.
The Mercury's top three players Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas competed in Unrivaled from January to March. They were available at the first day of training camp on April 27 with the Mercury's younger roster this season.
“It’s a huge advantage, especially for such a new group," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said at practice Sunday, May 4. "They were here a couple weeks early, so we got to go through some different drills and show them film and stuff like that. Those times help, right? Because now they know what we’re doing and then the new people come in.”
Depending on how well their would-be international team fared in their league's playoffs, those team schedules overseas could've overlapped with the start of the players' WNBA camp.
Launched in May 2024, Unrivaled was the brainchild of the WNBA defending champion New York Liberty's two-time MVP Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx.
Unrivaled boasts a gaudy list of investors, ranging from celebrities, media moguls and Hall of Famers such as Carmelo Anthony and Phoenix Suns legend Steve Nash. The 3-on-3 league had six teams and each player was paid a six-figure salary, averaging $200,000.
“The most exciting thing about Unrivaled was just not going overseas," Thomas said at the Mercury's media day on April 30. "As somebody who’s spent their whole career playing year-round, it was a great switch-up to be in Miami and just focus on what you needed to focus on. It’s been a long time since I’ve just been able to work on my game and do the type of (weight) lifts that I wanted to do. It was just really refreshing and it was a time to just reset," Thomas added.
Copper, Phoenix's top returnee and the WNBA's third-best scorer last season, was on the Unrivaled's champion Rose BC. She played with Chicago Sky's 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up Angel Reese and Las Vegas Aces All-Star Chelsea Gray. Thomas was a member of Laces BC.
Copper ended her Unrivaled season early because of a right leg injury on Feb. 7, more than a month before Rose won the title on March 17.
The 30-year-old Copper got a much-needed break for about two months to recover instead of playing abroad, followed by a short turnaround, which was the norm after she entered the WNBA in 2016. She was a EuroLeague regular-season MVP in 2022, just months after she led her former team, Chicago, to the 2021 WNBA title over Phoenix.
Last season, Phoenix was the WNBA's oldest team that barely made the playoffs as a No. 7 seed on a 19-21 record. Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner were two of the Mercury's Big 3 with Copper. Griner, who played in Unrivaled on Phantom BC with Sabally, left the Mercury for the Atlanta Dream as a free agent in January. Taurasi retired after 20 years in February.
Although Taurasi and the 13-year veteran Griner didn't play overseas last offseason, they had a lot of miles on their legs and frequent travel from most of their off-season pro career in Russia.
Also, Griner, Taurasi and Copper each played on Team USA during the WNBA's Olympic break last year, right after the All-Star break in late July through mid-August. Copper's Rose BC teammate Gray won a gold medal with Copper, Griner, Taurasi and Thomas at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Unrivaled was great because having everyone in one spot, just not having to travel. It might seem like a small thing, but not having to travel is a lot," Copper said at media day. "It takes a lot on your body. You're able to just be in one place. Also, able to connect with your teammates, other teams.”
Phoenix plays its first preseason game at the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday, May 6, followed by another preseason game at home on May 11 against the Golden State Valkyries. The Mercury will open the regular season on May 17 at home vs. the Seattle Storm.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mercury got 'huge advantage' from Unrivaled entering training camp
Continue reading...
