Unrivaled‘s inaugural season is over, and Rose Basketball Club defeated Vinyl Basketball Club to emerge as the first team to win a championship. According to ESPN, the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league crowned its first champion after Rose defeated Vinyl by a score of 62-54. Brittney Sykes scored the game-winning free throw, while Chelsea Gray was given the Unrivaled Finals MVP Award after she scored 18 points and dished out eight assists during the game.
Rose won the championship without two of its players on the basketball court, as Angel Reese and Kahleah Copper couldn’t play due to injuries. Reese, who had just been named the league’s first Defensive Player of the Year, sat out her second straight game with a left-hand injury, while Cooper missed five weeks because of a right leg injury.
Yet, being down two players didn’t stop Gray from commanding the game, feeling like she had something to prove. Plus, the winning team earning $50,000 per player was extra motivation.
“Hell yeah, there was motivation,” Gray said. “Last year was hard. It was rough. Even when I came back, I wasn’t 100 percent. A lot of people thought I was. I put the work in, I do my job and then I talk after. … I want to compete and make others better. That’s always been my goal. So yeah, I had a little chip on my shoulder and also that 50K on the line.”
The possibility of Rose winning wasn’t a consideration when the team started the season with only one win against four losses, but they ended up taking it all anyway.
“We are a team of relentless dogs that refused to be denied,” Rose coach Nola Henry said after the victory. “From day one, they counted us out. Kah went down; they counted us out. Azura was out, and they counted us out. Angel down, they counted us out. What they going to say now?”
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