AU Pro Basketball debuts with one player pool, four weekly drafted teams and an individual champion.
2022 → 2026Five seasons of changing the container.
5AU kept its player-first leaderboard and weekly draft at the center while changing location, roster composition, presentation and finally the names fans used for the four weekly teams.
The captain draft and individual leaderboard remain the competitive spine rather than permanent franchises.
The format continues to build a recognizable winter stage for established pros and emerging WNBA players.
The league moves into its Nashville era while teams are still commonly identified by captains during each weekly draft.
Gold Rush, Glow, Rhythm and Eclipse give fans four stable team names even though the player rosters still reset each week.
AU announces there will be no 2027 basketball season while it evaluates the competition’s long-term future.
THE 2026 CHANGE
The colors finally got names.
Permanent team branding was the closest AU came to franchise-style expansion. The key difference: the names stayed, the rosters did not.
One of four permanent names introduced for Season 5.
A stable identity applied to a roster that was still redrafted weekly.
The team name remained from week to week even as its captain and players changed.
AU’s fourth named identity completed the new 2026 team set.
Why Playerpedia says “2026 Week 4”
AU assignments are temporary by design. Playerpedia stores the final-week team snapshot rather than implying a player belonged to one AU team for the entire season.
JULY 31, 2026
A pause is part of the history too.
Athletes Unlimited officially announced that Pro Basketball will pause during the 2027 season while the organization evaluates how the property can make its greatest long-term impact.
The site will not manufacture a schedule, roster or champion for a year AU has explicitly paused.
Official update ↗Champions, leaderboard history, team evolution and Playerpedia affiliations remain part of the W’s broader pro ecosystem.
Open AU history →Any return date, new format or new ownership structure belongs here only after AU makes it official.
WHAT TO WATCH
If AU basketball returns, what changes?
The captain-led redraft is AU basketball’s clearest competitive signature.
The 2026 names created continuity AU had not previously emphasized.
A return would restart the question Playerpedia now tracks: where else are WNBA players competing?