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Unrivaled Basketball League brings in another friend of Caitlin Clark in hopes the WNBA phenom will join
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Unrivaled Basketball League brings in another friend of Caitlin Clark in hopes the WNBA phenom will join

With the WNBA season In the end, many are wondering what this year’s Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark, has planned for the offseason.

An innovative women’s basketball league appears to be doing whatever it takes to add it to its inaugural season.

Unrivaled Basketball League, founded by New York LibertyBreanna Stewart of the Minnesota Lynx and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx have added another friend of Clark’s on and off the court to their talent pool.

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Lexie Hull and Caitlin Clark high five

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark celebrates with guard Lexie Hull during the second quarter against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. (Kevin Jairaj-USA Today Sports)

Lexie Hull, a Clark’s teammate feverwas announced as the 29th player in the talent pool for the 3-on-3 league that features the likes of Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Kahleah Copper and many more stars already locked in for the January 2025 launch.

Unrivaled is changing the landscape of women’s basketball and every player has equity and a vested interest in it.

CAITLIN CLARK BEING AGGRESSIVELY PURSUED BY THE STARTING WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE AS THE WNBA FACES A POTENTIAL LOCKDOWN

The league became attractive to the WNBA’s top talent not only because of the involvement of Stewart and Collier, two bona fide All-Stars, but also because of historic contracts that offer the highest average salary in the history of the women’s professional sports league.

In fact, Unrivaled announced Thursday that the talent pool was expanded to 36 players instead of 30 due to the league exceeding its financial goals.

In addition to Hull, Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes teammate, Kate Martin, who now plays for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, also joined Unrivaled as the 28th player in the talent pool.

Lexie Hull and Caitlin Clark on the bench

Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull and guard Caitlin Clark watch from the bench during the first round of the WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. (Images by Mark Smith-Imagn)

Unrivaled was supposed to have only 30 players, and many expected Clark to be the final player. However, with the league expanded, WNBA fans now expect to see not only Clark, but also Las Vegas Aces MVP A’ja Wilson on the field in January.

In Clark’s terms, Front Office Sports reported that the WNBA Rookie of the Year received a “Messi-like offer” to join the league, a reference to soccer great Lionel Messi, who landed a very generous contract to join the Inter Miami FC in the Major Leagues. Soccer.

The offer is reportedly in excess of $1 million plus revenue sharing opportunities from the league. To put that into perspective with Clark’s WNBA salary for her rookie season, the Fever paid her $76,535 this year.

TNT Sports and Unrivaled also just reached a multi-year media rights deal to exclusively present live game coverage on TNT and truTV, in addition to broadcasting all games on Max.

With primetime television spots, the promise of high salaries, friends already on board and more roster spots, Unrivaled has the stage set to attract one of basketball’s most recognizable talents.

Caitlin Clark looks up

Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark watches during the WNBA playoff game against the Connecticut Sun on September 22, 2024 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

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The ball is in Clark’s court, no pun intended.

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