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Napheesa Collier Confirms Unrivaled Offers Caitlin Clark 'Substantially More' Than WNBA

Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier sent a clear message about the how much money the Unrivaled league is offering Caitlin Clark in comparison to her WNBA salary.

Grant Young

Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Connecticut Sun during game two of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Connecticut Sun during game two of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images / Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

It's no secret that the Unrivaled women's basketball league is making a major push at trying to get Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark to join their roster — and their reported recruiting effort seems to be working.

One of the most compelling aspects of the Unrivaled League is the salary it offers the world's best female basketball players. In a May 30 report, ESPN basketball insider Shams Charania wrote, "Unrivaled... is setting the record for paying the highest average salary in pro female team sports history."

It has since surfaced that the projected average salary for the Unrivaled League's 36 players is about $250,000. And that doesn't include the equity ownership in the league these players also receive.

However, it has also been reported that select players (specifically women's basketball's biggest stars) will earn a much higher salary than that $250,000 mark. This has made many wonder how much money Unrivaled has offered Clark.

While Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier (who is the Unrivaled League's co-founder and her husband is the league President) didn't disclose the exact salary they've offered Clark, she did confirm that it blows the 22-year-old's current WNBA salary out of the water in a recent appearance on "Podcast P With Paul George".

"Now you're trying to get me in trouble," Collier initially said when asked what Clark's Unrivaled salary would be. "I can't give numbers, obviously, but I can tell you [it's] substantially more than what she's making in the WNBA."

Clark received a base WNBA salary of $76,535 as a rookie.

"I do think she needs to be paid fairly, and we would be offering her a fair compensation for what she's doing," Collier continued of Clark. "That's all I can tell you."

Regardless of what that salary is, Clark might need more of an incentive to join the league, given how much she's already making off brand deals.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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