The new women’s 3×3 basketball league Unrivaled is an ‘instant hit’ according to The New York Times. However, the league has failed to make an impression on Draymond Green. On a recent episode of his podcast, the Warriors veteran revealed that he tried to watch it, but was ticked off by the lackluster play.
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Green said that he watched Sabrina Ionescu’s game, who plays for the Phantom BC. The quality of the game being played was so poor that the four-time NBA Champion turned his TV off.
He said, “I watched maybe like two seconds of it, I got upset… Sabrina Ionescu was playing and I saw her contest on the three and I turned the TV off.”
Green believes that the contest was “a little tired” which indicated that they weren’t giving it their all on the floor. The 34-year-old said that he has a lot of respect for the female hoopers, but they are not doing justice to the new league.
Despite being unimpressed by the game, Green said that he understands how important this league is. Unrivaled is expected to be the solution for WNBA players as they don’t want to go overseas during the offseason. While Green has his issues with the league, Unrivaled’s first TV ratings are telling a different story.
The Co-Founder of Unrivaled Breanna Stewart talks about how life changing it is for WNBA players pic.twitter.com/S1Av8epUJs
— Josh (@JoshuaOgundu) January 21, 2025
The opening game between the Mist Basketball Club and Lunar Owls Basketball Club garnered an average viewership of 313,000, peaking at 364,000. The second game between the Vinyl BC and the Rose BC averaged 311,000 viewers. The first two games broke some viewership records of the network and the WNBA.
The first two games were the most watched women’s basketball games on TNT Sports. They also surpassed the average viewership of the WNBA’s regular season games on cable by 50%, excluding the games played by Caitlin Clark. So far, Unrivaled seems to be a success, but that can’t discard the valid criticism coming from Green.
The players seem to be too caught up in ensuring that they don’t get injured before the start of a new WNBA season. On the other hand, they are also trying their best to provide the fans with good entertainment. Treading that fine line isn’t going to be an easy task. But for now, they can cherish the fact that the fans have accepted the new league.
