Caitlin Clark has reportedly received a massive offer from the Unrivaled three-on-three basketball league set to begin in January, and it sounds like she’s leaning toward taking it. But it doesn’t sound like the Indiana Fever are too thrilled about that.
According to a report from Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal, Caitlin Clark has been offered a salary worth more than $1 million for a three-month contract.
“Caitlin Clark and Unrivaled have had ‘high level conversations’ about her joining the emerging 3-on-3 basketball league, sources said today, with the offer believed to include significant equity in the business and a three-month salary of over $1M,” Friend wrote for SBJ.
And it sounds like Clark is leaning toward taking that deal.
“On a day that the league expanded its rosters from 30 to 36 players, those sources said Unrivaled has told Clark she can ‘take as long as she wants’ to decide, mindful of the grind Clark has endured over the past year as a collegiate player and rookie in the WNBA. But Unrivaled has also strategically signed two of Clark’s closest friends — Fever teammate Lexie Hull and former Iowa teammate Kate Martin — to recent contracts, and, according to sources, speculation is Clark is leaning ’60/40′ to saying ‘yes,'” Friend wrote.
Obviously, this is pretty brutal news for the Indiana Fever.
While this league would not replace the WNBA as it takes place during the offseason and includes many of the WNBA’s biggest stars, it doesn’t sound like the Fever are too happy about the idea of Clark joining Unrivaled.
“They recognize that if it’s a Lionel Messi type offer, you’re not going to tell her don’t,” one source familiar with the Fever told SBJ. “But they hope she doesn’t. They want to provide her with an environment [in Indiana] where there’d be no reason to do anything else. That’s the focus. That’s their hope. But do they think [Unrivaled] is going to throw her some [exorbitant] offer? Of course they do. Because what else are they [Unrivaled] going to do? No one’s watching this without her.”
Given Clark’s current contract in the WNBA, this kind of money would be difficult to turn down.
Clark was paid a salary of just over $76,000 for her rookie season in the WNBA.
Obviously, this offer for Unrivaled is worth over $1 million for almost half as long as the WNBA season.
We’ll have to see what Clark decides, but it would certainly make sense for her to take the offer.
But it sounds like the Fever isn’t all that happy with the decision she is going to have to make.
