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Unrivaled Basketball League Leaving Roster Spot Open for Caitlin Clark

The new Unrivaled women's basketball league is expanding and its president says there is a roster spot waiting for Caitlin Clark when she is ready.

Robin Lundberg

Oct 26, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Former Iowa Hawkeye and current Indiana Fever WNBA star Caitlin Clark looks on while being honored during the game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Oct 26, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Former Iowa Hawkeye and current Indiana Fever WNBA star Caitlin Clark looks on while being honored during the game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Northwestern Wildcats at Kinnick Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier announced the new Unrivaled Basketball League she co-founded with Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty is expanding. This is of course is great news for Unrivaled and any fan of women's hoops.

However, the announcement that the league would move from 30 to 36 players naturally led to speculation the increased financial backing could mean Caitlin Clark's participation. It had previously been reported that Unrivaled was making a full-court press to land the Indiana Fever star.

Well, now Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell (who is the husband of Collier) has gone on the record about the situation surrounding Clark. Bazzell spoke to Sportico and had this to say about the rumors.

"We’re always going to have a roster spot for Caitlin Clark. We’re not applying a full court press the way people think. We are letting her decompress from basketball... She knows that we have a spot for her when she’s ready."

Bazzell added that they are proud of the growth of the Miami-based league as is, which happened in part as a result of a media rights deal with TNT Sports, before adding, "But if [Clark] played, she would take it to another level…She knows we would love to have her."

Unrivaled has revealed exciting details in recent days, including the commitment of Clark's close friends Lexie Hull and Kate Martin. They also unveiled the six-team names and logos. The squads competing will be dubbed Laces Basketball Club, Mist Basketball Club, Phantom Basketball Club, Lunar Owls Basketball Club, Rose Basketball Club, and Vinyl Basketball Club.

The 3-on-3 league that begins in January appears to be off to a great start; one that would be even better if they can land Clark.

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Robin Lundberg
ROBIN LUNDBERG

Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his burgeoning YouTube show. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak on SI!

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