Unrivaled has made parenthood just a little bit easier

Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart knew childcare center was a non-negotiable in their new professional 3-on-3 basketball league.

MEDLEY, FLORIDA — For decades, many women playing professional sports have had to juggle two jobs: excelling both at their sports, and being moms.

For those who have children during their playing career, that includes missing time for pregnancy and maternity leave, and having to figure out childcare after their kids are born.

It’s a challenge that players and coaches alike have had to juggle — and one that the WNBA has increasingly worked to address. The 2020 CBA was the first to guarantee players their full salary while on maternity leave — as well as offer all parents a $5,000 annual childcare stipend.

But, while progress has certainly been made, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby made headlines after alleging the Las Vegas Aces traded her upon discovering she was pregnant. In August, she filed a federal lawsuit against the Las Vegas Aces, detailing the “repeated acts of intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation” she faced from the organization. That legal proceeding is still ongoing.

She's not the only WNBA mom to say they've faced problems. Skylar Diggins-Smith revealed on social media in 2023 that she didn’t have access to the Phoenix Mercury’s facilities while on maternity leave, posting on X/Twitter that she had no access to “massage therapists, chiropractor, chefs, strength and conditioning, nutritionist accessibility, etc ... [that] EVERY other player has access to.” Diggins-Smith never returned to the Mercury after her maternity leave, signing with the Seattle Storm the following season — and the explicit reasoning for why she wasn’t able to use those amenities was never fully explained.

Now, both Hamby and Diggins-Smith are playing in Unrivaled, a new, player-owned-and-founded professional offseason 3-on-3 basketball league that includes more than 36 of the WNBA biggest stars.

The league, which is currently taking place in Miami for two months through mid-March, is unprecedented in several ways. It offers players an average salary of more than $220,000 (the highest of any women's pro sports league in the world) — on top of equity and revenue-sharing. It also includes an all-in-one practice facility that has saunas, an aesthetician, a Sephora-sponsored makeup room, and multiple state-of-the-art basketball courts. And, games are regularly broadcast on TNT, as a result of a media deal the league signed with TNT Sports.

Unrivaled has prioritized childcare for participating moms

Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, both perennial MVP candidates, co-founded Unrivaled in order to give players a chance to stay in the U.S. during the offseason — all while still earning substantial income to augment their WNBA salary.

And, from the jump, the two former UConn teammates made sure to emphasize that the league wanted to make parenting as easy as possible.

“Stewie and I both being moms — that was a big thing,” Collier told SB Nation in an exclusive interview last month. “From the beginning, we knew we had to have childcare.”

Alex Bazzell, who is both Unrivaled’s president and Collier’s husband, told SB Nation in November that guaranteed childcare would be central part of Unrivaled’s services.

“We’re going to provide daycare servicing for the mothers on arrival,” Bazzell said. “It’s everything that the athletes need under one roof when it comes to anything and everything — on-court or off-court for them.”

Parenthood is not an issue that directly impacts everyone in Unrivaled — only eight of the league’s current players are moms. But, in a league that is centered around ensuring that players have everything they need, from access to the best personal trainers in the world to the most upgraded facilities, Unrivaled wanted to ensure that childcare wasn’t something that players had to worry about.

In addition to Collier, Diggins-Smith, Hamby, and Stewart, veterans Chelsea Gray, Katie Lou Samuelson, Brittney Griner, and Alyssa Thomas also have kids, and all of them are able to utilize Wayfair Arena's childcare center. The center has two rooms, with one more geared for toddlers and little kids, and one for babies. And childcare isn’t just available for games — it’s there whenever the players need it, whether that’s during practice, before games, or for other obligations.

Collier (who has a two-year-old) and Stewart (who has both a one-year-old and a three-year-old) tapped into their own experiences as mothers to figure out what the kids could need. They also made sure to screen and hire trusted nannies who have developed camaraderie and close relationships with the kids.

“We have kids at different ages, so we kind of knew what the kids’ needs were — what we’re gonna need in these rooms, what the childcare is gonna need to look like,” Collier said. “We made sure that that was a priority for us. And, we vetted heavily for The Nanny League that we hired.”

Photo by Meng Dingbo/Xinhua via Getty Images

As such, one room is equipped with a slew of toys, books, and, of course, a mini-hoop with a mini-basketball. That room — more geared toward the older kids — includes a massive L-shaped couch, comfortable chairs, and a bunch of toy cars. The other includes high chairs, cribs, diapers, and all the other baby essentials.

From the moment Unrivaled planning began, having well-equipped rooms just a few feet away from the basketball courts where games are held was a priority.

“Just making sure that the room had everything that they needed, that the space was big enough for the kids — we were really intentional about that whole process,” Collier said.

Indiana Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson, who missed the 2023 WNBA season after giving birth to her daughter, is benefitting from the childcare center and nanny services.

Samuelson, a member of the Phantom, is currently living by herself in Miami with her young daughter — and she said that having around-the-clock childcare has been hugely impactful.

“I bring her to the game, and then they watch her the whole entire time — for me to warm up, do what I need to do, and then I’m able to go home,” Samuelson said. “It’s definitely been a huge help. I don’t know what I would be doing without having that.”

Griner, who became a mother just a few months ago, said the fact that nannies have been thoroughly vetted is a good signal.

“For them to go out and find the right people where we feel comfortable bringing our kids here, that means a lot to me,” she said, per Front Office Sports.

Collier estimated that ten kids regularly use the facilities, hanging out together while their parents compete at the highest level. And whether or not those services would be provided was never in question — that’s part of the benefit of being a part of a player-led league that centers around their lived experience.

“Finding childcare — reliable, affordable, consistent childcare — is the hardest thing,” Collier said. “I think any parent would say that.”

From the beginning, it was a priority for Unrivaled leadership to provide players with everything they needed. That intentionality also extended to ensure players kids have everything they need, too. That concerted effort hasn’t gone unnoticed by those who took a chance in becoming inaugural players.

“I am grateful for the way that Unrivaled has had this taken care of from the start,” Samuelson said.