The latest in a series of strategically timed releases from Project B points to some smart behaviour from its leadership. Announcing new arrivals like Angela Dugalic and Antonia Delaere during the WNBA break for the FIBA Women’s World Cup is no accident, writes Emmet Ryan.
For a league that hasn’t even played a single game yet, Project B is already showing it’s got some strong tactical nous. Three September releases, all during the WNBA break for the FIBA Women’s World Cup, point to its intent to generate interest before the barnstorming show starts off play.
We begin on 2 September
Just as most of the teams were arriving in Berlin for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, Project B dropped the big news that Russell Westbrook was being named a co-founder and appointed chief strategy officer.
“At every step of my career, what was most valuable to me was making sure everyone had a seat at the table,” Westbrook said. “With Project B, we’re challenging the norm and bringing a new vision to the intersection of premium sport, culture, and entertainment. We’re reimagining the experience with players not only as key value drivers, but also as shareholders and decision makers.”
More importantly, it was Russ making a big statement for the league during a quiet enough window news wise. Project B managed to get the announcement out right after Labor Day in the US and during the WNBA break. They didn’t wait long for their next one.
Just 48 hours later
While not as big a deal, it was still a well-timed one. Project B announced that it would hold a training camp in Seoul, South Korea, for a week in January of 2027. In addition, it announced that Jihyun Park had joined the list of players taking part in the competition.
Considering only two of the seven host cities have been announced to date, showing any movement geographically is interesting. The confirmed venues are Valencia in Spain and Tokyo in Japan. I fully expect at least one more venue to be announced before the end of the FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Playing one in Saudi Arabia is unlikely but for the right price they might yet. Given the league has publicly denied it is receiving funding from Saudi, it could do with not giving the WNBA something easy to criticise. At least one more in Europe and East Asia feels like a lock. Holding a training camp in Korea hints at them likely looking at China for the other venue in that region.
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Which brings us to today
A raft of new players were announced on Thursday, quarter finals day at the FIBA Women’s World Cup. These were: Angela Dugalić, Antonia Delaere, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Brionna Jones, Makayla Timpson and Valériane Ayayi.
That brings the total number of players committed to 22 from 13 nations. The goal here clearly is to develop international appeal. “The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup is one of the clearest expressions of what makes this game so powerful: the best players in the world, representing their countries and bringing their own styles, cultures and identities to the court,” said Alana Beard, Project B chief basketball officer.
“That same global excellence is at the heart of Project B. We have players from across our roster competing in Berlin, and it’s an incredible opportunity for fans around the world to see the caliber of talent and get to know the leaders who are helping shape the platform we’re building.”
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So what to make of it?
The big differentiator between Project B and the other competitor leagues, Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled, is that it’s heavily focused on the market beyond the US. While the growth of NCAA women’s hoops and, in turn, the WNBA has seen the boom happen there, there’s clearly an opportunity to generate revenue elsewhere.
That the teams won’t be tied to specific cities, in a format similar to the PBA in the Philippines, is interesting. Even at the FIBA Women’s World Cup, it’s been clear that geographic and cultural ties are huge in most of the world when it comes to getting fans in the door.
The natural option, one this site will go in-depth on in the coming months, is a clear alliance between the WNBA and Euroleague Women. Unlike the men’s game, that is run by FIBA so the complication of the main league in Europe being its own actor is removed. Of course, that might be going away too.
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