Caitlin Clark, a standout player with the Indiana Fever, was recently at the center of a significant financial proposition from the BIG3 basketball league, spearheaded by none other than Ice Cube.
The league, which was established in 2017, offers a unique 3-on-3 format and often features ex-NBA talents like Joe Johnson, Stephen Jackson, Michael Beasley, and Chauncey Billups.
The teams play to a first-to-21 format, making for fast-paced and exciting games.
The BIG3, looking to boost its viewership and appeal, recognized Caitlin Clark’s phenomenal scoring ability and status as one of the most formidable players in college basketball history.
Ice Cube and the league’s executives put forth a lucrative offer to Clark: $5 million to participate in just ten games—eight in the regular season and potentially two in the playoffs. This offer was inadvertently leaked during March Madness, though it was intended to remain under wraps until after Iowa’s final game in the tournament.
Ice Cube expressed his intentions on the matter, stating, “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.”
However, Clark decided to decline the offer, choosing to focus on her commitments with the Indiana Fever in the WNBA.
Despite this, Ice Cube raised concerns on The OGs Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller that her decision might not have been entirely in her hands.
He suggested that her agents might have influenced her choice, believing that they potentially blocked direct communications between him and Clark.
“We believe her agents blocked it a little bit. 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,” Ice Cube explained on the podcast.
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Further adding to the complexity of the offer, Ice Cube revealed that the deal was even more substantial than initially reported.
It was actually a $10 million proposal spread over two years, including some degree of equity, potentially opening up a significant financial and professional opportunity for Clark.
The proposal also envisaged Clark competing alongside former NBA players and men’s college basketball standouts, a move Ice Cube believed could significantly impact the public perception of women athletes competing in traditionally male-dominated sports environments. “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,” he noted.
Despite some negative reactions to the proposal, Ice Cube remained undeterred, citing previous successes with women coaches like Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie in the BIG3.
These trailblazing figures set precedents for what women could achieve in the league, and Caitlin Clark could have been another groundbreaking addition.
Unfortunately, due to what Ice Cube perceives as interference from Clark’s representation, this intriguing chapter in sports history will remain unwritten, leaving fans and observers to wonder what could have been.
