Unrivaled, the off-season, pick-up basketball league that features WNBA players, has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. Currently in its inaugural season, Unrivaled has been turning heads with its competitive brand of three-on-three full-court basketball. But that’s not all. A couple of weeks ago, this brand-new league unveiled a one-on-one tournament. That’s right, these ladies showcased their skills in a one-on-one format to the delight of hoops fans.
This is a style of competition that fans of the NBA have been clamoring for, for years! To see the game like this come to fruition is a step in the right direction. Also, with the highly critiqued events of NBA All-Star Weekend, it became widely recognized that the NBA was on the clock. I mean, you’re guaranteed a higher competitive spirit in a one-on-one format. Players can’t BS their way through that. If they did, it’ll look even worse on them.
There seemed to be an unspoken apprehension that NBA players had for a format like this before the ladies showcased it. With the eyes of the world on NBA All-Star Weekend once again, Rachel Nichols put the fellas on the spot. Their responses were the exact opposite of what people assumed. Why you ask? That’s because it’s been long assumed that the reason NBA players never did on one was because of their brands. It’s the same reasoning that is believed why more superstar players haven’t participated in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Apparently there’s a fear of these players’ brands being damaged or scuffed by not eternally winning. It’s unrealistic if you ask me, and the fans have lost out because of this. But if we take these players at their word, things will change. We should be able to look forward to some one one-on-one competition sooner than later. But that’s just me being optimistic. After all, we all are old enough to remember LeBron James “preliminarily” throwing his name into the Slam Dunk Contest and yet never competing.
Naturally, I think Unrivaled putting on this event absolutely puts the NBA’s feet to the fire. It’s healthy that these innovations are created at the professional level. As we continue to live in these unprecedented times, it’s about time that we’re able to put a positive spin on that. One-on-one NBA basketball in the modern era would be just that. The best of the best in 4K, it sure would beat the NBA playing against the “Rising Stars.”
