Caitlin Clark rejecting a 3×3 basketball league isn’t new. Back in June this year, Clark got a $10 million/2 year offer from Ice Cube to join the Big 3. However, as per Cube’s admission, things couldn’t go too far. Though the rapper offered a percentage of the merch sales along with a stake in the team ownership, the ROTY did not feel apt to continue with the talks. Cut to October, there is a growing murmur that Clark has another offer at hand, which is to join the Unrivaled League. And this too it looks as if she will turn down, courtesy of popular show host Rachel DeMita’s warning.

On Wednesday’s episode on her YouTube channel, DeMita listed the reasons for Clark to reject the Unrivaled offer. Though DeMita acknowledged that Clark is making a lot through her endorsement deals, she opined that the money offered by Unrivaled should be high, also taking the example of her previous talks with Cube. Reportedly, the Des Moines native will get a base salary, ownership in the league, and some bonuses, much like Lionel Messi. But DeMita enumerated that it was the league that needed Clark at this point in time and not vice versa.

“I think she is totally fine, and I think for her body and for her mental health, it might not be the best thing for her. Because I can only imagine what it was like being in her shoes throughout this entire WNBA season. Not only the kind of physicality, and double teams, and face guards, and all those things that she was receiving on the court. But also all of the noise, all of the drama, all the like media circus surrounding her off the court. Like that just had to have been so much to handle, and so I don’t know if jumping right back into another league that has not been established yet,” DeMita opined saying that it might not be the best idea.

DeMita also pointed out that Clark had gone through a lot in the league. Firstly, the Fever No. 22 played almost a year straight from September 2023 when she started for the Iowa Hawkeyes to this year when Indiana was finally out of the season after a playoff appearance. For the Fever itself, the rookie has played 40 games during this regular season.

Moreover, apart from battling her opponents on the court, she had to face off-court issues too. She was often discredited for her achievements and Sheryl Swoopes went as far as expounding that the Fever had made it into the WNBA playoffs (for the first time since 2016) due to team effort, somewhat ignoring the ROTY’s prowess. DeMita next thanked Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier for founding a league that allows the players to stay in the USA during the offseason but overtly stated that the league was relatively new.

“But I think Caitlin Clark stepping into a league that hasn’t been established yet. Through the firestorm that she has had to go through in the WNBA. Who’s to say that once she gets into Unrivaled all of these narratives, all of these your fan bases…. This all of this starts up again and who’s to say if Unrivaled has a fantastic first season. People are like ‘Oh, well! It wasn’t really Caitlin Clark. You can’t give her all the credit for them having a great first season.’ I just feel like everybody might need a break from that, including the person who has been at the forefront of it all,” DeMita advocated for Clark.

Plus, she also pointed out that players like Angel Reese, DiJonai Carrington, Skylar Diggins Smith will be part of the league, who had shot to popularity this season “because of things that they have done or said to Caitlin.” Hence, according to DeMita, Clark should probably take a break from all the stress.

“I just feel like you might be setting yourself up for some more drama. Now if Caitlin is okay with that, if she’s truly just psychotic, and can just play on the basketball court, and doesn’t care about all of it… if…. if her body feels healthy and she doesn’t think that she’ll get injured, I guess go for it. Take the money and run. However, if I was on her team, I would just be a little bit leery about signing up for something like this,” DeMita said. But the question is does Clark really need the money?

The WNBA offseason runs from around October to April, and it can vary, depending on how far teams get in the playoffs. Because of the lower salaries in the WNBA, players often head to Europe or Asia to earn more money playing overseas. Other players, like the Fever’s Aliyah Boston, have become TV analysts for college games in their downtime. But Clark has a solid portfolio of brand endorsements in her kitty, which includes Nike, State Farm, and Gatorade among others. These surpass her $75000 yearly salary from WNBA by a large margin. For context, her shoe deal with Nike alone is reported to be $28 million over eight years (roughly $3.5 million a year).

Furthermore, DeMita also enunciated that since it was a 3×3 league, “you don’t know how her game will translate, you don’t know what her team like there are just so many unknowns.” Concluding her statements, DeMita expressed that the generational player could take the court “if she’s like really itching to play.” Interestingly, amid all the suspense, former NBA player Kenyon Martin thinks that she is a long way from being able to perform in a men’s league.

On Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, Kenyon Martin claimed that the Hawkeyes’ guard would not score a single point, because of the “prison style” play of the league.

“It’s a step under prison ball. Could you imagine her getting stuck down on Reggie Evans? She gon’ take the ball out? As soon as she tries to cross that line, boom! Yo’ little a**: Martin had said about Clark’s participation in Big 3. Meanwhile, the first-overall pick of the season has already taken to the floor, if we go by the Indiana Fever’s latest posts of her training. But she also has a few words to say when it comes to the league.

Caitlin Clark’s take on Unrivaled and her offseason plans

“Honestly, I’m just focused on this (the playoffs) right now,” that was Clark’s answer when mid-season she was asked if she would join the league. But when the Fever’s playoff run ended in the first round, many felt it was time for the Des Moines-born to take part in the league. Even then, Clark revealed that she would concentrate on playing golf in the offseason, which once again hinted that she wasn’t ready to participate in the 3×3 league. The ‘Iowa sensation’ will be playing in The Annika in November, showing off her skills on the green.

And now when there are rumors of her finally joining the Unrivaled, the Fever posted a video recently on their social media handles. “I feel like I’m just scratching the surface. I feel like there’s just so many areas that I want to improve in, and to continue to get in the gym and work on that every single day,” Clark stated in the video. Perhaps, her thought process will be clearer once she directly reveals her talk with the Unrivaled League, who are yet to select four of their remaining stars.

It remains to be seen what Clark will say, once she gets done with golf. Perhaps, that might get her into the Unrivaled, a league that will be starting in January next year. Meanwhile, she is off sipping beverages with Lexie Hull, going out with friends and boyfriend Connor McCaffery, and taking some much-needed time off from the floor.