Angel Reese was ruled out of the Unrivaled final with injury, and Rose emerged victorious in the Chicago Sky star’s absence to beat the Vinyl and become the first Unrivaled champions

Angel Reese was thrilled as her Rose won Unrivaled to secure herself a $50,000 payday while she sat on the sidelines with a wrist injury.

On Monday night, Reese’s Rose emerged from the inaugural Unrivaled season as champions, despite being written off by many before the season. The Rose secured a 62-54 victory over the Vinyl to win Unrivaled’s first championship, with Brittney Sykes scoring a driving layup and the game-winning free throw to finish with 21 points.

Azurá Stevens had 19 points and 18 rebounds, while Chelsea Gray scored 18 points with eight assists for the Rose. The Vinyl were led by Rhyne Howard’s 22 points, while Dearica Hamby and Aliyah Boston each scored 10 points in the loss.

Gray – who plays for the Las Vegas Aces – was voted Unrivaled Playoff MVP after helping the Rose overcome a 1-4 start to win the league’s first title. The 32-year-old also set the Unrivaled record with 39 points in the Rose’s semifinal win over the Laces to help them advance to the title game, where they emerged victorious. But they did so without Reese.

The Chicago Sky star missed the semifinals due to a hand injury. During their final regular season game, Reese appeared to re-injure the surgically repaired left hand that ended her WNBA rookie season prematurely.

She was ruled out for the finals, but Reese was still supporting her teammates – perhaps because of the lucrative $50,000 sum for each winning player. She took to social media to post: “50K NEED DATTTTT”

Unrivaled, the new 3×3 league, was staged in Miami and co-founded by WNBA All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. The league paid each of its 36 players a guaranteed $250,000 salary for the eight-week season, and Reese was pleased to take home the extra pay; she wrote another tweet that read: “SO PROUD OF THIS GROUP MAN!” – along with a rose and crying face emojis.

The Rose are the first Unrivaled champions ahead of the Lunar Owls, Phantom, Vinyl, Mist, and Laces. Reese was named Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year and All-Unrivaled second-team.

Unrivaled claims to be offering the highest average salary of any women’s sports league, building a custom arena and practice and training facilities in Miami. Along with the guaranteed average salary, players also receive equity stakes as part-owners in the league which makes it a compelling venture both financially and professionally.

In an interview WAE, Reese spoke about the benefits of playing in Unrivaled ahead of the league beginning. She said: “For one I’m staying in the States, I don’t have to go overseas. I’m making 6 figures, I’m living in Miami during my off-season. I’m playing with 34 of some of the best WNBA players, being able to get better. Some of the best coaches, we got T-Spoon, we got Phil, we’ve got a lot of great coaches there.

“I’m excited to like really dial in and get better. Obviously, the games are going to be cool and fun, but I just want to learn from the vets and stuff.”