Paige Bueckers Signs 3-Year Deal With Unrivaled Because The WNBA Won't Pay The Bills
Paige Bueckers is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday night. But the former UConn Huskies star has already cashed in with another league.
Bueckers recently signed a three-year deal with Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 women's league that debuted in 2025. The 23-year-old will make $350,000 in her first season with Unrivaled.
That's more than she'll make over four years in the WNBA. Bueckers' contract with the Dallas Wings will pay her $78,831 in her rookie year and $348,198 over four years, according to Front Office Sports.
Paige Bueckers will make more in one season playing in Unrivaled than her first WNBA contract is set to pay her over four years.
(Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled aims to give players an alternative option to going overseas during the offseason. It pays better and provides players more off-the-court resources than they get in the WNBA.
READ: New Unrivaled 3-On-3 League Is Treating Women's Basketball Players Like Royalty
During its inaugural season, each of Unrivaled's 36 players earned a six-figure salary for the eight-week season, with an average salary of $222,222. That's higher than the WNBA's regular max contract of $214,466 for 2025.
Paige Bueckers Is Just The Start — Unrivaled Has Put Pressure On The WNBA
For its first season, Unrivaled secured $35 million from a laundry list of investors that included celebrity names like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Phelps, Dawn Staley, Coco Gauff, Alex Morgan, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, along with several others.
And, incredibly, the league nearly broke even.
Unrivaled banked more than $27 million in revenue in its first year, according to a league source. The money was likely largely from a lucrative media deal with TNT, plus a roster of big-time corporate sponsors — like Ally Financial, Samsung Galaxy, Sephora and Miller Lite, just to name a few.
Angel Reese's team, Rose, won the inaugural Unrivaled championship.
(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler says Unrivaled could turn a profit as early as next year — something the WNBA has never done in its 28 seasons in existence. The WNBA lost $40 million last year alone.
RELATED: Brittney Griner: New 3-On-3 League Will Put Pressure On WNBA To Pay Players More
Needless to say, the success of the Unrivaled league could not come at a worse time for the WNBA.
This year will be the final season for the WNBA's current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), of which the players opted out in October — demanding more money and "better working conditions."
Unrivaled has certainly shown that it's not afraid to invest in its players, and, apparently, the investment is paying off. Now, players are going to expect the WNBA to follow suit in the new CBA, which will take effect in 2026.
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If the W can't make that happen and a lockout happens, then Unrivaled might be exactly that… unrivaled.