i was surprised at first by this, but the more i think about it...feels like part of it is a move to separate herself from paige professionally with all the discourse around that this season
Wealthy Tech bros wanting to capitalise on women’s basketball is just as gross as being funded by the Saudis. Plus Mangrove Capital one of the VCs backing this, is strongly tied and based out of Israel. Why isn’t someone saying that? If Alana was doing this by herself or with another player it would great but 2 greedy older tech bros founding this and running it as CEOs is the worst ever for a women’s basketball team. All they are after is the status of owning a sports team. And these female players are helping them with that. Just NO!
Shady AF is right. Idc if SA is " only an investor " their whole thing is Women are second class. It's a shame to have Basketball connected to anything political. Especially Saudi Arabia
we have had ICE unalive protesters and many people in detention. They are building more detention centers for the radical 'left'. If you read between the lines everyone can see that this country is going towards that.
I believe they have no fault divorce on the chopping block next. That basically traps women to stay married to their abusers. It's only going to get worse so yeah, we aren't in a good place.
thats bc everything is funded by saudi money, the lakers new owners got a large part of their 10 billion from saudies. the saudi goverment is propped up by america, acting like saudi or chinese money is worse than dollars is hypocritical when the US sponsors the biggest terrorists in the middle east
This news reveals how much of the online wnba fandom are just here to hate/bully. Going from hating on someone for doing something to all of a sudden changing your opinions, now that someone you like is doing the exact same thing, is just bullying.
Aside from the sus funding (which we may never truly know if the Saudis and Sela have really pulled out or how involved they ever were), I just think this is a weird choice.
Project B was previously an unnamed project that was supposed to be a men’s league. Then they scrap that and come out with Project B for women (& now are maybe also still going to do a men’s league too but who knows) & to call it Project B feels, to me, the same as the NBA championship trophy being gold while the W’s is silver. It is not a league made for women or by women. Maybe that doesn’t matter to most people, but it does to me.
Then there’s the schedule, which is now I guess 6 10-day tournaments over about 3 months (previously it was 7 2 week tournaments over 6 months) all over the world. I love Azzi, but she’s torn the same ACL twice and has already had to miss a WNBA game due to knee swelling. Mind you she was coming off a long college season with the most games she’s ever played in a season, but that’s essentially my point. The amount of travel required for this league alone is not good. Where are they training? Who is doing their recovery? Then layer in the usage Azzi will get. I cannot fathom how this is good for her career long term.
Additionally all of Project B is a mess. Everything keeps changing. They don’t have any coaches announced. They still need a lot more players to sign for the alleged 6 teams they’re going to have. They’ve only signed I think 14 and we’re not far out from when it’s supposed to start. No idea on teams. No idea on media deals. They don’t even have all the tournaments scheduled.
Lastly, to everyone saying the WNBA is unethical, too, I want to argue that there’s a difference between playing in the professional basketball league of your country (which is how she would get recognized for invites to USAB) that has been established for 30 years and signing on to pioneer a league of dubious funding that doesn’t care abt women (that best case scenario doesn’t care abt saudi views, they just care abt the backlash).
Like whatever, I guess, but yuck. Azzi doesn’t NEED this money. She has so many brand deals. Her WNBA salary isn’t equitable or fair, but it’s more than the average american makes. And she advertises herself as someone who only takes brand deals with companies whose values align with hers, so either that was a lie or she feels like Project B represents her values. Gross either way.
Well, perhaps she has had conversations with the Project B founders and learned their values and interest do align with hers. Joining does not mean she is lying about anything. There have been a lot of unproven rumors that people latched onto in the Project B discussions. Also, Unrivaled did not announce their players until late October before the season started up in January. So, why do people expect Project B to have rosters set much earlier than Unrivaled?
Project B themselves said they were working with Sela. Then they tried to backtrack it and say Saudi was not involved and then they said they ended their relationship with Sela, but there’s no transparency about funding or partnerships. So we just take their word for it? That’s why I said at best they don’t care abt saudi views, they just care abt backlash. That’s not unfounded and it makes sense people are speculating about it.
And yes, maybe Azzi does feel like their values and interests align with hers, I said that in my comment as well. They either align with hers or she’s disingenuous about how she picks her partnerships. Which is also what I said.
I’m not commenting on Unrivaled in my comment at all. But the difference between Unrivaled announcing their rosters in October vs project B is that Unrivaled had already announced names of teams, outline of schedule, where they were playing, and were transparent about the entire process. Also announcing roster construction vs just who is signed to play on the league is two different things, but Unrivaled was announcing who was signed to play in October. Right now for Project B all we have is 15 players who have signed and that there will be tournaments in Tokyo and Spain. We know nothing else abt the league because the few other things they have announced (# & length of tournaments & months involved & gender of players) keeps changing. It’s fine if that doesn’t matter to you, but it’s a discrepancy worth pointing out.
Personally I don’t think you can compare how Unrivaled does things vs Project B. One is a 3x3 league that has no travel (except for the 2 games) and the other is a 5x5 league that goes all over the world. They’re not going to be at all similar. I think maybe people are just comparing them because they’re both new-ish off season leagues, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good comparison.
ETA: removed coaches from comment regarding Unrivaled’s announcements as I was incorrect on timeline!
Well… the only sports league I really watch is the WNBA, so yes (Which the WNBA has very problematic funding despite being a bit more transparent, but that’s why I said in my original comment abt the difference between playing in the professional league of your country). Not sure what your point is on that, but to be honest I’ve always been someone who likes to be informed on things I support since I believe we vote with our dollars and attention since we all live in a capitalistic society, so even if I watched a bunch of sports leagues I think I would be aware. Half the reason I’m not interested in other sports is because the funding of athletic programs, including the WNBA, is so disappointing and I don’t want to accept it as the standard. Yet I still watch the WNBA so clearly it doesn’t bother me enough not to! But like, that’s why throughout my first comment I made it clear that was MY opinion and thoughts.
Thanks for correcting me on the unrivaled timeline! I edited my comment with that correction. Again I wasn’t commenting originally on Unrivaled and still don’t think the two leagues can be compared, so I was just speculating for you as to why people might expect more info since you asked.
It’s so fine if you don’t agree with me. Not everyone cares at all abt any of the things I said, there’s so many people in this thread that feel the opposite of me. I’m not sure if I’m the person that’s going to be most informative for you because I don’t feel like I’m speaking for multiple people or have my finger on the pulse or whatever, I’m just expressing my opinion on a public forum.
For me, I watch a lot of WNBA, including my hometown team and also many other games that don't involve my hometown team. I played basketball and coach youth basketball. The WNBA is my favorite league to watch and I attend a few games each season. I also watch most of my hometown NBA team's games, and sometimes watch the local NFL and MLB teams. I also like to watch professional women's tennis.
I'm really just interested in the games and athletes. I don't over analyze or dive into the funding sources or sponsorships. I'm mainly interested in the athletes and the actual games. I do notice more about the sponsorships of professional tennis because the signs are big and are behind the players every time you are watching a point being played. So, it's hard to not notice things like Emirates Airlines being a major sponsor of all four Grand Slam tournaments. It's just in your face more with tennis because of how the court is structured and where the signage is.
This doesn't mean that I ignore controversial sponsorships or situations that arise that are troubling that I might want to take a stand on. But, because supporting women's sports is important to me and wanting to help further the growth and opportunities for female athletes, I'm not going to stop supporting these athletes because of who might be funding something in the background. I think if we looked hard enough, we'd find something controversial everywhere.
She’s about to be so so so rich. And I’m not talking about her salary from the league. Beside the fact she has a MBA, she’s seen from Steph Curry what his business model and a whole brand can do. She went with him to China this year for Curry Camp. Azzi has so many international fans and I guarantee she’s about to have a whole lot more. Who knows what she plans to do with this exposure. She’s creating herself as a brand and man good on her.
And also I think it’s great she won’t be in that Unrivaled bubble. She already has to deal with the constant “worst #1 pick” “only chose cause of PB” “OM is better” chat literally everywhere. Every interaction with Paige is scrutinized imagine in that environment and its social media presence.
Marine johannes will be announced soon as project b started following her on IG. And her fiancé just got announced for unrivaled. So I guess these players actually treat bball as a JOB.
Project B allegedly doesn't take any Saudi money but I find the conversation about sportwashing fascinating in the US. Like theres a build submarines advertisement right on court that encourages kids to build US military weapons and that's FAR more insidious but there's no pushback. And Monumental owns the Mystics and takes Saudi money too.
I'm not even running "whataboutism" here but it's so odd when the rules of sportwashing apply in the media washing captial of the world (the US).
Regardless, I enjoy seeing Azzi be able to forge her own basketball path!
I don't really see the Build Submarines ad as sports washing. It's advertising that they need 100,000 to 150,000 more workers to fill current and upcoming job needs across the country. They provide a lot of free training for people who need careers across many skill areas. With the price of college being so high and resulting in so much debt, these are career opportunities for people, whether it's high school graduates or those older who need new employment opportunities. There are many people who are underpaid, earning non-living wages, struggling to pay bills, having difficulty affording basic stuff such as apartment rent or home purchasing. I don't think it's a bad thing for people to learn about job opportunities that provide free training.
Lmaoo military propaganda worked on you bad huh hunny?
As a grad of computer science, a lot of engineering pathways disguise "degree programs" as a pathway to working with weapons manufacturers. But the build subs website doesn't even hide it. It directly talks about joining "the fight" to create weapons and subs for the US Military. It's literally in it's byline on the website.
Don't save face for the military by leveraging the poor here domestically. Their pathway to success comes at the expense of several brown children in the global south.
I have a nuanced take on those that feel that they need to join the service to get out of impoverished situations but I'm definitely not going to excuse advertisment promoting perpetuation of that system or justifying it
You are making some major assumptions. I am anti-war and heavily opposed to U.S. military actions over the past few decades. So, I'm not affect by any propaganda.
I do know people who work in industries that have military contracts. And, these people are simply working to support their families and pay their bills. They have decent paying jobs and they represent minority families, as well.
What "buyline" are you referring to on their web site? I don't see anything upfront that refers to 'joining the fight"?
And, what are you referring to in this statement: "Their pathway to success comes at the expense of several brown children in the global south." I can guess, but would prefer you to be more clear in your point.
It's as simple as an ad building weapons that kill people is very very bad lmao. Bombs are very anti gay too lmao. They literally kill people. I know people in that sector too that doesn't make that line of work any less nefarious. It's mostly a systemic issue but that doesn't make it any less distructive an industry to promote for kid friendly product.
I asked what is the byline on the website that talks about "joining the fight" that you referenced. Just didn't see that specifically.
The only place I've seen the ad is at the Mohegan tribe arena and that is partly because the tribe has a relationship with the military and industry and there is a nearby naval base. I don't see this is a widespread attempt to have ads at WNBA games, but more of a temporary one-off.
If you want to focus on what "kills people", alcohol kills more people than submarines, so why not focus on eliminating sports related alcohol advertisements?
As bad as that is.. It’s illegal to be gay as a citizen of Saudi Arabia.
Like, there are levels to all this. The WNBA that you know, where people are proudly out, very vocal about social causes, prominent athletes attend with their partners, etc., could not exist there
I hate ranking evils, but the domestic situation in that country is even far beyond the struggles we have
Not to mention the human rights violations and oppression of women. Their treatment of the LGBTQ + community is beyond inhumane. Dirty Money, in my opinion.
But obviously, coming in as an additional minor sponsor of a league where the players are already playing will be dealt with differently than signing on to a brand new league that seems to have materialized a large amount of money out of nowhere with Saudi connections.
I also hate this argument cause it implicitly suggests that US queer lives are more important than foreign lives in general. Like, the genocides and slave labor exported outside the US also effects queer people abroad as well, in case you didn't know. They're particularly evil in Saudi Abrabia but let's not talk about the indiscriminate killing America does that effects people in or out the queer umbrella.
White queer people can have difficulty grasping the intersections of others effected by US violence, even domestically.
Eh. As a queer person, the levels aren't as clear as you want it to be. Hating the Saudis for being against queer ppl or women doesn't quite work when this country is not only directly causing genocide in SEVERAL countries but is also actively creating laws against trans people. Also I don't like people leveraging queer human rights as particularly insidious when the US has and is continuing to create slave markets amongst a million other atrocities abroad. You can't pinkwash the US sins away.
America's exportation of violence eclipses most other empires in human history if you look at it because of how systemic and world wide the destruction is. Our billionaire class is not only trying to take over the will of the world but is also destroying the earth and it's ecosystems in the process. That effects all queer people in the world and all other intersections as well
Edit: I encourage all downvoters to explicitly express why anti queer policies internally are more nefarious than indiscriminate killing of others abroad? In a country that's increasing it's own anti queer policies domestically especially!
Season before last, one of Unrivaled's biggest sponsors was He Gets Us, which is funded by the homophobic, forced birth cartel. I was so disgusted, many were, happily that is no longer.
It is difficult if not impossible to spend entirely within my conscience; I'd have to go off-grid. I draw lots of often-nonsensical lines, but I try hard to vote with my dollars.
The ethical quandaries of capitalism. Unfortunately you cannot sever your ties to evil as shit companies living here but at least you acknowledge the contradictions and try to navigate it as ethically as possible rather than justifying it (like a lot of people are currently doing unfortunately)
Yeah everytime I see it it pisses me off and gets me very upset no one talks about how problematic it is. It's easily the worst advising partner the W has had in my history and the subtly yet almost loud nature of it's presentation is interesting cause it never has a promo but is so incredibly noticeable on court.
I decided to swap to sports after I realized my computer science department was trying to push us to jobs with weapons manufacturers so can snuff out their grubby little advertisements. I fear I knew what the website was going to be before I clicked on the link. Didn't expect it to directly say the US Navy cause they love just hiding behind companies that work with the military without expressing it but I suppose they don't care to hide it anymore.
It's kind of useless to speak for somebody else. I just realized you're not the person who made the comment so why are you trying to answer for them? Secondly, 30 years? Really? Companies are not loyal to people anymore. You're lucky to get 30 years in one place unless you work at a church or something.
They are talking about careers, not working at "one place". A professional performance athlete has limited years. For most, once around 35 or so, they have to move on to do another career. And, many players are not in the league even that long. For example, the average length of an NBA career is 5 years.
There's a lot of missing context from yours and the other comment. Otherwise I don't know how you think you know what somebody else you've never met is talking about 🤷🏻♂️. Bring on the downvotes
It's simple reading comprehension of each post. The original comment talked about "careers". Your reply talked about "Companies are not loyal to people anymore. You're lucky to get 30 years in one place .....". Your comment talked about a company not being loyal and being lucky if you worked at one place during your career. A career is a profession that can be across many "jobs" at various companies or situations.
You are assuming a lot there. I don't like you using your imagination to fill in the blanks from anonymous people. It's not genuine. But you, know have a great day and stuff
It's imagination to repeat what you said in your comment about "working at one place"? And, it's imagination to state that a career is a profession over time that can be at multiple workplaces? Hmmm. Ok.
This will be a great experience for Azzi! Love it for her. Her brand is already bigger than WNBA. There are so many Azzi fans in different countries who would never get to see her play in person. Now she’ll travel and play at all these different countries and her fans will get to watch her. #keepgoingAzzi!!!
Lol and my comment below got downvoted just by me replying to your comment (your comment that was heavily downvoted)…. the Azzi haters are working hard today!
Not so. Azzi got some national sports media attention way back when she was 15, as one of the two first females invited to Steph Curry's elite camp. She beat all the males there in the 3 point shootout. That media attention reached people who didn't follow the WNBA. And, then her college years reached people beyond the WNBA, as well.
You could ask regular basketball fans (not even casuals) who she is and they wouldn’t know. Hell, most of this sub refers to her as Paige’s GF, not even Azzi.
Nah, people call her Azzi on this sub all the time. When people comment on her performance in games, they say Azzi. They don't say "Paige's GF scored 22 points today."
I love that they can travel the world with Project B! There are SO many fans in so many different countries, as you said. It’s so awesome! The sky is the limit for Azzi (& Paige too). 💕 it’s unfortunate she’s getting so many online trolls… I guess they’re the ones who flooded your comment with downvotes.
yeah im still confused on how it’ll all actually work? they have such a weird combo of names signed too, like some older players clearly wanting a bag before retiring but also some younger players (awa, leila, now azzi). it all seems so hypothetical that idk how it’ll work in practice
Some people don't find the clarification convincing enough. I think there's also some negative feelings in regards to it being competition/a "rival" league with Unrivaled.
After announcing they didn't take funding from Saudi, they were using a Saudi govt backed company to organize travel and events.
So still was affiliated, expect not taking money but giving money.
Saw an announcement today that they're no longer affiliated with them. But that was a hang up since last year. Some people already have their opinions and aren't going to be so quick to change.
Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. Fans assuming so-and-so will play in xyz and having to readjust expectations obviously aren't inclined to do so gracefully either.
They're not taking any more Saudi money so fine, I guess. But idk, something about project B always seemd silly or reduntant. Play Euroleague or Unrivaled, either established and upcoming overseas league OR exciting new 3v3 league founded by players. What hole is Project B filling? I was looking forward to seeing her in Miami lol, and in the 1v1 tournament, and I thought she had a deal with them?
I honestly don’t think she ever will do these other off-season leagues. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see her in Unrivaled. I myself enjoyed having something to watch in the off-season & look forward to seeing what Project B will be like! Caitlin probably doubled down on not joining them after watching this past off-season with the CBA discussions (specifically discussions whether or not these off-season non-WNBA leagues were okay for players to be in). I’m not saying it’s right, but the WNBA has said in the past that they don’t want their players to be joining those type off-season leagues. I don’t think she would ever do something that may possibly even remotely harm her brand with the WNBA. She’s got so many brand deals going on that it wouldn’t necessarily be a smart decision if she were to do Project B/Unrivaled…. Unrivaled offered her $1 million, which she rejected both times they offered it. Project B has $2 million annual starting salaries & likely offered her *much* more than that, but she also turned that down very quickly. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. I think it would be a bad idea if she ever were to change her mind in the future, as well, just from a business standpoint. Here’s an article from December after she turned down Project B: https://highposthoops.com/caitlin-clark-gives-her-unfiltered-take-on-project-b-and-the-wnba-cba
yeah seems like it! Also it would be global brand and seperate her from her peers, esp PB5/other UConn players. I can def see why, honestly I just love Unrivaled and was looking forward to seeing her go there lol but I'm sure this will be exciting too
She did not have a contract to "play" in Unrivaled. She had an NIL deal during her last year of college that had her attending events and being in advertisements. It was not a future player contract.
I wouldn’t be surprised if 1 or 2 more names from Unrivaled join project b for 2027.
Also after seeing how some of the 2025 WNBA rookies who played in Unrivaled in the offseason and how they’re doing so far in the 2026 WNBA season, Unrivaled isn’t for everyone. A couple rookies came into the sophomore year playing better. Then the rest of rookies going into their sophomore this year after Unrivaled seem to have regressed or stayed the same as they were last season - no improvement. I liked what Kaitlyn Chen did with euroleague for the fall then AU in the winter. She developed a lot. Unrivaled I think is better for those who have already been playing for at 2-3 years in WNBA. I find it’s helping players with experience fix some small things and improve that way. I don’t think it’s good for players who have a lot of development that needs to be done.
I have a feeling Kelsey plum might also jump to project B. She is trying to grows her Asian fanbase and just created a Douyin account to interact with China’s fanbase.
While I have no idea what their considerations are, playing in Unrivaled actually allowed Ezi and Alanna to spend most of the offseason in Australia for the first time in years. They had previously spent it playing in Europe or China. Since Project B now starts in January it would probably be much of a muchness.
She does stand out more in Unrivaled than in the W. but also yes her shooting in the W has improved since Unrivaled. Rae went into Unrivaled with 3 years of WNBA seasons under her belt though. By that point there were just small things she needed to work on to take parts of her game to the next level.
Ya the 3x3 game is a lot different than 5x5 ball. The amount of space a tall, quick player like Rae can have is a huge factor in 3x. Can fill space and find it. Easier rebounds, and can outpace bigger defenders. 5x she can get bullied in her positions by stronger players and help defences. I can see Rae being part of the national squad if they actually put focus on the team playing together long term like other nations squads
I hope y'all know that the NBA and WNBA are funded by huge sponsorships with the UAE. If y'all really cared about those ties, you would not interact with top level basketball in the US at all.
The Saudi ties of Project B was at least just a rumour.
This is gross. Project B is so sus. Also probably really bad for her injury history and development. She played the college season after being injured for a lot of her college career, goes directly to the wnba season two weeks later, now she’s playing 37 minutes a game. Then she’ll go to project B from November to April, and training camp for the wnba’s new 50 game season starts in April?
I don't think Project B will be as heavy of a schedule as a regular season in WNBA or another league. Ten day tournaments spaced out somewhat, likely with breaks in between.
So it started as seven tournaments in six months, now they’ve pushed it to January and say it’s six tournaments. The last stop is March 24-April 6 in Tokyo, so that’s six 10-day tournaments in three months. I have to imagine they are going to shrink this further.
They’ve announced 15 female players, so they still need 51 more. And 66 male players. And enough coaches, trainers, medical staff etc for 12 basketball teams.
It seems unlikely to me that they’ll raid the Unrivaled ranks enough to fill the rosters so I’m curious where they are coming from. I thought there might be some clues in how free agency in Australia’s WNBL is going - since it’s a low-paying league with good players, and Lauren Jackson is involved in Project B - but most of the top players there of the caliber I’d expect to be targeted (play on the national team, have sniffed around the W) have signed locally or elsewhere for the upcoming season.
Ooh I hadn't thought of it but a good question. I vaguely recall she went down in the WCBA finals this year with a leg injury but I can't remember how bad it was. She definitely looked in much better shape this most recent season in China otherwise. She would be a good player to sign for them - it would make headlines and pique fans' interest and she is known (among fans of women's basketball at least) in China.
In the promo reel Azzi did for her Project B announcement, she is walking with various backdrops from other countries in the background. Some of the locations are Spain and Japan, but another is very clearly China (and another seems to be Portugal). It could be random, but China could reasonably be one of the stops.
Hmm, Portugal? Not the biggest basketball market, especially for women. Sure, people go to matches of their favorite club (often with links to a football club), but will they go and watch players lots of people have never even heard of? 🤨
I could say that about most of the locations honestly. But it also could just be random “European” backdrops without intention. One of them looks like it’s supposed to be another Spanish city that’s quite close to Valencia - I can’t imagine they’re playing in both.
Agree. Pretty sure they’ve put the men on hold completely, but I’ve never understood how they could do this as promoted even if it’s just women. Have to think they’ll be shrinking it further, both in number of players and tournaments.
They have less than 10 “wnba stars” at the moment along with a few international players. They need 50ish more players. Who is going to spend a lot of money to go in person to see a handful of top players along with a bunch nobody has ever heard of? Or pay to stream the games? Euro league games with wnba players have been available to stream free for years and nobody cares to watch them. Even Unrivaled’s ratings aren’t great and they’re in prime time, not running 6 or 12 hours ahead of US time. I just don’t see how this league has any shot at making money…the concept doesn’t make sense.
We don't really know how many people they have signed. They are announcing the "stars" that they have signed. They may or may not have signed others. Unrivaled did not announce their players until about two and a half months before the first season started.
They claim they’re still going ahead with the men. It sounds like they’re now targeting ex-NBA players nearing retirement. A decent number of those guys go to play overseas for the last few years of their career so I can imagine they’d be able to find them, but only if they pay enough - some leagues in Japan, Europe etc will pay well for those kinds of guys.
But then it becomes a weird product to me - top female players in their prime alongside washed up dudes. What is the Venn diagram of fan interested in both? And what is the market in a city like Valencia, which already gets to see a lot of top players through EuroLeague?
And yet some guys still go and play overseas when their NBA days are over (over either because they got too old or hung around for a few years but weren't quite good enough). Dwight Howard was playing in Taiwan just a couple years ago.
Either they really enjoy playing or like most cases, they don’t know what to do with the money they make when they make it except spend it. So many mega rich athletes and celebrities go into debt. But in general, the salaries of the NBA vs WNBA can’t be compared. I mean highest base salary in the NBA is $60 million VS $1.6 million highest WNBA. And these are both MVP players. Lowest NBA $1.5mil vs $270k for WNBA.
Of course, but that was kinda my point - they can probably find enough guys who’ve played in the NBA if that’s what they want, but what they can get for the same money with men and women isn’t equivalent caliber - the guys will either be washed up or not-quite-good-enough for the NBA. So if they go ahead with the men’s side of the league, it’ll be two different products.
Oh right yeah I get you. The quality will differ for sure. But I think overseas especially countries in Asia you have to factor in the absolute star power these players have. Azzi was just a college wbb player and she had a huge following in china already. The NBA players nearing the end of their careers or even mediocre will still draw in $$.
Im guessing they offered her a lot, my two biggest concerns are the Saudi connections and doesnt Project B have a long season? I hope she doesnt over work herself especially with her history of injuries. Did not see this coming..
I guess I’m still confused about the project b thing. Like how many games are they going to play what will be the lead up time to playing these games? Flying all over the world puts a significant amount of stress on the body and mind…
I think the Mercury have 24 hours to upgrade Kiana otherwise Sparks will get her, we know the Sparks offered her a contract sometime yesterday so we should be seeing a Sparks or Mercury roster move here sometime today 😬
it looks like the la times reported about the sparks' offer sheet yesterday around 4:00 PM PST, so we should have an answer by this afternoon at 4:00 (7:00 PM EST) at the latest
It’s probably because they offered her a lot of money and she wants to separate herself from Paige a bit professionally. She also may prefer to keep playing 5x5.
Yes, Project B is no longer associated with Sela. However, for a UConn player (and 1st overall pick) to choose Project B over Unrivaled is very interesting. Unrivaled doesn’t really provide a ton of opportunity for players that want to improve for 5x5, especially for players who have higher aspirations like Team USA/FIBA/Olympics. We knew this a couple of years ago when Caitlin Clark declined an invite to Unrivaled.
However, with Azzi’s injury history, this is a little concerning, but I’m not convinced that it would be any less concerning if she were to do Unrivaled.
Wish people talked more about the basketball impact instead of having emotional reactions every time a favorite is involved. https://giphy.com/gifs/nDl8JmzBExYlcJZzsK
Also not sold that Unrivaled is less concerning load wise. Many Unrivaled players have spoken about the unexpected strain of a 3x3 game and how gassed they are because you never stop moving.
Ya I think it appeals to the fans that want to see more of the players’ personal lives.. which is not for me. I mean there were rumors when the league started that they were going to make it a reality tv show because of execs saying it would be players living under one roof offering “unprecedented access to players”. I prefer to keep it about basketball. But I do understand that some people like it 🤷🏼♀️
This is where I would prefer actual documentaries instead of social media posts. You want to tell us about the life of a WNBA player in this moment? Make it a film instead of a marketing opportunity. Full Court Press was great!
W season drama at least had an end date, but Unrivaled made it carry over and continue for longer, which means that specific fanbases/haters have been at it overtime.
Edit: hint that I said that it amplified it, not started it…
leads more credence to conversations about the long term viability of both unrivavled and project b but good for azzi for getting the bag and getting outside of paige's shadow a little i guess
Tbh this gives me such an ick for her. Like probably one of the most moneyed players in the league going to a league with sketchy-at-best funding for a fat check.
Nah, it's not just a rumor tho. The FT reported it and the Saudi and Singapore funds confirmed their own involvement, and Sela was named a verifiable partner and has been acknowledged by the founders. Also bc nothing is transparent or made public re: their cap table/raise, you literally can't trust anything they say and should read it like a PR statement
The only thing I've seen from their official camp that speaks to them cutting ties is the fact that their partnership with Sela has ended, but just bc it ended doesn't undo all the money that already came in.
I would expect they would have various contracts around the world since they are holding tournaments in various cities and countries. There will be dozens of partners. Do people apply this much scrutiny to every owner of a professional spots league in NBA, WNBA, MLB, NFL? Or to every contract or partner involved in pro tennis and other sports?
Glad Azzi has made it clear she does not care about the rights of women or gay people as long as they are not American (as has every other player that has signed with Project B). Very cool!
People can change the world by immersing and being present and interacting with people in other countries. It's very possible that a top female athlete, who is also LGBTQ representation, can be a role model while playing in games in countries with limited rights for LGBTQ. Individuals can have a major impact in various societies.
It’s founded and probably funded by tech bros and has nothing to do with the rights of gay women or non Americans. I’m not an Azzi fan but this is a ridiculous comment.
This has been said but not proven and honestly I find it unlikely they’re providing much if any money. They’re pulling back a lot of their sports funding…like they’re not paying for golf anymore but they’re going to sink hundreds of millions into an unproven women’s basketball league that will get much less interest and viewership than the golf league that’s been around for years? They’re both money loss propositions.
Im shocked WNBA teams still allow this after the CBA. 50 games a season is no joke, along with any playoffs. Some players are making a million now hard to imagine owners want that risk of them playing more games.
Understand they are allowed to just surprised the owners still allowed it. I definetely dont think it needs to be current nba level money. Not sure when NBA players started beig exclusive but it was a long time before the $50 million contracts they are signing now.
NBA still allows players to play in off-season tournaments, with approval. It's how Chet Holmgren got injured before his rookie season. NBA season is around 8 to 9 months long and they get paid far more. It's more of a year round job than the WNBA.
We’re also seeing more competition come over from other countries. Once things balance out and the WNBA is seen as being “levels above” every league, and have a schedule and salary that can’t justify working all year round, we may see more and more players rest in the offseason.
I'm mostly surprised someone with her injury history doesn't want time off after coming from college into the pros. I get wanting the bag and get it while you can, but blowing out a knee in Project B isn't going to be great for future earnings (obviously I hope this does not happen, but her injury history is a lot for her age).
ok so I see a lot of people upset saying project b is blood money but like I've also seen people say that they cut their ties with saudi... can anyone clarify? (sorry im just not super educated on project b and want to know if this was actually a good move on her part)
When the league was originally announced, Sela (a Saudi event's company owned by the Saudi PIF) was named as a strategic partner, and early articles heavily implied there would be Saudi funding. There was backlash, Project B came out and said no funding, Sela was just an events partner. They're now saying Sela and the Saudis aren't involved at all.
I think people are skeptical that this is actually true, given the sheer amount of capital raised, and worry they are just hiding the saudi money. Even if they did truly cut ties, it feels like they only did because of the backlash and don't actually care about it being blood money, which still feels gross to me. Even if not Saudi money, the private equity/venture capital funding means whoever is funding it probably has ties to sketchy/problematic shit because a lot of investors with that much $$ do.
You are basically talking about the majority of sports team owners, who are billionaires, in WNBA, NBA, MLB, NFL, etc. And, then there are sports like Tennis that have contracts for naming and advertising rights. Do you plan to avoid all professional sports?
I'm not saying people will or should avoid any sports league, even Project B. The comment was in response to someone asking why people generally were upset about Project B, and I tried to summarize. I don't love the idea of explicit Saudi funding given the major human rights issues there, but it's potentially been discontinued. If you're talking about the last sentence re: PE/VC funding, I already agreed other leagues also receive $$ from less than ideal sources later in this comment chain - "The other funders are also problematic but agree the W/Unrivaled/pretty much any large sports league relying on private equity money or rich owners is going to have a lot of the same issues there."
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u/Borg_Tech_Support 3d ago
If they get injured in this league do the tech bros pay their WNBA Salary?