Unrivaled Basketball League May Have Ace up its Sleeve in Pursuit of Caitlin Clark

Fever star said she won’t play any basketball this offseason

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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is the biggest needle-mover in professional basketball right now.

So, it makes sense that the upstart Unrivaled basketball league, which was co-founded by Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, would want to recruit her for its inaugural season, which kicks off in Miami in January 2025.

Though Clark told ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco that she will “almost definitely” not play basketball during the offseason, it appears that Unrivaled may have one trick up its sleeve to try and convince the WNBA Rookie of the Year to sign on.

“If we’re lucky enough to get Caitlin Clark, are we going to travel to Iowa?” Unrivaled investor David Levy told Front Office Sports.

“I think we might have a couple more rookies in there, that might be a hint,” Collier added, suggesting Clark could possibly be in the fold.

Based on Levy’s remarks, it seems Unrivaled isn’t above expanding out of Miami, where the league will play its first season. No travel is involved in the league’s eight-week schedule, but basing a future season in Iowa might be appealing to Clark, who starred for the Hawkeyes from 2020 to 2024.

Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) warms up before game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Mark Smith-Imagn Images

Clark appears to be pretty dead-set on taking it easy during the offseason. One would think it’d take a Herculean effort to persuade her to play in Unrivaled given she spent the last year maxed out on minutes at every level she played between the NCAA, WNBA and the WNBA All-Star game.

But according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, there are plans of a “full-court press” to convince Clark to play in the 3-on-3 winter league.

“Fresh off agreeing to an inaugural TV deal with TNT Sports, the new league will try to recruit Clark in the coming weeks, sources with knowledge of the strategy tells Front Office Sports,” McCarthy wrote.

“…With a national TV contract under its belt, sources say Unrivaled plans to approach Clark sometime in the next several weeks. … ’Get ready for the full-court press,’ predicted one source.”