When Caitlin Clark reportedly was offered $5 million to play 10 games in the BIG3 basketball league in addition to her WNBA career with the Indiana Fever, most people thought it was a sweet deal, considering she makes about $56,000 per year as the new face of the WNBA.
Veteran players in the league were salty that Ice Cube didn’t offer that deal to any of the established stars such as A’ja Wilson, currently the front-runner for WNBA MVP.
Why Did Clark Turn Down The Offer?
The purported $5 million offer never went anywhere, but Cube claims her team ran interference and he never even got the chance to speak with her about the opportunity.
He recently claimed that Clark’s agent botched the deal.
The BIG3 is a pro hoops league that features 3-on-3 competition and was founded in 2017 by Cube and his partner Jeff Kwatinetz.
The league has featured some notable former NBA players, among them Allen Iverson, Joe Johnson, Stephen Jackson, Michael Beasley and Chauncey Billups. First team to 21 points wins the game.
BIG3 Offered Clark $10M Bag
Cube naturally wanted to bring Clark in to take advantage of her growing brand and bring a new set of eyeballs to the expanding league.
Reportedly, Cube offered $5 million to Clark for eight regular season games and potentially two playoff games.
The bombshell dropped right in the middle of Iowa’s March Madness run to the NCAA title game, but it wasn’t supposed to be revealed until after the tournament was over.
Knowing the story was out and growing legs and already getting all kinds of social media feedback, Ice Cube addressed it over social media.
“We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship. But I won’t deny what’s now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”
No deal was made, but Ice Cube says he isn’t so sure that it was her decision.
Cube addressed the situation and how things really played out with Clark during an appearance on The OGs Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller.
Cube accused Clark’s agents of “hating” on a brother.
“We believe her agents blocked it a little bit,” Cube said. We never got a chance to actually have a conversation with her and her family. The agents really didn’t want to see that happen in our opinion. They make their money off of NBA players, not WNBA players.
What Did The Deal Entail?: Cube Says $10M
According to Cube, the package would have actually paid more than what was initially reported, with a larger commitment.
Said Cube: “We offered her $5 million to play for two years. So she would’ve walked away with $10 (million) and a little equity here and there, but we knew it was a big step.”
Apparently, Cube was correct about Clark never getting the information from her agents, which is a challenge all athletes and entertainers face when they hire representation who have their own opinion on how to market their client.
On March 29, Clark spoke to reporters about Cube’s recent $5 million offer to join his BIG3 League.
According to reports, she confessed she knew nothing about the deal behind the scenes and admitted she learned about it at “the same exact time you all did.”
Clark Had A Chance To Change Landscape Of Pro Hoops
It would have been an unprecedented move for Clark to play former NBAers and men’s college standouts and definitely would have been more captivating then her competing in a league that is still lacking financially and trying to figure out how to expand their brand and capitalize on a new audience.
Some doubted if college basketball’s all-time leading scorer could handle such a challenge, but Cube felt that the style of play in the BIG3 would fit Clark’s game.
“Trying to play with the men at the professional level would’ve definitely opened up the minds of a lot of people. Whether she was successful or not, who knows, but we think she could’ve been because we had small guards in our league.”
Plenty of people criticized the offer because teh average person isn’t used to visionaries and groundbreakers who think outside of the box and Ice Cube is the epitome of such. He and BIG3 made history previously with Nancy Liberman and Lisa Leslie both coaching in the league and winning.
Clark’s agents obviously have a vision for her, and once Nike gave her the $28 million bag it was easy to not even consider Cube’s supposed offer for whatever reason.
As a middle aged male, I would have preferred to see Clark play against the men of the Big3 and succeed. It would have had a tremendous impact on sports and been as much a media draw as her playing women in the WNBA and getting “hated” on for influencing many changes in the league as far as boosted ratings and the institution of chartered flights for all teams.
Clark’s agents had other plans for how her newfound fame would be exploited and it didn’t include BIG3 hoops, but it would have been something to see her take a crack at it.
