TIME100 honors Phee & Stewie | WNBA All-Star ups the stakes | NCAA gymnastics hits the mat

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Unrivaled duo headlines TIME100

The 2025 TIME100 List dropped yesterday, tapping Unrivaled founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart as two of the year’s most influential people following their 3×3 league’s successful debut season.

• “Unrivaled makes female athletes think about everything differently,” retired soccer legend and Unrivaled investor Alex Morgan wrote in the pair’s tribute. “It’s not always just take the salary and sign on the dotted line and be happy. Sometimes you can just do it yourself better.”

Big picture: Other big names in women’s sports also made the cut, including gymnastics titan Simone Biles and retired tennis superstar Serena Williams.

• “She is both deeply human and undeniably superhuman — a combination that makes her impact profound,” Biles’s former US teammate Aly Raisman wrote of the seven-time Olympic gold medalist.

• “She could take a break from being in the public eye and raise her family. Instead, she continues to pave the way,” retired Olympic track star Allyson Felix wrote of Williams.

Aflac boosts WNBA All-Star purse

Insurance giant Aflac is renewing their 2024 partnership with the WNBPA, raising this year’s WNBA All-Star Weekend stakes by boosting prize payouts for individual competitions.

• 2025’s 3-Point Contest winner will earn $60,000 while the Skills Challenge champ gets $55,000, with Aflac upping the overall purse from $110,000 to $115,000.

• The payouts will now match what NBA All-Stars receive for the same events, in accordance with the pro men’s league’s CBA.

• “It’s not just about the rewards; it’s about building a future where our value is undeniable,” WNBPA president and nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike said of the deal.

Big picture: Atlanta Dream forward Allisha Gray cleaned up at the 2024 All-Star Game, winning both solo events to cash in on the entirety of Aflac’s added prize money.

• The first-ever player to dominate both contests in a single night, Gray collected roughly 62% of her annual WNBA salary with last year’s dual wins.

• “As an official partner now in year two, Aflac’s continued commitment creates a ripple effect — lifting not just the women in those pivotal moments, but the entire women’s sports industry,” said Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBPA.

NCAA gymnastics finals kick off

Eight NCAA gymnastics teams are edging closer to this weekend’s 2025 national championship, with the pivotal semifinal round kicking off this afternoon.

• Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida, and Alabama will hit the mat first, before 2024 winners LSU defend their title against Michigan State, Utah, and UCLA.

Big picture: Thursday’s action will also determine the 2025 individual all-around and event champions, with four all-around competitors and 16 event specialists joining from outside the eight qualifying teams.

• All-around candidates Jade Carey (Oregon State), Joscelyn Roberson (Arkansas), Madison Ulrich (Denver), and Mary McDonough (Washington) will participate without team representation, following along with a qualified teams’ rotation schedule.

Of the qualified teams, 2024 individual champ Haleigh Bryant (LSU) is set to lead the all-round pack, looking like a possible repeat favorite after a successful regular season.

• Carey’s 2024 Olympic teammate Jordan Chiles will also hit the mat for UCLA, with the proven ability to score a perfect 10 in both floor and uneven bars.

Tune in: The NCAA gymnastics semifinals start at 4:30 PM ET this afternoon, with live coverage on ESPN2.

PWHL drops draft details

The PWHL dropped 2025 Draft details this week, with the league’s third-annual entry draft set to take over Ottawa, Canada — home of the Charge — on June 24th.

• Eligible NCAA standouts and other pro hockey prospects have until May 8th to declare for selection, following the PWHL’s May 3rd regular-season finale.

Big picture: The PWHL follows the Gold Plan to determine draft order, incentivizing teams eliminated from the playoffs to close out the year with as many points as possible in an effort to secure a high draft pick.

• Last year, the New York Sirens took Princeton star Sarah Fillier No. 1 overall, with the rookie forward ranked second in individual points scored this season.

• Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy is 2025’s projected No. 1 pick should she declare, with 2025 NCAA MVP Casey O'Brien also in the conversation after leading Wisconsin to this year’s national championship.

Race to the finish: New York and 2024 champions Minnesota currently sit below the postseason cutoff line, with both teams in the running for draft capital when the league returns from international break later this month.

MLB trailblazer joins AU Softball

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League has hired former MLB executive Kim Ng as its first-ever commissioner, tapping into Ng’s 21 years of top-level experience ahead of the league’s inaugural season.

• After making history with the Yankees in 1998 as youngest assistant general manager in baseball history, Ng became the first woman GM in any major US men’s sports league in November 2020, when she took over the front office for the MLB’s Miami Marlins.

Big picture: Ng previously served as a senior advisor for AUSL, helping to develop the league into a reality amid growing parity at the college level and few viable pro softball opportunities.

• The AUSL’s four teams are scheduled to play 24 games starting on June 7th, traveling to eight rotating regular-season host markets before adding an additional two markets for the AUSL All-Star Cup.

• “Knowing what an established, mature system of governance looks like, I think will be really helpful in establishing this league,” Ng told The Athletic.

Quote of the day

Sports Are Fun! host Kelley O’Hara
reflecting on how draft fashion has evolved since she was drafted into WPS in 2010.