Women’s basketball is on the up. After last year’s record-breaking WNBA season viewing numbers, the Unrivaled league promises to be just as, if not more, entertaining. With players from different franchises teaming up, it gives fans the perfect opportunity to see how certain skill sets fit with each other. But for Sue Bird, Unrivaled presents a new challenge. The Storm legend claims, due to the close proximity of the athletes, free-agency talks will be at an all-time high.
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She discussed this with her fiance Megan Rapinoe on their podcast. Bird said she’s interested to see how recruiting talks would be handled, as all the league’s t0p talent would be together for nearly two months during the W’s free-agency season.
Shopping, coffee runs, and practice would be constantly filled with talks of superstars joining forces, and Bird likened it to the environment in Team USA basketball camps for the Olympics and World Cups. She insinuated she was excited to see if the friendships and bonds formed at Unrivaled would potentially change the WNBA’s landscape come the new season, saying
“Oh my God, there’s going to be so many superteams formed. The WNBA free agency chatter that must be happening in the training room when they’re out shopping, when they’re getting some coffee has gotta be next level… They’re together for two months, during free agency. The level of recruiting, I can only imagine.”
The thing Sue Bird thought of the second she heard about Unrivaled and the players joining:
“The WNBA free agency chatter that must be happening in the training room, when they’re out shopping… has gotta be next level… they’re together for two months, during free agency. The… pic.twitter.com/cwZ4YuRxve
— Vanshay Murdock 🎥🎥 (@VanshayM) January 15, 2025
Having played only for the Seattle Storm her entire career, Bird has likely never taken part in these discussions. But as an ever-present member of the USA’s national basketball team, she has seen a lot of conversations happen (or so she claims.)
Free agents in Unrivaled
No list of free agents and potential players to change teams is complete without Satou Sabally. After a disappointing season which saw her play only 15 games, the German guard has claimed she wants a change of scenery. Teams will be scrambling to sign her, as at her best, she is an All-Star.
Names like Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and DiJonnai Carrington also come up, and with the number of eyes on women’s basketball from last year, there is some serious potential for huge shakeups in the WNBA.
It remains to be seen if the most sought-after free agents will be on a different team come next season, but for now, they will want to give their all for Unrivaled, which is set for its inaugural game tip-off on the 17th of January between Stewart’s Mist and Collier’s Lunar Owls.
