The Connecticut Sun made a big transfer just before the WNBA’s Olympic break, acquiring guard Marina Mabrey from the Chicago Sky. Mabrey is a talented player who will immediately upgrade the Sun’s starting lineup and make a championship run a realistic possibility for Connecticut. She also recently committed to play in another basketball league.
According to multiple sources on social media, Mabrey has agreed to join the basketball league Unrivaled.
“See you in Miami!!! Who could be player 14/30???” Mabrey said in a social media post in response to the news that she has joined Unrivaled.
Mabrey is only the 13th player to join the league, which starts early next year.
Mabrey also made her regular season debut with the Connecticut Sun last night in a 109-91 win over the Dallas Wings. She scored 17 points and played 30 minutes in her first game as a member of the Sun.
Fans of the Connecticut Sun may be wondering: What is Unrivaled?
Sun fans may be wondering: What is Unrivalled?
Unrivaled is a three-on-three basketball league announced in July 2023. It was founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Nepheesa Collier.
The league has a 10-15% ownership pool for players, allowing them to earn extra money. Unrivaled has aggressively recruited WNBA players to fill the league with talented, well-known players.
Unrivaled will feature six franchises with a total of 30 players. Sun guard Marina Mabrey is the number 13 player to join the league.
The league is also promising a higher minimum compensation for players, which should appeal to pretty much every WNBA player. Unrivaled’s 30-game salary cap will be at least $7.5 million, promising an average salary of $250,000. This exceeds the WNBA supermax contract value of $241,000.
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“Women’s sports are so on the rise and it feels like everyone is benefiting from it except the women in the sport. That’s obviously something we want to change and then also create intergenerational wealth for those women,” Collier said in May, via The Athletic. “From the beginning, (Stewart) and I wanted to create a league based on the principle that players deserve compensation and ownership that reflects their value.”
Other WNBA stars who have already chosen Unrivaled include:
- Arike Ogunbowale
- Kelsey Plum
- Kahleah Copper
- Jewell Lloyd
- Angel Reese
Unrivaled also has the commitment of Paige Bueckers from UConn, a projected top draft pick.
The league will start in January 2025.
