Long-time NBA assistant Phil Handy coaches the Unrivaled team

Longtime NBA assistant coach Phil Handy will develop into the head coach of an as-yet-unnamed team for the first time in the first season of the latest Unrivaled women’s skilled basketball league in 2025, sources tell Andscape.

The 3v3 league will debut in Miami in January 2025, and 36 basketball players will play in six teams. Unrivaled’s co-founders are WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.

“I’m so excited to be a part of the first season of Unrivaled with some amazing coaches and athletes,” Handy told Andscape on Friday. “Supporting women in sport has been a long-standing passion of mine and I actually appreciate the opportunity to proceed to contribute to their development and success.

“I have always seen basketball as more than gender – it is about the skill, dedication and heart that athletes bring to the game. Exploring this deeper this off-season before the (WNBA) season starts in April feels like a meaningful and exciting way to stay connected to my roots. I love training athletes.”

Handy, 53, won three NBA championships as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. The former University of Hawaii guard was an assistant coach with the Lakers from 2019-2024 . , Raptors from 2018-2019 and Cavaliers from 2013-2018, after serving as player development coach for the Lakers from 2011-2013. The San Leandro, California native is widely known for running improvement camps around the world and training elite players in the offseason, including the late Kobe Bryant, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving and USC women’s basketball goaltender JuJu Watkins.

The inaugural season of Unrivaled will begin on January 17, 2025. Team assignments, rosters and schedules might be announced on November 20.