Unrivaled, the new 3×3 league is shaking up women’s basketball as we know it! Backed by a reported $100M of TNT Sports money, the league will hand out big paychecks to several WNBA players who will spearhead in Miami.

This includes the likes of finalists and founders of Unrivaled — Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier — who will participate in the league before the WNBA tips off in May.

However, one superstar who is yet to be recruited is none other than the WNBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark. She has been the biggest thing in women’s sports and fans want to know if the Indiana Fever star will be joining Unrivaled. Well, with all the rumors swirling around Clark, she has come clean in a recent interview with TIME.

The Des Moines native, to many people’s disappointment, is taking a pass from the inaugural season of the league. She further suggested, “I didn’t rule out doing it in the future, but this year is just not the best for me,” indicating in the future we might see her suit up to play for one of the six clubs. But for now, she will focus on further elevating her game and resting.

“It’s going to be good for me to do my own thing and have my own space,” Clark mentioned to TIME who recently awarded her the Athlete of the Year honor.

Well, reportedly, Caitlin was offered more than $1 million to play in the league but the rookie decided to instead focus on what is more important to her. Pay has been a pretty controversial topic for years now which is one of the major reasons of WNBA players join the Unrivaled League in the first place. Let’s dive into how the league is prepared to lure the WNBA star.

Unrivaled prepared a ‘Lionel Messi-like’ offer for the Indiana Fever star

Special players attract special offers, and Caitlin Clark is arguably the most influential WNBA athlete at the moment. So, it’s only obvious the new TNT-backed Unrivaled League tried their very best to land the No. 22 by offering her a huge paycheck of over a million bucks and a part of the equity.

Definitely, a fortune when compared to Caitlin’s current base salary of $76,535 during her rookie season, thus making it a ‘Lionel Messi-Like’ offer.

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USA Today via Reuters

Angel Reese also received a similar, but a little fewer numbers, paycheck from the WNBA to Clark and claimed that it wasn’t even enough to cover her rent.

“I just hope you know the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all,” stated the WNBA star. Currently, WNBA’s highest-paid athlete is Arike Ogunbowale who will only make $249,032. So, the newly founded league has shown great promise in terms of paying players the “highest salaries in professional women’s sports league history.” That means a guaranteed six-figure paycheck outside of their equity stakes.

Although Clark has passed the offer as of now, the league has shown great promise in terms of revolutionizing the women’s sports industry. Players who have joined the six-team league will be able to cover their expenses and who knows, it might push the WNBA and even other sports leagues to incentivize women’s sports.