Welcome to For The Win’s 2025 Unrivaled power rankings.
After a lovely debut with a bunch of ridiculously good moments, Unrivaled is officially here and taking over hoops circles. Lots of people are abuzz about the new 3-on-3 league and can’t wait for more hoops. As the inaugural slate of games was underway, it became clear to us that we might have seriously underestimated a few squads, including the Lunar Owls. So, how do we remedy that? POWER RANKINGS. Let’s get spicy.
The Owls have been hooting and hollering all over the court and into early title contender conversations, and more people need to be talking about it. (It’s us. We’re more people.)
Let’s dive into For The Win’s Unrivaled power rankings from Week 1:
(Photo courtesy of Unrivaled)
The ghost gang went *pause for dramatic effectcompletely GHOST during week one.
Not only are they dealing with an injury to Marina Mabrey, but her replacement, Natisha Hiedeman, has been sick. OOF. That didn’t exactly help their offense (which struggled to find its stride) or their defense, as teams made light work of the boo crew.
If you know a Phantom fan, hug them. Their team is going THROUGH IT.
MEDLEY, FLORIDA – JANUARY 17: Chelsea Gray #12 of Rose controls the ball against the Vinyl during the second half at The Mediapro Studio on January 17, 2025 in Medley, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Rose has so much potential, but deeeeeeep sigh. It’s painful to watch right now.
They have so many scoring options: Kahleah “KFC” Copper, Chelsea “Point Gawd” Gray, the “305 Barbie” Angel Reese and the list goes on. But, whew, their team defense needs work.
If they can consistently find that defensive dog mentality that head coach Nola Henry spoke about ahead of the season, WATCH OUT.
Jan 17, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Rickea Jackson (5) of the Mist drives to the basket past Courtney Williams (10) of the Lunar Owls during the second half of the Unrivaled women’s professional 3v3 basketball league at Wayfair Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Speaking of disappointing teams, the Mist evaporated during Week 1. (I make no apologies for the play-on-words I have used to this point.)
Watching a team with Stewie, Jewell, DiJonai, Rickea and Aaliyah get low-key cooked down the stretch just hurts my heart. Coach Phil Handy is clearly still working through the right rotations in those late-game situations, so I’m not panicking yet.
But, PULL IT TOGETHER, MIST.
MEDLEY, FLORIDA – JANUARY 17: Rhyne Howard #10 of the Vinyl controls the ball around Kahleah Copper #2 of Rose during the first half at The Mediapro Studio on January 17, 2025 in Medley, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
TURN THE VOLUME UP. I LOVE THIS SONG.
Oh, baby. The Vinyl are full of BUCKETS and SPEED, and right now, they are putting on a masterclass on how to make breaking ankles look easy. We tried to tell you about this during our early team roster rankings, and they are making us look smart.
There is so much good stuff happening. Wait until they truly start wrecking people in the paint even more with Dearica Hamby plus Aliyah Boston. GOOD LUCK. Oh, yeah, somebody tell Rhyne Howard to take it easy on people.
THEY HAVE FAMILIES, RHYNE.
(Photo courtesy of Unrivaled)
Did we call it? Or did we call it? THE LACES ARE A PROBLEM.
This squad has way too many options that make you want to quit before the game starts. AT. Money Martin. Big Mama. Tip. Kayla McBuckets. As we suspected, the Laces went scorched earth on teams, and they did it without Jackie Young. YES, WITHOUT JACKIE YOUNG.
They weren’t even in their final form, and they had two blowout games. WHEW. Also, I want to shout out to Kayla McBride, who reminded everybody why she’s one of the WNBA’s best 3-point shooters.
The Solemates gotta be STOKED about this.
Jan 17, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) of the Lunar Owls drives toward the basket during the first half of the game against the Mist of the Unrivaled women’s professional 3v3 basketball league at Wayfair Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
HOOOOOOOTIE HOOOOOOOO.
Alright, Lunar Owls. We did tell the people not to count you out, but CLEARLY, even we were unfamiliar with your game. HOLY DARKORSE TITLE CONTENDERS, BATMAN. We’re calling it now. The Lunar Owls ha