Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube’s Big3 league, league co-founder Ice Cube confirmed on social media.
“We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship,” Ice Cube wrote on X. “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 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.”
Clark, who will be playing in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 this weekend in Albany, New York, was not available for comment Wednesday morning. ESPN has reached out to her agency, Excel, for comment.
ESPN also reached out to the WNBA and the league’s players’ union to see if Clark playing in another league could be allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement. A spokesperson for the union said they were unaware of the Big3 offer and couldn’t comment at this time. The league has not yet responded to ESPN.
