​Amid a breakout season in the WNBA, Jessica Shepard has drawn attention from several professional basketball leagues beyond the regular season. For the first time, Shepard will participate in Unrivaled during the upcoming offseason. The 3-on-3 women’s basketball league announced on Wednesday, June 8, that they signed Shepard to a multi-year contract, coming on the heels of her first-ever selection as a WNBA All-Star starter.
Shepard has previously spent her offseasons competing in Europe, most recently with teams in Greece and Italy. This past spring, she was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team, and in 2025 she earned the title of All-Greek A1 Player of the Year. “I am really excited to be joining Unrivaled for the coming seasons. I’ve heard nothing but great things since the league started,” Shepard said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to competing and playing with the best players in the world in a different setting, as well as developing my game.”
In other news, Paige Bueckers was selected No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA draft and subsequently captured Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game in her first season. The 29-year-old 6-foot-4 forward has enjoyed what might be her best year yet in the WNBA, finding a perfect fit with Jose Fernandez’s Wings after spending the previous five seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. Shepard signed a two-year deal worth just over $2 million with Dallas in the offseason.
Shepard is averaging career highs across several categories: 14.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game, while shooting 58.9% from the floor and 72.2% from the free-throw line. She ranks among the league leaders in multiple metrics, including second in rebounding, tenth in assists, eighth in assist-turnover ratio (2.85), third in defensive rebounding percentage (31.4%), first in win shares (3.9), and fifth in Her Hoop Stats’ offensive rating.
Notably, Shepard recorded her third triple-double of the season in an 88-77 win against the New York Liberty, posting 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. Three of her four career triple-doubles have occurred this season, and she is the only player in the league this year to register a triple-double. A Notre Dame alumna who helped her school win a national championship in 2018 alongside Wings teammate Arike Ogunbowale, Shepard was the 16th overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.
With Unrivaled’s latest signings, including Shepard, the league has added Olivia Miles, Gabby Williams, Flau’Jae Johnson, Bridget Carleton, Marine Johannés, Kayla Thornton, and Kayla McBride to its 2027 roster slate. The specific team Shepard will represent remains to be announced at a later date. This development was reported by USA TODAY, highlighting Shepard as the most recent WNBA star to sign a multi-year deal with Unrivaled in a move that broadens her professional horizons beyond the traditional basketball calendar.