Liberty Playoff Foe Returning to Breanna Stewart's Unrivaled

One of the women responsible for the New York Liberty's recent end is part of one star's new beginning.

Unrivaled, the domestic three-on-three women's basketball co-founded by Liberty icon Breanna Stewart, has begun an eight-day campaign of revealing the names that will partake in its second season of operation in Miami this winter. Headlining the list is Alyssa Thomas, the Phoenix Mercury star who helped pen the Liberty's recent elimination from the WNBA Playoffs.

Stewart's brainchild along Minnesota Lynx star and 2024 WNBA Finals foe Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled will 48 names over the next eight business days, creating a roster that will be spread across eight teams. Thomas is the first of six names set to be shown, with other entrants revealed hourly.

Thomas, 33, is the WNBA's undisputed queen of the triple-double, amassing 23 in a career that was primarily spent with the Connecticut Sun before she moved to the desert this offseason. She served as the captain for Laces BC in year one of Unrivaled, briefly working alongside Liberty star Betinjah Laney-Hamilton. The team was coached by Andrew Wade, who later became the Liberty's director of player development.

Thomas averaged 16.3 points and 8.7 assists and rebounds each in the three-game series victory against the Liberty, notably going 20-11-11 in the closeout finale in Phoenix last week, giving her her record-extending fifth postseason triple-double. It was the Mercury's first postseason series victory since its Finals run in 2021 and it is now facing the Lynx for a bid in the 2025 Finals.

"I think the way that she's really kind of perfected her game to be a nightmare all over the court, whether it's rebounding or dishing or getting downhill, coming to Phoenix was probably one of the best decisions of her career," Stewart said after last week's postseason finale. "If you ask her, I just feel like they're they're using her incredibly well. She has triple-doubles every single night, so there's tons of respect between both sides. It's always going to be a physical match up when we play together. While this [stinks], I'm excited to see what she continues to do for the rest of these playoffs, because we had a nightmare guarding her, and I'm sure everybody else will, too."

The 2026 Unrivaled season will tip off in January.