In the last few days, there have been some unexpected news coming out of Unrivaled, the 3-v-3 made-for-television winter basketball league that brings together a number of the finest professional women’s basketball players for a few weeks’ worth of competition in between WNBA seasons.
One news item said that a game over the weekend between Laces and Vinyl was cancelled. Another said that the 1-v-1 exhibition tournament which was scheduled to begin today was being truncated — the pool of players competing for the $200,000 top prize was reduced to 24 from 30.
The reason for this, according to league language, was “player well-being.” But let’s not sugar-coat it: the reason is player injuries.
Injuries are a part of every sport, whether contact or non-contact. And that especially goes with teams with such a small margin for injury absorption. The Unrivaled league has 36 players spread out over six rosters. If two players on any team get hurt, that means that team has just one available substitute.
We’ve seen how small margins for player injuries have affected a number of women’s athletic teams in the past. I remember when a team in Women’s Professional Soccer had to pull in a social media coordinator from the bench to play in the goal because of injuries to the team’s goalkeeper pool. I’ve also seen stories where WNBA teams have not been able to run full practices because of injuries — teams have usually had 11 active players, meaning that it takes just two injuries to affect a team’s readiness.
Now, another women’s sports promotion begins tomorrow, one which features six players on the field at any one time and four substitutions, which could become an issue if even one player gets hurt and cannot continue.
We’ll have more on that tomorrow.