Napheesa Collier Makes Her Opinion of Caitlin Clark's Value Unmistakably Clear
An October 17 report from Front Office Sports reporter Michael McCarthy conveyed that the Unrivaled Women's Basketball League will be trying to recruit Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark to play in their league's inaugural season, which starts in January.
Given Clark's superstardom combined with the massive broadcast deal Unrivaled recently revealed with TNT, it's no surprise why the league would want to have Clark on board.
But Minnesota Lynx star (and Unrivaled co-founder) Napheesa Collier made her opinion on Clark's impact abundantly clear during an appearance on FanDuel's "Run It Back" show on Thursday, one day after Minnesota's devastating loss to the Liberty in the WNBA Finals.
"It's just so crazy because the growth that Caitlin has brought to the game, the sheer amount of money that she's making these teams, people are having to move their venues for when she comes to play," Collier said.
"And she's getting paid like $75,000 a year [by the WNBA]. So definitely we want to be a part of that change, and that's what we're doing. I think she deserves that, I think she should be one of the top [paid] players in the world just for the sheer numbers she's bringing," the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year added.
The fact @CaitlinClark22 is causing WNBA teams to change their venues to sell more tickets while only making $75k a year is exactly why @PHEEsespieces started the @Unrivaledwbb league 🙌 pic.twitter.com/xh19U4TTQ7
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) October 17, 2024
Per Yahoo Sports, Unrivaled, "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."
The average Unrivaled salary is reportedly expected to be around $250,000.
While that amount of money for a few months of basketball might be hard for most to pass up, Clark makes earns through endorsement deals and sponsorships that she can leave that bag on the table, so to speak.
Which is why Unrivaled might want to sweeten the deal with her some other way.
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.