Ice Cube Offered Caitlin Clark $15M To Join Big3, League Slams 'NBA Mob' For Blocking Offer
NCAA record-setter Caitlin Clark was chosen as the top pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She is slated to earn $338,056 over her initial four year contract. However, the new Indiana Fever guard was reportedly offered another contract option — with a lot more zeros, this time involving West Coast rapper, actor, and basketball league founder Ice Cube.
According to the Daily Mail, Ice Cube's explosive Big3 League offer would have included a salary of $15M over two years, a percentage of team ownership worth millions, 50 percent of merchandising revenues from her name and likeness, and ownership of a Big3 documentary which came with a seven-figure advance.
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Per the media outlet, Clark, 22, is set to earn around $76,000 in her first WNBA season via her on-court salary. Additionally, she reportedly landed a $28M contract with Nike, which she will receive over the next eight years.
Co-owner of the Big3 League, Jeff Kwatinetz, claimed that the basketball star "was not told about the deal" due to her agents in an open letter originally posted to OutKick, then later on the hip-hop icon's website.
Bleacher Report stated that Big3 has rosters populated by former NBA players in the twilight of their careers, while the WNBA offers Clark a more competitive environment and a chance to prove her ability against the best players in women's basketball.
"We have reason to believe these male agents and executives controlling the sport never even shared our trailblazing offer with Caitlin, let alone facilitated Caitlin meeting with the BIG3 to discuss the opportunity," Kwatinetz said, per the sports publication.
"The NBA commands by fear, and they make sure their industry of agents, lawyers, managers, and networks stay in line. And that line is to prevent BIG3 success, even if it stunts the growth of women's basketball," the co-owner claimed in the letter.
"From our perspective, these representatives don't seem to work for an individual client like Caitlin," Kwatinetz's alleged. "They seem to work for the NBA mob, as their client list is a who's who of NBA players."