Napheesa Collier named Unrivaled MVP, Angel Reese awarded Unrivaled DPOY
Unrivaled announced a flurry of regular season honors ahead of the Monday’s championship game.
Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier won the inaugural Unrivaled MVP and was named to the All-Unrivaled first team alongside Rose guard Chelsea Gray and Laces wing Kayla McBride. Vinyl wing Rhyne Howard, Lunar Owls guard Skylar Diggins-Smith and Rose forward Angel Reese rounded up All-Unrivaled’s second team.
“I couldn’t do any of this without my teammates,” Collier said. “This has been such an incredible season and everyone played a part in our success, from the coaches and training staff to the staff behind the scenes. I’m so proud of this club and am honored to be the first-ever Unrivaled MVP.”
Reese also earned Unrivaled defensive player of the year while the Lunar Owls’ DJ Sackmann was named coach of the year.
“I’m so grateful to receive this award, but it’s really for the players and our assistant coach Maggie Rosario,” Sackman said in a statement. “Without them, none of this would be possible. It was a big learning curve for me, and having players who have high basketball IQs who are easy to coach made this really special. Shout out to our squad.”
Sackman helped lead the Lunar Owls to a league-best 13-1 record. The team also boasted three of the top-10 scorers in Collier (a league-leading 25.7 points per game), Allisha Gray (19.2) and Skylar Diggins-Smith (17.9). Arguably their biggest feat: the Lunar Owls played short-handed all season with just five players.
“We just have a really competitive team — I think we were one of the only [teams] that was in the weight room every single day,” said Collier who also added 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and shot better than 61-percent from the field. The 28-year-old also won Unrivaled’s one-on-one tournament. “We did not miss a weight room session. We were getting our treatment. When we were in practice, we’re locked in, doing what we need to do. I think the approach we had at the beginning was just really professional. The competitive nature in us wouldn’t let us do anything less than that.”
Gray led all players in assists with 76, good enough for a per-game average of 5.3. She also notched the most game-winners with six and tied Collier for the most points in a single game with 38.
McBride finished second in several per game categories including scoring (22.24) and made three-pointers (3.16).
Howard made a league-best 46 three-pointers and finished fourth in scoring at 20.54 per game. She also set the record for most made threes in a single game (nine) in a losing effort against the Phantom.
Reese led the league in total rebounds (170), offensive rebounds (51) and rebounds per game (12.15). She also set the single-game rebound record with 21 to give the Lunar Owls their only loss of the year.
Diggins-Smith finished second in total assists (67), assists per game (4.79) as well as game winners (five). She also Collier, Gray, Dearica Hamby and DiJonai Carrington with a record-setting four steals in a single game.
With Unrivaled set to crown its first champion come Monday night, the league has been overwhelming success according to Collier, who helped co-found the league alongside fellow superstar Breanna Stewart.
“It’s been good – based on fan engagement, how much they seemed to have enjoy it – and even from a player perspective too,” Collier said. “It seems like a lot of players feel like they’ve gotten better. I feel like I’ve seen players have gotten a lot better.”
Added Collier: “There’s nothing like playing basketball. Even if you don’t go overseas and are just training, it doesn’t prepare you for the [WNBA] season. You might be able to work on your skills but there’s nothing like playing that gets you better so quickly, especially in this format. So I think for all of those reasons, it has been a success.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
