Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball hit an injury wall this weekend, forcing the inaugural offseason league to cancel one regular-season game and truncate this week's 1v1 tournament.

With multiple Laces players sidelined, the league called off the team's Saturday night matchup against Vinyl BC.

Similarly, after seven participants had to pull out of Unrivaled's hotly anticipated 30-player 1v1 tournament, the league responded by shortening the contest's first round.

With all teams camped together on Unrivaled's Miami campus, specific details concerning player availability as well as injury type and severity have been tough to come by.

Laces stars Alyssa Thomas (knee) and Tiffany Hayes (concussion) both exited the 1v1 tournament after suffering injuries in previous Unrivaled matchups, putting their fitness statuses in question as the 2025 WNBA season looms.

Fellow Laces standouts Kayla McBride and Kate Martin, plus Rose BC's Brittney Sykes and Phantom stars Natasha Cloud and Marina Mabrey, will not participate. The withdrawal is "due to lingering injuries and to prioritize player wellbeing for regular-season games," per Unrivaled.

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Injuries shrink Unrivaled 1v1 tournament's first round

Instead of a planned 14 games split across an afternoon session and an evening set on Monday, the now eight-game opening round of the league's 1v1 contest will occur in a single night of competition.

In an effort to maintain the original bracket as much as possible, Unrivaled decided against making any changes to its first-round matchups.

Because of this, five additional athletes will join the previously announced Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale in snagging first-round byes, with Courtney Williams, DiJonai Carrington, Satou Sabally, Rae Burrell, and Azurá Stevens now also set to tip off their 1v1 journeys during Tuesday's second round.

Unrivaled's reliance on short, elite rosters has spelled heated competition on a star-stacked court, but the strategy is now revealing its shortcomings. Such slim margins leave the league scrambling whenever one of their players — all of whom plan to return to the WNBA in mid-May — needs a break to prioritize rest and recovery.

Mist BC's DiJonai Carrington dribbles the ball during an Unrivaled 3x3 game.
DiJonai Carrington is one of five players who now have 1v1 tournament byes because of league injuries. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

How to watch Unrivaled's 1v1 tournament

The three-day competition tips off its eight-game first round at 7 PM ET on Monday. Both the second round and quarterfinals are set to begin at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with the semifinals and finals slated for Friday at 7:30 PM ET.

All games will air live on truTV, with TNT also broadcasting Monday's and Friday's sessions.

The WNBA is all shook up, as the league's February 1st free agency signing day radically reshaped rosters from coast to coast.

In the largest offseason trade so far, the Phoenix Mercury and Dallas Wings took the buyer's market by storm while the Connecticut Sun sent starters packing in preparation for a major rebuild. Along with the Indiana Fever, these four teams moved a total of 13 players and 18 assets, making it the most prolific single trade in WNBA history.

Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut) and Satou Sabally (Dallas) headlined the deal, joining Phoenix alongside Dallas's Kalani Brown and Sevgi Uzun.

Connecticut took Phoenix's Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen (who's reportedly moving on to Chicago), plus Dallas's Jacy Sheldon and a first-round draft pick.

Indiana picked up Sophie Cunningham (Phoenix), Jaelyn Brown (Dallas), and a second-round draft pick.

To close it out, Dallas's haul included DiJonai Carrington (Connecticut), Ty Harris (Connecticut), and NaLyssa Smith (Indiana) as well as additional player considerations and draft futures.

That blockbuster four-team transaction comes on the heels of last week's history-making trade between the LA Sparks, Las Vegas Aces, and Seattle Storm, which became official over the weekend. The league's first-ever trade involving multiple former No. 1 draft picks sent Las Vegas's Kelsey Plum to the Sparks and Seattle's Jewell Loyd to the Aces, with the Storm grabbing the 2025 WNBA Draft's No. 2 pick.

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More WNBA teams flex free agency muscles

Phoenix and Dallas weren't the only teams profiting off of Connecticut's reshuffling, as 2025 postseason hopefuls Indiana and Atlanta jumped into the market.

Sun standout DeWanna Bonner and three-time WNBA champion Natasha Howard (Dallas) both inked one-year deals with the Fever, joining recently re-signed All-Star Kelsey Mitchell in Indiana.

The Atlanta Dream complemented last week's game-changing Brittney Griner pick-up by netting Connecticut forward Brionna Jones.

Other teams have also kept their names in the mix, with Chicago officially bringing back two-time WNBA champion Courtney Vandersloot, who spent 12 seasons with the Sky before her title-winning stint with the Liberty.

The Sky are also reportedly courting Sparks free agent Kia Nurse after sending guard Lindsay Allen and the rights to forward Nikolina Milic to the Sun in exchange for Australia Opals star Rebecca Allen.

In another key free agency signing, Connecticut is bringing eight-time All-Star Tina Charles back after drafting the 36-year-old first overall in 2010.

With the free agency floodgates fully open and a highly anticipated new CBA prompting a wave of one-year deals, even more big-name signings are likely ahead of April's WNBA Draft.

Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud had a bone to pick with the WNBA defensive award selections, and she set off a chain reaction of grievances from coaches and players across the league.

Cloud took exception to WNBA awards voting after being shut out for the Defensive Player of the Year award and the all-defensive team selections.

“Voting for this league is a joke,” Cloud wrote on social media in a now-deleted post, before alluding to awards voting boiling down to politics in another post.

Mystics head coach Eric Thibault also weighed in, calling Cloud’s absence “hard to understand.”

“Removing positions for the All-Defense teams is mostly to blame,” he wrote. “Stats are how people largely vote on/explain these awards, and that means steals, blocks, and rebounds. Two of those three immediately skew towards bigs.

Los Angeles Sparks guard Lexie Brown had a similar thought, asking on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: “What do guards need to do more to be considered elite defenders?”

Chicago Sky guard Courtney Williams proposed a change to the voting pool. A national panel of 60 sportswriters and broadcasters voted on the Defensive Player of the Year award and the all-defensive teams, but Williams would prefer voters from within the league itself.

“Yeah they should let players and coaches vote on these awards,” Williams wrote on X. “It’s just different having to scout and play against it night in and night out.”

After the kerfuffle over the defensive awards, Chicago Sky forward Isabelle Harrison looked forward to the announcement of the 2023 WNBA MVP, which is set for Tuesday. Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson are the front-runners for the award.

“Before MVP is announced, trust me when I say, if (Alyssa Thomas) doesn’t win IMO, the credibility of this award tremendously drops,” she wrote on X. “Obviously no disrespect to others considered for it but plz plz plzzzz respect the year she’s having.”

Natasha Cloud is taking exception to WNBA awards voting after being shut out for the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award and the all-defensive team selections.

A’ja Wilson won the award as the top defensive player for the second year in a row, and Alyssa Thomas, Brittney Sykes and Betnijah Laney all received votes. Sykes and Thomas were named to the all-defensive first team alongside Wilson, as were Jordin Canada and Breanna Stewart.

Laney, Napheesa Collier, Ezi Magbegor, Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams were named to the all-defensive second team.

For the Washington Mystics in 2023, Cloud averaged 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks per game, while also pulling down 3.7 rebounds per game, including a career-high 3.5 defensive rebounds. All of those metrics ranked outside of the top 20 in the league. Her defensive rating (104) also put her outside the top 20.

“Voting for this league is a joke,” Cloud wrote on social media in a now-deleted post, before alluding to awards voting boiling down to politics in another post. She called it “one hell of a thing.”

“Cause y’all really f–ing playing with me,” she finished.

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In a now-deleted tweet, Natasha Cloud called out WNBA awards voting.

While Cloud did make the all-defensive first team in 2022, she called out WNBA awards voting in 2021, when she also was left off the all-defensive teams. In 2022, she averaged 3.1 defensive rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.3 blocks, and in 2021, she averaged 3.2 defensive rebounds, a career-high 1.4 steals and 0.1 blocks.

Mystics head coach Eric Thibault also weighed in on the 2023 WNBA awards on social media, congratulating Sykes for her “well-deserved” selection to the all-defensive first team but questioning Cloud’s absence, which he called “hard to understand.”

“Removing positions for the All-Defense teams is mostly to blame,” he wrote. “Stats are how people largely vote on/explain these awards, and that means steals, blocks, and rebounds. Two of those three immediately skew towards bigs.

“I don’t think we’re going to see many guards on All-D teams going forward unless they are at the top in steals, like (Sykes) and Canada. … All that to say, there aren’t 10 players better at the craft of playing defense than (Cloud).”

Natasha Cloud may have been talking a lot before the Mystics Game 2 matchup with the Liberty, but she backed it up with a record-breaking performance.

Before the game, Cloud said that Sabrina Ionescu would be in for a “rude awakening” in Game 2. She held Ionescu to just 11 points, a 36.4 percent field goal percentage and just 33.3 percent from three-point range.

“She backed it up,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault said. “It was probably one of the best games of her career.”

“I was going to be a villain and was going to be a dog tonight,” Cloud said postgame. “And I was going to stay on Sabrina for as much as I could. It is what it is. I also want to establish myself. I am a first-team all-defense. I don’t get the credit.”

And for all of the talk, Cloud still holds a lot of respect for Ionescu. The two hugged it out on the court postgame.

“I know I talk s–t, I know I was in Sabrina’s stuff and took a few hard fouls,” she said. “Even though I take that villain role in the game, I have a lot of respect for who Sabrina is, what she is to our league, who she is as a player. Iron sharpens iron, and that’s what I said to her.

“I really do respect her as a player, enough that I had to make her my primary focus in Game 2. But I just wanted to make sure I said that because everyone loves [WNBA] beef. But I talked my s–t and I had to come in and cash that deposit that I made.”

For all of her defensive feats, Cloud was just as good offensively to the point that the Barclays Center crowd cheered her on her way off the court. Her performance caught the eyes of many, including LeBron James.

She had 33 points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals. In doing so, she became the first player in WNBA playoff history to have 30+ points, 5+ assists, 5+ rebounds and 4+ steals in a game. She also is the first player in WNBA playoffs history to have at least 33 points, nine assists and six rebounds in a game.

Only three other players – Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray – have ever put up those numbers in a WNBA game. And none had more than one steal in those games, which came in the regular season.

“I’ve been in D.C. for eight years,” Cloud said. “This is the only team that looked at me coming out of college. This is the only coaching staff that believed in me. I went through a lot of growing pains throughout my career. To be where I am today, I’m really proud, and I know the young version of myself would be proud.”

Natasha Cloud is calling out the inappropriate behavior she experienced from a WNBA fan outside of the Phoenix Mercury’s arena.

Following the Washington Mystics’ 100-77 win, Cloud walked outside the arena and was accosted by a fan. She described the interaction in a series of posts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“I have no issue taking pictures with or signing anything for fans,” Cloud wrote. But what she experienced as she left Footprint Center was “too much.”

The fan “demanded” an autograph, then called out the Mystics guard for the long wait, “as if she was irritated I just played a game,” Cloud wrote. After that, Cloud was “inappropriately grabbed and aggressively spun by that same fan” while taking a photo.

“We are human beings bro. And entitlement and aggressiveness towards us is unacceptable,” Cloud concluded. “I never say no to fans. I don’t want to start to for my own protection. So let’s start showing all of us some respect.”

With injured players making their returns to the court, the Washington Mystics look like a completely different team compared to just weeks ago.

For the first time since early June, Washington has a healthy roster. Elena Delle Donne and Shakira Austin, who both missed significant time with injuries, are back on the court. And in Tuesday’s 83-72 win over the Lynx, not a single name was listed on the injury report.

“It was just a really dope moment,” Natasha Cloud told the Washington Post. “We’ve been through f—ing hell.

“It was a rough month and a half [of] playing down numbers, playing crazy lineups, having to adjust in a lot of minutes. So just to have everyone back [when] we’re making this playoff push and we’re really starting to peak and putting some wins together, it’s like the sweetest moment of the season for me right now.”

Kristi Toliver also made her return Tuesday, playing for the first time since June 16 after suffering from plantar fasciitis. And while Toliver, Delle Donne, Austin and Ariel Atkins remain on minute restrictions, it’s a step in the right direction.

With Tuesday’s win, the Mystics leapfrogged the Lynx into the fifth playoff spot. The Mystics (17-18) now hold a half-game lead on Minnesota and Atlanta with five games left in the regular season.

“It’s huge,” Brittney Sykes said of the win. “No, seriously, it is really big. We don’t want to get too caught up in looking ahead or thinking about, ‘Oh, well, if these teams win, if we win it, if we lose, they lose’ — it’s literally controlling our controllables.”

Of course, the team still has to juggle its returning players and monitor their progress. But the Mystics could be coming together at just the right time.

“It was good to have options,” head coach Eric Thibault said. “It feels a little choppy yet, kind of because I’m putting people in and yanking them out. We didn’t get a great rhythm, but we made some shots. Made some shots late in the clock, which was probably the difference in the game. We’ve been on the wrong end of a couple of those. We kept defending. I don’t know if we win this game earlier in the season.”

The Dallas Wings’ loss Sunday to the Chicago Sky featured two ejections and a fight during a chippy WNBA weekend, one which has resulted in one suspension and seven fines for players.

Wings star Arike Ogunbowale, one of the players ejected Sunday, gave voice afterward to a question that has echoed across the league this season: What is going on with the referees?

Ogunbowale received her second ejection of the season for making unnecessary contact with an official with 52 seconds left in the game. The 26-year-old guard’s shoulder knocked against the referee’s shoulder, which led to the technical foul and ejection.

“[The referee] was looking for something. I just watched it back a million times,” Ogunbowale said after the game. “I don’t know what’s going on this year with the refs but that was the worst call I’ve ever seen in my life.”

While Ogunbowale avoided a suspension, she did receive a fine for her contact with the official and for her postgame comments. Sky forward Ruthy Hebard received a one-game suspension and a fine for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation earlier in the game, and her teammate Courtney Williams received a fine for doing the same.

The WNBA also handed out punishments for an altercation during Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics. Los Angeles’ Layshia Clarendon and Washington’s Ariel Atkins, Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin all received fines.

Mystics players Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud both have expressed frustration with WNBA officiating this season. In May, Delle Donne criticized the referees for treating her “like a rookie with calls.” In July, Cloud had even harsher words for the referees.

“I don’t care what pipeline refs we have coming through. I don’t care,” she said. “We have to do our job every single night. You need to do yours. This is bull—t. This is f–king bull–t.”

In June, Atlanta Dream coach Tanisha Wright questioned the officiating in one of her team’s games, particularly a flagrant-one call on New York Liberty guard Stefanie Dolson that Wright believes warranted a flagrant-two and an ejection.

“We’re expected to play at a high level every single night… The officials need to be able to rise to that same occasion. They should be held to that same standard,” Wright said. “They’re going to fine me for this, but I’m challenging them to raise their standards… Officiating needs to get better, period.”

Also in June, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd — after scoring a career-high 41 points — took time to call out officiating issues.

“Protect the players,” Loyd said. “It’s not just us. Every single team has said something about the refs. That tells you that something is going wrong in that department. You expect high-level players, we expect high-level refs. We’re not getting that every single night.”

Natasha Cloud is fed up with WNBA officiating.

Following the Washington Mystics’ 97-92 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, Cloud called out the referees in no uncertain terms. The Mystics “do not get calls,” she said. She also noted that she did not care about a potential fine, saying: “I’m going to get my money’s worth.”

“I don’t care what pipeline refs we have coming through. I don’t care,” she told the Washington Post’s Kareem Copeland. “We have to do our job every single night. You need to do yours. This is bull—t. This is f–king bull–t.”

The Mystics were cited for 18 personal fouls, resulting in 23 free throws shot by the Lynx, of which they made 19. Meanwhile, the Lynx were called for just eight fouls, and the Mystics went 4-of-4 on their free throws.

“This is crazy. Can’t even do our jobs and have an even game,” Cloud continued. “Four to f–king 24. We shot four free throws for 40 minutes. Four free throws. … It’s real. And the Washington Mystics are tired of not getting f–king calls.”

As the final score showed, the Mystics and the Lynx played a close game, so the free throw discrepancy affected the game’s result. And this is not the first time this season that a Mystics player has called out officiating issues

Elena Delle Donne, who missed the majority of the past three seasons with injuries, called out WNBA referees in May, saying that she is being treated “like a rookie.” Delle Donne has been out since July 9 with an ankle injury.

“I’m just going to say it,” Delle Donne said. “I’m so sick of being treated like a rookie with calls. If I get fined — whatever. It’s unbelievable. I’ve been through too many back surgeries to — whatever.

“I just keep attacking, in the end I hope that because I can elevate and jump over people, you can see that my arm is getting hit. I just keep attacking and hoping that it’ll change. Hopefully it’ll change next game, but there’s really nothing you can do in those moments.”

Natasha Cloud knows some people haven’t yet woken up to what’s possible for the Washington Mystics this year.

“Y’all can keep sleeping (on us),” the five-foot-nine guard said after the Mystics defeated the New York Liberty, 80-64, to open the 2023 WNBA season.

“We’re confident in what we have in this locker room and you can continue to talk about the super hero teams. But we know who we are and we know what we bring every single night.”

While the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces made huge offseason moves, the Mystics’ path to the start of the WNBA season was more subtle. Elena Delle Donne, who has dealt with a back injury for three straight seasons, says she is as strong as she’s ever been. And she looked it on Friday night, recording 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals against the Liberty. Cloud, Ariel Atkins, and Kristi Toliver also added double-digit points.

While Liberty fans might have been surprised by the result, Delle Donne wasn’t.

“It’s what we’ve been doing in training camp. And we don’t care about the outside noise,” the two-time WNBA MVP said. “We don’t care about the storylines. It’s not going to change how we show up every single day, take care of one another and get the work we need to get done each day.”

As for the New York “super hero” team?

“This was a huge lesson for us,” Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot said.

“We can learn a lot from this,” echoed Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. “The team with the most chemistry certainly won tonight. We were not very good, and they were very good.”