With $1M at Stake, Caitlin Clark’s ‘Unrivaled’ Involvement Faces a Major Barrier, Uncovers Rachel DeMita
Caitlin Clark has leveraged her brand over time to come to a position where women’s basketball now feels incomplete without her. Hence, now that the Unrivaled is scheduled to begin in January, fans are cheering loudly for Clark, demanding her to join the league. Even the 3X3 league has reportedly made an offer of $1 million to Clark, apart from revenue share, incentives, and equity. However, looking at Clark’s dedication to golf in the offseason, it looks as if the generational player won’t take part in the league. Alas, it isn’t only this. Popular podcaster Rachel DeMita has come forward to share another reason that hints at Clark not joining the league.
On Wednesday’s episode of her podcast, DeMita shared a previous statement from Unrivaled’s founder Napheesa Collier, going by which Clark might not join the league, which disappointed fans.
“I feel like a little detective when I’m talking about some of these stories because not everything is confirmed. Unrivaled originally said that they had four rookies that would be playing. Now they have already announced four rookies. They have Aaliyah Edwards, Rickea Jackson, Kate Martin, and Angel Reese. So those are the four rookies that they already had,” DeMita stated.
A user had previously asked Phee about the number of rookies taking part in the league, to which she replied with Snoop Dogg’s picture showing his four fingers. Therefore, fans estimate that there will be four rookies only, the spots of which have been filled by the aforementioned names.
“Now I’m sure regardless if they even had 30 players, I think they would make a 31st place for Caitlin Clark, if she decided later on to join the league. But if they have four rookies and they are sticking to that, that they only had four rookies for the season… Does that mean that Caitlin Clark for sure isn’t playing?” DeMita added on her namesake YouTube channel.
While Edwards was drafted as the sixth overall pick by the Washington Mystics, Jackson was picked up by the LA Sparks as the fourth overall pick. Meanwhile, Reese was drafted as the seventh overall pick by the Chicago Sky whereas Martin was picked by the Las Vegas Aces in the second round. Therefore, all the rookies drafted in the Unrivaled are brilliant players who can light up the league in the inaugural season.
“I still like my gut is still telling me that she likely will not play in Unrivaled this season. However, I do think that there’s more of a chance for her to show up and watch some of the games now… that her friends Kate and Lexie are playing. Maybe, she will pull up to Miami and I think even… that even her being in the building supporting the league will be a good look for Unrivaled and will help them but we will just have to see,” DeMita concluded.
Though the league has drafted 29 players till now with one spot remaining, DeMita opines that Clark might not take that up. Instead, she says that Clark might show up in Miami to watch her friends Lexie Hull and Martin ply their trade. Meanwhile, Clark hasn’t also cleared if she would give up golf to take the 3X3 basketball format in the offseason.
Can Caitlin Clark play in Unrivaled?
Clark had shown her love for golf when she competed with Hull in a fun golf activity during an outing. At the same time, when she was asked about her possible entry in Unrivaled, the 22-year-old clearly stated that she wanted to concentrate on the playoffs. Then, once her playoffs were done and the Fever had been eliminated, Clark, in her Instagram post, wrote, “See you all in year two.” This further showed that she wasn’t interested in taking up the ball in the offseason. When questioned about her offseason plans, the ROTY clearly mentioned that she wanted to play golf and would be participating in the Pro-Am in November.
However, Phee and Stewie have played their cards according to fans by signing Hull and Martin. As per them, it is a move to lure in Clark, apart from offering her $1 million as base salary, equity, revenue share from media sponsorship rights, and lucrative bonuses. All this gives fans hope that Clark might make it just at the last moment.
But if DeMita is to be believed, then Clark might be in the Unrivaled only as a spectator. Hopefully, there will be more clarity on Clark’s mindset when the 30th player is announced or when she herself reveals her decision.
