After Ice Cube Chased Caitlin Clark with $5 Million Deal, Breanna Stewart’s New Women’s League Offer Sparks Attention from WNBA Stars

Ice Cube’s $5 million offer for Caitlin Clark to join his league was met with a cold response from the WNBA star. In comparison, Breanna Stewart’s Unrivaled league, announced last year, is already seeing some top players from the WNBA warm up to the idea. The league has a couple of enticing offers on the table for those who will be a part of it and it seems to be working in their favor. Here’s how:

• Players will be paid the highest average salary in U.S women’s professional sports league history.
• The 30 players who join the league in 2025 will receive equity in the league for at least the first year.
• The founders are looking for other ways to pay players outside of salaries which includes brand and sponsorship deals

Last year, former UConn players Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier announced the launch of their 3-on-3 women’s basketball league. The idea was to combat the WNBA’s new prioritization rules and give top players an option to play domestically instead of overseas during the offseason.

In a press release on May 30, Thursday, the league announced that they will pay a minimum six-figure salary and offer the highest average salary in U.S. women’s professional sports when it launches in January 2025.

Collier told the Associated Press, “It’s really important to us. Compensation is a huge part of Unrivaled as a league and a business. All the players in this first year will have equity in the league. For players to have a piece of the pie essentially to grow their generational wealth is something we’re really excited about.”

The league will run for eight weeks with the 30 players divided into six teams. The games will take place on a court about two-thirds the size of a WNBA one and will be shorter, while retaining the four-quarter format. The teams will stay the same throughout the season.

Apart from from the high salaries, the league will also provide equity to those players involved in its first season. “For years, women have relied heavily on off-court sponsorships for a majority of their income. With Unrivaled, we’re revolutionizing the game by prioritizing investments in our stars and ensuring their on-court performance is reflected in their pay.” The league counts women soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, former NBA All-Stars Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony, five-time LPGA champion Michelle Wie West and actor Ashton Kutcher, among others as its investors.

The announcement of a higher salaries and an equity in the league has also drawn reactions from WNBA players, with two Phoenix Mercury stars sharing their opinions.

“Great opportunity” WNBA players feel excited by the prospect of the new 3-on-3 league

Commenting on the Unrivaled’s announcement, Phoenix Mercury’s Morgan Bertsch shared her thoughts during media availability. She said, “It’s been a long time coming. I think this league and these players deserve to be invested in. A lot of us had to go overseas to get that level of money. To be able to get that and stay home, I think it’s a great opportunity. I’m excited to see what it looks like.”

She also added, “I don’t think people realize that a lot of us, especially the ninth through 12th person on the roster, are going overseas and playing year-round. That can take a toll on your body just never having a break or time to step away from the game, but that’s the only way we can get a living wage.” This highlights the issues with WNBA, where the reported average salary is just over $115,000 this season.

Bertsch is on a $64,154, one-year minimum deal with Phoenix and comes off the bench, averaging 10 minutes per game this season. While her salary outside of the WNBA is undisclosed, many stars, like Griner, have earned over $1 million per year playing in Europe. However, timing also becomes an issue.

This very year, the playoff run for Bertsch’s Spanish team, Uni Girona CB, delayed her return to the States and hence she could not join the team during the training camp. As a result, she missed the opportunity to blend with new players like Kahleah Copper. But that is what Breanna Stewart’s league aims to provide a solution for.

Similar to Bertsch, her teammate Sug Sutton is currently on a 1 year, $64,154 contract with the Mercury. Sharing her thoughts on Unrivaled, Sutton said, “This is super exciting. We don’t have that many leagues that players can stay home and play in. It’s great that this is coming, and players are making that initiative for us.”

Unrivaled is all about letting the players play at home even during the off-season. Many stars go overseas to play in various leagues after the conclusion of the WNBA season due to monetary benefits. Brittney Griner’s arrest in Russia, though, has made many players hesitant to go to other countries. And now, they can compete in the brand-new professional league in the US itself. Unrivaled also solves another problem for the WNBA players.

According to WNBA’s Priority rule established in 2020, all the hoopers have to return to their teams by the beginning of the training camp. This would mean that players trying to earn money overseas would lose their contracts if their team were in playoffs. So, Unrivaled will ensure that this scenario is also avoided.

Earlier this year in March, rap icon Ice Cube, who is the CEO of the BIG3 league, confirmed that he made a lucrative $5 million offer to Caitlin Clark to play in 8-10 eight games, it turned heads. Clark, who was occupied with Iowa’s NCAA campaign, said, “I honestly don’t talk about those things with really anybody. I have other people that deal with it. They haven’t said a word to me about it.” Eventually, the current Indiana Fever player would turn down the offer.

But it seems, the Unrivaled is already getting WNBA players on board ahead of its much awaited first season next year.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.