Two months before the New York Liberty tip off on their quest for a repeat title, a different group of professional women’s basketball players celebrated a championship.
Minutes after leading the Rose Basketball Club to the inaugural Unrivaled championship, Brittney Sykes was the last to enter the postgame news conference. After hitting the winning free throw to clinch the title for the new 3-on-3 league, the Rose guard held the trophy as she jogged up to the podium. The players sat together, bottles of champagne lining the table in between microphones in front of them. They all reached their right hands over their heads in their signature celebration.
“No. 1 in the inaugural season,” Kahleah Copper said. “Shout-out to Unrivaled. No. 1.'”
The Rose was the first champion of the new league that played in Miami this winter, a season that was considered a roaring success. And as the team members lifted the Unrivaled trophy over their heads, it signaled the end of the league’s first season. But it also marked the start of what comes next.
“Any time you have an inaugural anything, you just have to get that first season under your belt. You’ve got to get that sample size,” Skylar Diggins told ESPN. “I’ve been a part of a couple of expansion teams, I’ve been in the [pandemic] bubble. You…
