MIAMI — Skylar Diggins-Smith sauntered across the court with her arms casually swaying from side to side behind her back and a look on her face that only she could wear to exude confidence.
The Owls guard had just drained the game-winning three-point shot in Unrivaled’s inaugural game on Friday night. She doubled back to make her way to TNT’s courtside reporter, who was standing by for the postgame interview, but not before sharing her bravado with words for anybody within earshot.
“I can’t tell you what was coming out of my mouth,” Diggins-Smith said with a subtle grin.
Her signature swagger that’s helped define big-time moments in the WNBA was the perfect tone-setter for Unrivaled’s opening weekend which kicked off on Friday with a game between the league’s two co-founders teams. Napheesa Collier’s Owls outlasted Breanna Stewart’s Mist, thanks to Diggins-Smith’s dagger.
The next afternoon, Diggins-Smith hit another game-winner, this time against Sky forward Angel Reese’s Rose BC. It was a bit anticlimactic compared to the first — coming from the free-throw line instead of behind the arc — but it mattered all the same.
“We didn’t really know how the games were going to flow,” Diggins-Smith said. “But I knew coming in here you better be competitive, or you’re going to get your [expletive] busted.”
Before games got underway, players were collectively describing the environment as having a sort of summer camp feel. Many players compared it to the WNBA’s 2020 bubble season in Bradenton, FL. On Friday, the friendly banter went out the window and was replaced by the exact competitive nature seen in the WNBA.
On the court, they chirped back at officials and got in each other’s ears after hard fouls. Owls guard Allisha Gray comically twirled her figure throughout the inaugural game, calling for an official review of various plays.
Among the unique aspects of the new 3-on-3 league — aside from the rules that help create an explosive, fast-pace style of play unlike any other 3-on-3 league — is that after every game, the players walk the same narrow halls into the recovery room or weight room. They all return to the same league-provided housing and will repeat that cycle of practices and games for the next three months.
“I don’t like it,” Rose guard Chelsea Gray said. “I thought I was going to be ok. I’m not ok. We’ll see. I mean, it’s the competitor in me. It’s hard.”
Gray said she’ll lean heavily on her AirPods in the treatment room after losses, preferring not to engage with those she just battled against on the court. Other players are taking a lighter approach to the competition.
“This is the middle of our offseason,” Phantom guard Sabrina Ionescu said. “There’s kind of a fine line of understanding you’re here to get better and continue to work on your game. But also, for me, I can’t be mentally locked in like I am in the WNBA season here, or I’d be burnt out by the time the [WNBA] starts because I’m so competitive and take everything so seriously.”
The energy throughout the league’s two-day opening weekend was electric, but Night 1 stole the show.
Make no mistake: Unrivaled isn’t just a sports league. It’s an entire production, complete with player intros, attention-grabbing lighting and a DJ that facilitates the energetic vibes through all four quarters. Whether or not the league can maintain the level of interest and liveliness that was palpable on opening weekend remains to be seen. Based on ticket sales, league executives believe that energy will carry over until the league’s Finals in March.
Regardless, the level of competition resulting from putting 36 of the WNBA’s best players under the same roof shouldn’t waver.
“The halls will probably be a little quieter,” Diggins-Smith said. “Less pleasantries. But we knew what environment we were signing up for. We knew this game was going to be extremely competitive and that’s what a lot of us were looking forward to.”