Big-money offers continue to pour in for Caitlin Clark.
Wednesday, TMZ reported that Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league offered the Iowa women’s basketball phenom $5 million to play eight regular season and two playoff games this year.
The report added that Clark would also receive “substantial additional compensation” incentives in the form of sponsorships and merchandise, and that the league would also permit her to play in the WNBA.
Ice Cube offered Caitlin Clark $5 million to play in his Big3 basketball league this year.Getty Images for BIG3
Ice Cube appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” and when he was asked what the likelihood of it happening would be he answered that it’s “always 50-50” until the pen meets paper on the contract.
Ice Cube reiterated on the show that it is “definitely doable” for Clark to compete in both leagues, and that CBS, which works with both leagues as a broadcaster, would “love” it.
It is unclear whether it is something the WNBA, which has max contracts in the low six figures, would allow for Clark.
McAfee’s co-host, A.J. Hawk, asked Ice Cube who Clark would be paired with, and Ice Cube answered that Nancy Lieberman — the former women’s basketball star who has won a championship coaching in Big3 — would be the “perfect” coach and mentor for Clark if she wanted to do it.
Ice Cube spoke to Pat McAfee about his offer to Caitlin Clark.Pat McAfee Show
After TMZ reported the offer, Ice Cube quickly confirmed its legitimacy in a thread 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,” the league’s founder tweeted.
“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.”
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark drives up court in the second half of a second-round college basketball game against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, Monday, March 25, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa.AP
Clark has been a juggernaut in driving TV audience towards Iowa’s basketball games, and would undeniably increase the exposure of Big3.
In his tweet thread, Ice Cube referenced the “autocratic” countries where professional women’s basketball players compete during the offseason to augment their incomes.
“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote.
“And they should have more than just one professional option in the US at a time when 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.”
Big3 is entering its seventh season, which starts June 15 in Oakland.
