Aliyah Boston to play in Unrivaled 3x3 basketball league
One day after Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull was announced, 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston becomes the 30th player announced. Plus, Unrivaled is making room for six more players.
Another Indiana Fever is on board to play in the upstart winter basketball league Unrivaled.
Fever center Aliyah Boston is the latest player to be announced for the six-team 3x3 league that begins play in January. On Wednesday, guard Lexie Hull officially entered the league, the first Fever player to do so.
Coming off her unanimous Rookie of the Year selection in 2023, Boston started in all 40 games this past summer and averaged 14 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
“I feel like the progress I've made would definitely be just continuing to make the right reads, especially on the short roll,” Boston said at her exit interview.
“Going into next year, I think I have a better idea of one, how we like to play, the pace like to play at, exactly how defenders guard Caitlin, how they guard Kelsey and stuff like that. And just understanding what my position is going to be and just making sure I'm able to dominate in all of it.”
Unrivaled is a different league, however. It’s 3-on-3 hoops. One of the biggest appeals to the league is how it provides players with the highest average salaries in women’s professional sports history, along with equity.
The league was co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
Boston is the 30th player on board for the 2025 inaugural season. She’s also expected to continue her work on TV as a women’s college basketball analyst.
Now, even before they play their first game, Unrivaled has decided to expand to 36 players after originally planning to launch with 30.
“We’re able to do this because we outperformed our financial projections,” Collier said in an announcement. “And so now we get to do something that we wanted to do in the future which is give more people spots in Unrivaled. This is such an amazing time in women’s sports.”
A few days ago, Iowa product Kate Martin also joined the fold, which continues to lead basketball fans to wonder whether Caitlin Clark will play. Nothing new to report on that front.
Clark, just 22, is enjoying her down time and being out of the spotlight for the first time in a year. You have to go back to last fall, before the start of the college basketball season.
From there, she led the University of Iowa back to the NCAA national championship game, was drafted No. 1 overall by the Fever, then took the team and the WNBA to new heights.
It would be significant for the start-up league to have buy-in from the hottest ticket in town. For Clark, it would provide her with a competitive environment to play basketball during the offseason. However, it’s 3-on-3. Plus, she has many significant endorsement deals so money presumably won’t be a motivating factor.
For now, Fever fans will be able to watch Hull and Boston on the court again in January.
“MIAMIIII LETS GET IT,” Boston tweeted. “so excited!!!!”
Rosters will be finalized by Nov. 20.
More On Unrivaled
The league tip off on Jan. 17
With games played in Miami
The league will run for about eight weeks
Six teams: Laces, Lunar Owls, Mist, Phantom, Rose, Vinyl
Six players per team
They can be seen on TNT Networks.
30 Players Committed
Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Kahleah Copper, Jackie Young, Angel Reese, Dearica Hamby, Kayla McBride, Marina Mabrey, Satou Sabally, Allisha Gray, Natasha Cloud, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Rickea Jackson, DiJonai Carrington, Courtney Vandersloot, Brittney Sykes, Shakira Austin, Tiffany Hayes, Brittney Griner, Azura Stevens, Courtney Williams, Kate Martin, Aaliyah Edwards, Lexie Hull, Aliyah Boston.