Brittney Griner has seen just about everything in her career-from championships to international headlines-but the latest news out of the Unrivaled women’s basketball league has her buzzing.
This week, the upstart league announced it had closed an oversubscribed Series B round, rocketing its valuation to $340 million. That’s a massive number for a league still in its infancy, and Griner, who plays for Phantom BC, made her feelings clear with a quick Instagram Story post: the wide-eyed emoji. Simple, but telling.
A League Changing the Script
Launched in 2024, Unrivaled was created as an alternative to the long-standing WNBA offseason tradition of playing overseas. For years, stars like Griner traveled abroad to boost their income, often at the cost of added fatigue and risk. Griner’s 2022 detainment in Russia, where she had played for UMMC Ekaterinburg, underscored those dangers. Now, with Unrivaled offering competitive salaries and growing visibility at home, the model for women’s basketball careers is starting to shift.
Not every household name has jumped onboard-rookie sensation Caitlin Clark opted to stick with the Indiana Fever-but the numbers don’t lie. Unrivaled’s debut season drew promising viewership and streaming figures, and expansion franchises are already in the works for 2026, according to Sports Business Journal.
Griner’s Journey and the Bigger Picture
Griner’s reaction carries weight because of what she’s been through. Drafted No. 1 overall by the Phoenix Mercury in 2013, she anchored the franchise for over a decade, winning a WNBA title in 2014 and racking up 10+ All-Star nods. After battling injuries in 2024, she made a high-profile move in February 2025 to the Atlanta Dream. In her return to Phoenix later that summer, she dropped 17 points and grabbed eight boards in front of a grateful Mercury crowd.
For her and many others, Unrivaled’s valuation isn’t just a financial milestone-it’s proof that women’s basketball is breaking barriers. “We’re building more than a league,” one investor said in a press release. “This is a movement.”
With $340 million in backing, expansion on the horizon, and veterans like Griner lending both star power and history-making moments (she owns Unrivaled’s first dunk), the league is suddenly in position to change the economics of the game. And judging by her emoji, Griner is ready for what comes next.
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