Women’s basketball continues to grow and expand, far outclassing its past performances and expectations even from the most bullish supporters. Beyond the WNBA, Unrivaled, a springtime league launched this year by creators Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, was a huge success for both domestic and international audiences. Unrivaled is also a fascinating example of what the WNBA can do better. Between injury guarantees, better funding and pay, and actual facilities for players to work out and train, the standards of living are much higher in Unrivaled.
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Dwyane Wade is a part owner of the Chicago Sky, the WNBA team in his hometown. While he should, in theory, be against the success of Unrivaled, as it is a competitor league for the WNBA, he instead sees the improvements made by a player-run league as a worthwhile adoption of better conditions.
The sticking point, as Wade knows, is money. Unrivaled was able to raise a budget of over $150 million through outside investments and TV deals. On the other side of things, the WNBA has a hard salary cap of just about $1.5 million per team, leading to a total expenditure of around $18 million across the league.
Wade took to his podcast to praise the Unrivaled league for setting a high bar that the WNBA must now rise to if not surpass.
“Because I’m on the WNBA side … there’s a lot of things that goes into where the money goes … But, it is a conversation now. Not to talk about the W, but to talk about Unrivaled and what they built…” said Wade. “It’s just incredible that you don’t have to travel for the season in the summer, your family doesn’t have to not see you play … everything you need is right there.”
Wade focused quite a bit on the travel aspect that Unrivaled managed to circumvent. In the WNBA cycle of past years, even big name players would be forced to play abroad due to the low salaries the W provides and high expenses that come with being a professional athlete. A huge reason why Unrivaled pulled in so much talent was because it allowed them to stay stateside.
As Wade said, Unrivaled is building something special in no small part because they put players first, while the WNBA is money- and numbers-focused. The investment into women’s basketball has been returned tenfold, but the actual investment into the players and their bodies is lacking.
Maybe it’s through the challenge that the WNBA now faces from Unrivaled or from getting more voices like Wade’s in the room, but the WNBA is letting its players down, and Unrivaled laid that bare. While Wade didn’t join WNBA ownership for this reason, it may be up to him to do something about it.
Wade’s path to the Chicago Sky
In 2023, Dwyane Wade invested an unknown amount into the Chicago Sky as part of his buying into an ownership group. At the time, Wade said he did it for his children, citing his want for his daughter to create a relationship with basketball in the same way his sons were able to.
“The big part of that is that my son, Zaire, grew up, and he had a dream of being in the NBA,” said Wade. “He had a dream of being like his favorite players. You understand the importance of role models, and so I want my daughter to have that same feeling.”
The Sky are an up-and-coming team, with a pair of impressive sophomores in Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, so their continued success is vital to Wade’s vision.
The former superstar is also using his position and the WNBA’s standing as a progressive league to help support LGBTQ+ youths, with the help of his transgender daughter Zaya. Wade has been praised in the past for his advocacy and continued reassurance to Zaya. His parenting is clearly a huge focus to him, and I’m not sure if there’s a better gift than a whole franchise.
