As the last five seconds of the first half of Unrivaled’s final regular-season game between Rose BC and Vinyl counted down, Chelsea Gray danced around Dearica Hamby.

Gray jab-stepped to the top of the key, pulled back out and scooted to her right, narrowly avoiding Hamby. With a hand in her face, Gray rose up for a midrange jump shot.

As she fell to the ground, the ball fell through the hoop. Gray got up, looked at the crowd and licked her lips before calmly walking back to the Rose bench.

Heading into Unrivaled’s debut season, questions surrounded Gray: Would her defense be exposed? Would the foot injury that forced her out of the 2023 WNBA Finals and held her out the first 12 games of the 2024 season be an issue? And, as Gray put it, did she still have it?

To “quiet the noise,” she took it upon herself to prove that she does still have it. And performances like the one she had against Vinyl — Gray finished with eight 3-pointers and 33 points — demonstrated she hasn’t lost a beat.

Damn Chels, that’s a lot of 3s,” she said to herself after the game with a grin spreading across her face.

That approach of proving doubters wrong has been a common thread for Gray and her Rose teammates Kahleah Copper, Brittney Sykes, Azura Stevens and Lexie Hull on both a personal and team level.

After starting the season 1-4, the Rose rattled off a five-game win streak at the start of February — a stretch that included handing the league-leading Lunar Owls their only loss of the season — and finished the regular season winning seven of their final nine games.

Now they enter Sunday’s semifinals as one of the hottest teams in the league.

“I’m always the person who believes it’s not the way you start the season, it’s the way you finish it,” Gray said. “Midway through you want to start building those habits and chemistry and camaraderie. … I think that’s where we took a huge step forward. … You want to be playing your best basketball, no matter what, going into the playoffs.”

Seeded No. 2 in the playoffs, the Rose (8-6) will face the No. 3 Laces (7-7), with the winner advancing to Monday’s title game to face the winner of the other semifinal between the No. 1 Lunar Owls (13-1) and No. 4 Vinyl (5-9).

Each member of the title-winning club will earn an additional $50,000 in prize money on top of their Unrivaled salary.

Part of the Rose’s resurgence came behind Gray’s dominance — she scored at least 26 points in seven of the Rose’s final 10 games of the regular season, including a 38-point game to match a league high.

“I’m healthy,” Gray said. “That’s the biggest thing for me. Your body is your body of work when you are playing a sport. Then two, having the mindset to get back at it … coming in here with the mindset of trying to get better every single time you play.”

Another part has been her growing chemistry with Angel Reese and Reese’s overall development over the Unrivaled season.

Like Gray, Reese had a point to make when she arrived in Miami. Coming off what she called a “disappointing” rookie season that ended early after an injury to her left wrist, Reese wanted to get healthy and grow her game.

She wanted to show that she could continue to dominate the boards while expanding her offensive repertoire. And she wanted to avoid her game being labeled as one-dimensional.

“Looking down the long road, sometimes I think, ‘How many years am I going to be able to get these double-doubles and all these rebounds,'” Reese said. “I continue taking shots, risky shots I guess, and shots that people don’t expect me to take. This league, you want to win and play the right way, but work on things that lead into the WNBA season.”

She has spent a lot of time working with WNBA great Lisa Leslie, who told Reese that the Rose and Chicago Sky player is the “2.0” version of her.

The Sky had a young roster in 2024, and without veteran teammates to guide her in the WNBA, Reese sought out extra time with Gray and fellow Rose teammate Kahleah Copper in Miami.

Reese finished the regular season leading the league in rebounds, averaging 12.1 per game. She recorded eight double-doubles, including a 22-point, 21-rebound game — the first 20-20 performance in Unrivaled history — against the Lunar Owls on Feb. 21.

“Being here at Unrivaled has been the best thing for me,” Reese said.

Reese’s brother was snubbed for a notable award

Reese is among the most vocal players arguing for better treatment in the WNBA

MORE WNBA players are joining Angel Reese’s stance on opting out of the league’s current CBA.

Reese has made it known that WNBA players could go on strike if salaries aren’t raised in the league.

The WNBA recently opted out of its collective bargaining agreement, meaning it will expire at the end of this season instead of 2027.

WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson released a statement about this decision last October.

“The players made the decision to opt out of the last CBA to realign the business and save the league from its own limitations,” she said.

“With a stronger foundation and new investments flowing in, they’re opting out again – this time to fully professionalize the league, secure proper wages, improve working conditions and lock in meaningful benefits.”

Players are using this opportunity to further advance the treatment of players in the league, and Reese has been among the most vocal.

However, others like Nnekaa Ogwumike are starting to speak up as well.

Reese posted a statement that Ogwumike made about the CBA on her Instagram Story on Wednesday.

“Opting out [of the current CBA] isn’t just about bigger paychecks,” Ogwumike said.

“It’s about claiming our rightful share of the business we’ve built, improving working conditions, and securing a future where the success we create benefits today’s players and the generations to come.

“We’re not just asking for a CBA that reflects our value; we’re demanding it, because we’ve earned it.”

There are several points of contention within the WNBA Players Association, but Reese has been the most vocal about pay.

She shared her opinion about this on the Unapologetically Angel podcast.

“I need to be in the (players’ union) meetings because I’m hearing that if (the league) don’t give us what we want, we’re sitting out,” she said.

“That’s a possibility, for real,” guest Dijonani Carrington said.

The statement got a strong response on social media, but Reese was ready to fire back with a response.

WNBA All-Star rosters

THE 2024 WNBA All-Star game rosters have been announced, with Team WNBA set to face Team USA on July 20.

Team WNBA:

• DeWanna Bonner – Connecticut Sun
• Aliyah Boston – Indiana Fever
• Caitlin Clark – Indiana Fever
• Allisha Gray – Atlanta Dream
• Dearica Hamby – Los Angeles Sparks
• Brionna Jones – Connecticut Sun
• Jonquel Jones – New York Liberty
• Kayla McBride – Minnesota Lynx
• Kelsey Mitchell – Indiana Fever
• Arike Ogunbowale – Dallas Wings
• Nneka Ogwumike – Seattle Storm
• Angel Reese – Chicago Sky

Team USA:

• Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx
• Kahleah Copper – Phoenix Mercury
• Chelsea Gray – Las Vegas Aces
• Brittney Griner – Phoenix Mercury
• Sabrina Ionescu – New York Liberty
• Jewell Loyd – Seattle Storm
• Kelsey Plum – Las Vegas Aces
• Breanna Stewart – New York Liberty
• Diana Taurasi – Phoenix Mercury
• Alyssa Thomas – Connecticut Sun
• A’ja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces
• Jackie Young – Las Vegas Aces

“I said, ‘I’m hearing if they don’t give us what we want, we sitting out.’ And that’s the truth,” she said.

“I never said anything about the NBA. We are prepared to stay at the negotiating table for as long as it takes.

“Here’s the link to my podcast so you can hear the conversation too.

“I will continue to use my voice to speak for what WE want & deserve as a league. Thank ya.”

When Cheryl Miller speaks, you listen.

The Hall of Famer went on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s podcast, All The Smoke, and cleared the air on a couple of false narratives that surrounded Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

For one, they don’t hate each other.

Rivals? Sure.

Enemies? Not even close.

Miller coached the two WNBA stars in their first All-Star game last season.

Clark and Reese were teammates for the game, and got along with one another quite well, according to Miller.

Arguably the greatest women’s college basketball player of all time, also opened up about relating to the spotlight that Clark constantly has on her.

And all the hate that is consistently thrown her way.

“I’m gonna be honest because it needs to be said, I can relate to that young lady and I felt for her,” Miller said referring to the Indiana Fever star.

“I know what it’s like to be hated.

“I know what it’s like to be a black woman and hated because of my color.

“I can’t imagine this young lady, I don’t wanna use hate, but despised.

“She brought some on herself a little bit because she’s cocky for a good reason and I love that about her.

“But to watch the dynamics and the media, they had their narrative.

“And I was pleased and proud to see the narrative wasn’t the truth.

“Angel and her got along so well.

“Watching them practice… I didn’t know how talented she was and how well she sees the game in a 3D version, thinker, and defensively a lot better than I thought and gave her credit for.”

The narrative that surrounded Clark and Reese was that they hated one another and had bad blood.

The two of them have each gone on the record to dismiss those claims, but the media has still pushed it.

And they have pushed an even stronger narrative on Clark being the savior of the WNBA.

Specifically the ‘white-savior’ of the league.

And while there’s no denying Clark’s popularity and financial impact she has already had on the league, it would be irresponsible to dismiss the rest of the players of the WNBA, more importantly the black players.

They were the ones that built this league. Clark is helping to grow it.

Both things can be true, without all the animosity and angst that comes with it, due to the media trying to paint a certain picture.

But like Miller said: “The narrative wasn’t the truth.”