More than $1 million for 10 weeks of work. In Miami. In January. That’s what the upstart Unrivaled League was ready to offer Caitlin Clark to come play for them and bring the eyes that follow her everywhere. But the Indiana Fever guard, after coming straight from a championship appearance with Iowa to a successful Rookie of the Year campaign, turned the offer down. It would have been a win-win for both sides but is the Napheesa Collier-Breanna Stewart founded league holding a grudge?

Alex Bazzell, Collier’s husband and also the President of Unrivaled, is clearing the air. In a recent appearance on Good Game with Sarah Spain, Bazzell talks about the league going strong after CC to recruit her. Was he disappointed that she rejected them? Spain had asked but Bazzell was generous and said that would be a strong word to use. At the same time, “Anyone who is in our shoes would 100% want Caitlin. It’s clear the kind of numbers she brings, it’s an outlier.”

When Spain discusses how Clark’s insane passing skills would work perfectly in the 3×3 format, Bazzell agrees. “She’s really built for this style. She’s the perfect hybrid of speed – she’s much faster than people think – and she can shoot it from deep, which stretches out the court even more in this system.”

Of course, Unrivaled wanted her and was prepared to offer her all the riches in the world, even a Messi-style deal with MLS. “So yeah, she was a heavy, heavy priority for us,” the league president said.

But the league execs also understood the importance of resting and recovering. Bazzell is, after all, a top-notch NBA and WNBA trainer. “We had to find balance to give her time. She would rush from college to draft to pros; she was in conversations every day…there was never really a downtime unfortunately for her. She also just wanted this offseason to take a break, which we get.”

So what now? “If you ask us what’s the plan moving forward, I’ve said this multiple times, we’re gonna be a league that always has a spot for Caitlin…We’re very hopeful that she wants to play in the league after seeing this season and resting. For now unfortunately she’s not in the league but…” The hope is that the Iowa sensation will join in season 2 or 3.

As will the other stars of the WNBA that are not playing in the winter league.

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Debate

Other than Caitlin Clark, who else opted out of Unrivaled?

At first, there were only going to be 30 spots on the Unrivaled roster but they slowly expanded to 36. With two spots still remaining open as they recruited Caitlin Clark’s former college friends and current Fever teammates, the ROTY handed in her firm rejection. But the league still filled up with players like Angel Reese and Lexie Hull; however, some major names were missing.

A’ja Wilson, the 2024 MVP, rejected the lucrative offer made to her as well but reportedly, she was not interested in playing the 3×3 format and prefers 5×5. The Aces star was also not interested in playing a full year, per some reports. Liberty’s Jonquel Jones also opted out of Unrivaled, instead playing for the Sichuan Yuanda in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association.

Another missing name is Kelsey Plum, who had originally said yes but later pulled out to take a break from basketball this offseason. While the WNBA has a total of 132 active players, only 36 are playing in Unrivaled. While of course that leave almost a hundred names not playing, this is just a round-up of some major names.