Throughout her entire athletics career, Caitlin Clark has shattered the mold for women’s sports. Whether it be for record-breaking play or record-breaking viewership, she has set the benchmark for collegiate women athletes.
Now, it appears as though she has an opportunity previously unthinkable for women in professional sports, to play with the men as an equal.
TMZ broke the news on Wednesday that Clark received a $5 million offer from Ice Cube’s Big3 league. This is no rumor either. The legendary hiphop artist confirmed the report with his post on X.
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. https://t.co/cwzHh7EVau— Ice Cube (@icecube) March 27, 2024
“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,” Ice Cube wrote on X.
The rapper and movie star referenced the success that women such as Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have had in the Big3 league as coaches, expressing hopes for Clark to further break down barriers for women in professional basketball.
“The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men’s pro team, and she won the championship in her first year. Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes.
“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their offseasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet. And they should have more than just one professional option in the US at a time where American pro sports leagues are being infiltrated by autocratic, anti-women regimes such as Qatar. Our pathbreaking offer to Caitlin Clark demonstrates that BIG3 now offers another choice for athletes,” Ice Cube wrote.
In the original TMZ story, it is clear that the Big3 is not trying to poach Clark away from the WNBA. Rather, they seek to provide a better accompaniment to the WNBA than playing in European leagues, a path taken by most WNBA players during the offseason to make more money.
The way Ice Cube and the Big3 see it, this is a win-win-win for all three sides.
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