Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston sidelined by injury. Her absence, alongside another key player, shakes up playoff contenders.
Phantom BC forward Aliyah Boston will miss the remainder of the Unrivaled season with a right lower extremity injury, the 3-on-3 league announced Sunday.
Boston left Phantom's final regular-season game early Friday and did not return to the bench. No timeline was given.
The news came 24 hours after she was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Boston set a single-season record with 29 blocks in 14 games and was named to the All-Unrivaled second team Saturday. She won the DPOY award after receiving the most combined weighted votes from players, coaches, and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, with each group carrying a weighted percentage in the final tally.
Unrivaled also ruled out guard Dana Evans for the rest of the season on Sunday with a left lower extremity injury. The league added forward Aziaha James and center Makayla Timpson to Phantom's roster. Both will be available Monday when top-seeded Phantom (11-3) faces sixth-seeded Vinyl BC (5-9) in the playoff semifinals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The winner advances to the championship game on Wednesday.
Phantom earned a first-round bye with the best record in Unrivaled, but will now have to navigate the final stretch without two of its key contributors. Evans' absence compounds the loss of Boston, who was the team leader in rebounds, blocks, and points off turnovers during the regular season.
Boston, 24, averaged career highs of 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 blocks this season. She finished third in the league in total rebounds (136), second in defensive rebounds (111), and recorded seven double-doubles, third most in Unrivaled. She scored 20 or more points six times and led Phantom in multiple statistical categories throughout the year. Her 29 blocks shattered the previous league record, and she ranked first in the league in blocks per game.
The numbers were a significant step up from her first Unrivaled season in 2025, when she averaged 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks.
The Indiana Fever selected Boston with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft. The three-time All-Star averaged 15.0 points and 8.2 rebounds in 44 games for the Fever during the 2025 WNBA season.
Her injury also puts her participation in USA Basketball's upcoming schedule in doubt. Boston is expected to join the national team March 6 in Miami ahead of the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which runs March 11-17. The Unrivaled season wraps March 4, leaving little time between the final buzzer and the national team's first practice.
Tip-off times for Monday's semifinals have not been announced.