Angel Reese’s ‘Can’t Guard’ Dig at Sabrina Ionescu & Other Moments Part of Unrivaled Strategy, Claims Co-Founder

“It’s bigger than just basketball.” That’s how Kate Martin summed up the new 3×3 league. In mapping out the exciting formats, prioritizing players’ financial success, and reaching out to the audience in more ways than one, the co-founders have stepped out to deem that claim true to elevate women’s sports. But it isn’t all on paper. Innovative approaches like the pace of the game or the content have been the way ahead for Unrivaled and Angel Reese may have just contributed significantly.

One of the ways the league has its audience engaged is through the mic’d-up moments or behind-the-scenes. We have heard Napheesa Collier making play calls on the court and Jackie Young lightening the mood during practice. Coach Phil Handy also got the fans hooked with his calmer approach during drills. But more notable of all? Angel Reese taking a subtle dig at Sabrina Ionescu during Nola Henry’s mic’d-up moment.

“Sabrina can’t f—— guard,” she was heard saying during the Phantom BC vs Rose BC game last week. It gained quite a traction on social media, further reaching the New York Liberty icon herself. “lol,” she had said in response. On the Good Game with Sarah Spain podcast, the host brought up the concept, asking if the players are okay with some of the revelations happening there.

“We can hear play calls. We can hear coaches being like ‘she’s not hurt, she’s alright’. We can hear all that stuff. What’s the response from the player so far? Do they like that?… are they like, ‘man, I am gonna get caught,’” she asked Napheesa Collier. The co-founder believes them all to be on board. And for one reason.

via Imago

“I haven’t read anything bad about it. One of the pillars of Unrivaled is the content piece. Brand building is so important to our game, a lot of people don’t realize that we make most of our money off the court and so building your brand is essential to our livelihoods in this career.”

The league reportedly dedicates a salary pool of $8 million, coming down to an average of over $200,000 per player. But as Phee notes, more of their assets come off the court, through brand deals and media visibility becomes important than ever. And they might be doing a fair job at that, considering their social media impressions for the opening week were 31 million. If you ask Sue Bird, that’s the number to look at more than viewership. So the Lynx star is confident her players are on board with the strategies they have adopted.

“So I think they really embrace that. And I think people realize, like we literally all have a vested interest. We all have equity in this league. We need to do everything we can to make sure it’s successful. And one of those things is content,” the co-founder adds.

When Collier and Breanna Stewart first came up with the idea, they were clear about one thing: Unrivaled is a business. League president and Phee’s husband, Alex Bazzell has admitted that the two were adamant about keeping up with the mindset, over-producing for their partners in the process. With an equity stake in the league, it thus becomes an important goal for every player involved too.

Now Angel Reese may not have been aware of the instance attracting the attention it did, but she is certainly contributing to the drama that make conversations.

Angel Reese becomes the first player to get ejected

Angel Reese made an unforgettable mark on Unrivaled history on Saturday, but not in the way she would’ve hoped. The Rose BC star became the first player ever ejected from a game after a dramatic exit late in the second quarter of her team’s dominant 83-69 win over Laces BC.

In a heated moment late in the first half, Angel Reese was called for a foul on Tiffany Hayes. The Chicago Sky star would wave her hand right after, speculatively directed at Hayes. But the official likely perceiving it to be at them, called a technical on Reese. After her attempts to explain, the arguments cost her a second tech, leading to the first ejection in Unrivaled.

She took to the social media later to pen “free me,” alongside a hilarious clip of her in a mock penalty box. It has garnered over a million views as of Monday evening. Looks like confrontations and players being themselves is what the audience is swarming towards and Unrivaled is cracking the code.