Unrivaled 3×3 is taking over Philadelphia on Friday, when the Miami-based league brings pro women's basketball back to the City of Brotherly Love the first time since 1998.
As the league's its first-ever tour stop, Friday's one-off doubleheader — dubbed "Philly is Unrivaled" — is already shaping up to be a success, with Unrivaled selling out the 21,000-seat Xfinity Mobile Arena with tickets averaging $165 each on the secondary market — nearly double the price to see the NBA's Sixers at the same venue.
"I'm just excited for the love from the city. People can really see this as a basketball city. One of the best cities in the world," said Philadelphia product and Rose BC star Kahleah Copper, as her hometown gears up to launch its own WNBA expansion team in 2030.
Friday's Unrivaled event promises a star-studded bill, with Paige Bueckers's Breeze BC first taking on Philly's own Natasha Cloud and the Phantom before Copper and the Rose square off against Marina Mabrey's Lunar Owls.
How to watch the "Philly is Unrivaled" doubleheader
Unrivaled tips off from Philadelphia on Friday when Breeze BC takes on Phantom BC at 7:30 PM ET, before Rose BC faces the Lunar Owls at 8:45 PM ET.
Both "Philly is Unrivaled" clashes will air live on TNT.
Playa Society is honoring the 25th anniversary of the classic sports film "Love & Basketball" this week, with the popular women's basketball outfitter dropping a capsule collection entitled "First Quarter: Ball Better Than You" — an homage to one of the film's iconic quotes.
"This is a love story, about our love for 'Love & Basketball,'" notes Playa Society about the collection. "Our love for [lead character] Monica, who served as the first representation of an unapologetic female athlete in film. Our love for [writer and director] Gina Prince-Bythewood for her persistence in delivering culture and truth. And our love for the energy of it all that inspired Playa Society to fill in the gaps for women in sports."
"I am so humbled by the enduring impact of the film on both ballers and non-athletes, who are inspired by characters who believe in themselves enough to fight for an impossible dream," Prince-Bythewood said of the project.
With New York Liberty teammates and girlfriends Natasha Cloud and Izzy Harrison serving as models, the "First Quarter" collection includes T-shirts, hoodies, and more.
This week's drop is just the first in the works between Prince-Bythewood and Playa Society founder Esther Wallace, with the LA Sentinel describing their collaboration as "blending nostalgia, culture, and women's sports in a way that honors the film while pushing the narrative forward."
How to purchase from Playa Society's "Love & Basketball" collection
All items from the "First Quarter" collection are now available in limited quantities at PlayaSociety.com.
The No. 5 New York Liberty secured the sole upset in the Sunday tip-off of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, topping the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury 76-69 following a tightly contested Game 1 overtime battle.
Liberty guard Natasha Cloud dropped a game-leading 23 points on her former team, while Mercury star Alyssa Thomas neared yet another triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists on the night.
"I'm proud of the way we stuck together, we weathered the runs they went on, and ultimately found a way to win," New York guard Sabrina Ionescu said after the game.
The newly healthy Liberty will hope for full availability in Game 2, though forward Breanna Stewart went down with a knock to the knee in overtime after posting an 18-point performance on Sunday.
"We're just hoping that she will be okay," New York head coach Sandy Brondello said after the game.
Brondello also confirmed that it was Stewart who asked for a sub in overtime after coming down hard on her left knee.
Concerns about the health of the two-time WNBA MVP — who recently returned from missing 13 games with a bone bruise on her right knee — overshadowed the defending champions' comeback win.
How to watch Phoenix vs. New York in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs
The No. 5 Liberty now return to New York looking to knock the No. 4 Mercury out of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs with a Game 2 victory on Wednesday.
The matchup tips off at 8 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.
The No. 5 New York Liberty are creeping back up the ladder, as the defending WNBA champions continued reversing their recent skid with Thursday's 89-63 win over the No. 10 Washington Mystics — all while the race to the 2025 WNBA Playoffs reaches its boiling point.
While Washington rookie Sonia Citron's 18 points led the game, New York pulled together a true team effort to secure Thursday's victory, with five Liberty players scoring double-digits — including a season-high 16 points off the bench from forward Isabelle Harrison in her return from concussion protocol.
"We're not looking at the other teams at this point," Liberty forward Emma Meesseman said after the game. "We're just looking at ourselves, to maybe send a message to ourselves."
Despite that focus, New York is still contending with injury woes that have overshadowed much of the Liberty's season, taking Thursday's court without starters Sabrina Ionescu (toe), Jonquel Jones (illness), and Natasha Cloud (nose), while leaning on recently returned forward Breanna Stewart.
"We need to win the rest of our games," acknowledged Stewart, with the team gearing up for visits to the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury, No. 8 Golden State Valkyries, and No. 7 Seattle Storm over the next week. "We need to go and be road warriors."
The Liberty will have their hands full against the Mercury this weekend, with Phoenix coming in hot off a three-game winning streak with postseason-clinching top-of-mind.
"It's like a playoff matchup," Stewart added. "It's a big game, big implications, and [we're] not shying away from that."
How to watch the New York Liberty this weekend
No. 4 Phoenix will host No. 5 New York at 10 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on NBA TV.
The No. 5 New York Liberty stopped the skid on Monday, as the reigning WNBA champions claimed a tight 81-79 victory over the No. 11 Connecticut Sun with 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart back the starting lineup.
Following her 13-game absence due to a bone bruise, Stewart scored a team-leading 19 points on Monday, offsetting Sun guard Leïla Lacan's game-high 22 points as already-eliminated Connecticut tried to play spoiler in Brooklyn.
"She's just got this relentlessness about her that can rub off on her teammates," New York head coach Sandy Brondello said of Stewart's influence. "She's got the highest motor I've ever seen in a player that just keeps going and going."
The Liberty have struggled with availability all season, losing guards Sabrina Ionescu (foot injury) and Natasha Cloud (nose fracture) to injury in the run-up to Stewart's return as the team slid down the standings.
However, Ionescu joined Stewart in returning to the Liberty court on Monday, with Cloud reportedly on track to rejoin the New York lineup later this week.
With games against the No. 10 Washington Mystics, No. 4 Phoenix Mercury, and No. 7 Golden State Valkyries looming over the next week, the Liberty are hoping their best basketball is still in front of them.
"We're in an uphill battle right now and it's not going to get any easier," Stewart said of the team's upcoming schedule.
How to watch the New York Liberty this week
The No. 5 Liberty will next take the court on Thursday, when New York will host the No. 10 Mystics at 7 PM ET.
Live coverage of the clash will air on Prime.
Liberty fans enjoyed their fill at the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend, as teammates Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud executed a New York sweep of Friday's 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge titles.
Cloud took home the Skills Challenge trophy with a winning time of 36.4 seconds — just 1.1 seconds faster than second-place finisher Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm.
Ionescu then nabbed her second career 3-Point Contest title with a final-round score of 30, tying retired Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley for the second-best single-round record in the event's history. Ionescu's 37 points to win the 2023 edition still stands as the event's all-time mark.
"It's fun — I was so excited for [Cloud]," Ionescu said after her win. "We were talking about it before we even came out here, about being able to participate in it together and cheer each other on."
The hefty prize pool raised the stakes for both players, with a heightened $55,000 going to the Skills Challenge winner while the 3-Point Contest champ picked up $60,000.
Cloud credited her motivation to securing a property down payment with Liberty teammate and partner Isabelle Harrison, saying "You're gonna get that house."
As for Ionescu, her winner's check will be fulfilling a pre-competition promise she made to rookie contender Sonia Citron, who will receive half of Ionescu's earnings while the other half goes to charity.
"That takes a lot of courage to be able to do that [3-Point Contest] as a rookie...I was really proud of her," said Ionescu after the competiton. "The other half will go to my foundation to continue to be able to give back in communities that mean a lot to me."
The WNBA announced superstar lineups for the 2025 All-Star 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge on Tuesday, though the league will have to hope their best laid plans survive to see the weekend.
Along with the previously self-confirmed Sabrina Ionescu (New York) and Sonia Citron (Washington), Friday's 3-Point Contest roster will include Caitlin Clark (Indiana), Kelsey Plum (LA), and reigning event champion Allisha Gray (Atlanta).
Gray will also be defending her 2024 Skills Challenge title, with Natasha Cloud (New York), Skylar Diggins (Seattle), Erica Wheeler (Seattle), and Courtney Williams (Minnesota) looking to usurp the Dream guard on Friday.
Despite the WNBA's confirmation of Clark's long-awaited 3-Point Contest debut, her availability is now in question after the Fever guard appeared to re-aggravate a lingering groin injury, forcing her early exit from Indiana's 85-77 win over Connecticut on Tuesday night.
Fever head coach Stephanie White said afterwards that Clark "felt a little something in her groin," with further evaluation expected as Indiana travels to face New York on Wednesday.
This year's All-Star contingent already suffered one loss, with Atlanta guard Rhyne Howard sidelined with a left knee injury through the end of the month. In her stead, Minnesota guard Kayla McBride will step in, making her fifth career All-Star appearance.
Set to captain one of this weekend's All-Star squads, the WNBA is hoping that Clark is fully available for what's shaping up to be a huge celebration of basketball in Indianapolis.
How to watch the All-Star 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge
The 2025 WNBA All-Star Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will take the Indianapolis court at 8 PM ET on Friday, with both competitions airing live on ESPN.
The 2024 WNBA Finals set the stage for this season in more ways than one, as last year's title contenders — the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty — carry their winning ways into 2025.
The undefeated Lynx cruised to a 5-0 record on Tuesday, downing a surging Seattle Storm 82-77 behind 23 points from guard Courtney Williams.
The reigning champion Liberty are keeping pace at 4-0, earning their fourth win with a 95-67 Tuesday night takedown of 2025 expansion side Golden State. Forward Breanna Stewart's 24 points led New York past the Valkyries.
Liberty, Lynx standouts race up the 2025 WNBA stat sheet
While many WNBA teams spent the offseason instituting major coaching and roster shakeups, the Lynx and Liberty kept last year's lineups mostly intact.
Minnesota star forward Napheesa Collier currently dominates scoring on the WNBA stat sheet with 26.8 points per game, and her block and steal rates are in the league's Top-5.
Meanwhile, teammate Alanna Smith also tops the leaderboard thanks to a 62.5% field goal percentage, and sits in fourth for both block and three-point rates.
The Liberty's Kennedy Burke has also been lights-out, leading the league in three-point percentage at 63.6% while shooting 60.9% from the field — good for fourth on the stat sheet.
Proving New York's few offseason moves were effective is 2025 Liberty addition Natasha Cloud, who sits in second with 8.3 assists per game. At the same time, the team as a whole is outpacing the rest of the league in field goal percentage (49.8%), as well as points (94), assists (25.3), and blocks (6.0) per game.
The league's top dogs won't clash on the court until July 30th — but early odds of a 2024 WNBA Finals rematch closing out the 2025 season grow stronger by the day.
The Seattle Storm made a statement on Sunday, earning an unexpected 20-point blowout win over 2022 and 2023 WNBA champions Las Vegas.
"The effort wasn't there, the discipline wasn't there," Aces head coach Becky Hammon said of her team's struggles on defense during the 102-82 loss. "We're breaking our own rules."
Led by 23 points from forward Nneka Ogwumike and another 21 points off the bench from guard Erica Wheeler, five Storm players posted double-digit performances. Meanwhile, 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga put up an encouraging eight points and five rebounds in her 12 minutes of play.
The big Seattle win spoiled a homecoming of sorts for new Las Vegas guard Jewell Loyd, who requested a trade that saw her exit the Storm after a decade in the Emerald City this offseason. The three-team deal also sent former Aces guard Kelsey Plum to the LA Sparks.
"Honestly, I wanted to win for Jewell and everyone else that came out and supported us, but it's a part of the game," said 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson.
With the win, the Storm jump to fourth in the early WNBA season with a 3-1 record, while Las Vegas falls to eighth at 2-2 — the Aces' slowest start since 2021.
While the Storm is brewing, last year's finalists Minnesota and New York are still the gold standard, with the Lynx and the Liberty now the only two undefeated teams left standing in 2025 play.
New York held off an upstart Fever team 90-88 on Saturday, with new addition Natasha Cloud sealing the Liberty win with a block on Indiana star Caitlin Clark — who was later announced to be missing the next two weeks with a quad strain.
How to watch Tuesday's WNBA action
WNBA play resumes on Tuesday night, with 10 of the league's 13 teams in action.
Tipping the night off at 7 PM ET are New York, who'll host 2025 expansion side Golden State, as well as the Dallas Wings vs. the Connecticut Sun — two teams still hunting their first 2025 season win.
As for Seattle, they'll have to contend with Minnesota in a road clash with the Lynx at 8 PM ET.
All five Tuesday night games will stream live on WNBA League Pass.
The Indiana Fever and New York Liberty will bring winning momentum into their first season clash on Saturday, with each claiming victories in Thursday night's WNBA action.
First, the Fever avenged their lone 2025 season loss, defeating the Dream 81-76 on Atlanta's new home court on Thursday after narrowly falling to the Georgia squad in Indianapolis two days earlier.
Forward Natasha Howard led Indiana with 26 points, with guards Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark posting 17 and 11 points, respectively.
After missing the Fever's first two games with a right ankle sprain, guard Sophie Cunningham came off the bench to put up nine points, six rebounds, and three assists in her season debut on Thursday.
Notably, Clark — no stranger to historic streaks — saw her three-point stretch end in Thursday's win, with the second-year Fever star going cold from beyond the arc for the first time in her WNBA career.
Clark's five three-point misses snapped a 140-game sharpshooting streak that dates back to a matchup against Purdue her sophomore season at the University of Iowa — the only NCAA game in which she failed to make a three.
New York, on the other hand, couldn't miss from deep on Thursday, with the Liberty breaking the WNBA regular-season record with 19 three-pointers in their 99-74 win over the Chicago Sky.
Eight Liberty players contributing to the new three-point mark, with guards Natasha Cloud and Kennedy Burke leading the charge with four threes each in respective 18- and 17-point performances.
The impressive sharpshooting landed the reigning WNBA champs in the regular-season history books, but New York's 19 threes still trail the overall league record of 23, drained by the Las Vegas Aces in a 2022 playoff game.
How to watch the New York Liberty vs. Indiana Fever this weekend
The Liberty will put their 2-0 record to the test in Indiana on Saturday, tipping off against the one-loss Fever at 1 PM ET.
Live coverage of the clash will air on CBS.