Unrivaled President Gives Statement on Possibility of Caitlin Clark Joining League

Many fans have been clamoring for the Fever guard to get back on the court this offseason.
Many fans want to see Clark in action during the WNBA offseason.
Many fans want to see Clark in action during the WNBA offseason. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The WNBA season came to a close with the New York Liberty's first championship, but fans won't have to go too long without women's hoops in their lives. Unrivaled—a new 3-on-3 offseason league that will debut in January—has been spending months trying to land the biggest names in the W and become the premier destination for women's basketball outside the standard WNBA schedule. It's done a pretty good job, too; outside of its founders, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesia Collier, Unrivaled already boasts a loaded roster filled with All-Stars and Olympic gold medalists.

With how many big names have agreed to play for Unrivaled, fans have been eagerly waiting to see if the league can land Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. As evidenced by the ratings for the WNBA this season, eyeballs follow the 2024 Rookie of the Year wherever she goes. If Unrivaled got her to sign on, it would enter another stratosphere in terms of publicity and viewership.

In an interview with Sportico on Thursday, Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell gave a statement about potentially adding Clark.

"We’re always going to have a roster spot for Caitlin Clark,” Bazzell said to reporter Eric Jackson. "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."

Additionally, Bazell noted that the league is proud of the talent already assembled, but "if (Clark) played, she would take it to another level… She knows we would love to have her."

Clark is a magnet for attention to the extent that her presence wouldn't just benefit the on-court product. Unrivaled could use her stardom as leverage with advertisers and anyone else interested in investing as it gets off the ground. Most importantly, of course, it would be awesome for fans to get more of Clark's electrifying play in their lives.

Unrivaled is clearly interested. The world will soon find out if that interest is mutual with Clark.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.