Caitlin Clark has opened up on the Unrivaled league (Image: Getty)
Caitlin Clark has declined a tempting offer to join the new Unrivaled basketball league, candidly admitting: “I kind of want to just stay out of the spotlight.”
sensation made waves with her stunning debut season in , clinching the Rookie of the Year title. Despite her meteoric rise and status as an ex-Iowa college standout, is opting for some time away from the hardwood, a move likely to be seen by her fans as a mature display of .
Yet, she crypitcally hasn’t completely shut the door on future involvement in the league. After being snapped up by the Indiana Fever as their top draft pick and dazzling across consecutive NCAA and WNBA seasons, Clark is – for now – choosing to relish some off-season tranquillity and plans to spend her time honing her golf game following the Fever’s premature playoff departure.
Opening up about her decision, Clark revealed her reasons for skipping the much-anticipated Unrivaled tournament – the brainchild of WNBA icons Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. The three-on-three competition, set to take place in Miami come January, will feature 36 athletes forming six competitive teams, as reported by .
Clark has reportedly declined a staggering $1million offer to participate in the Unrivaled league. But on the possibility of a U-turn down the line, speaking to magazine, she said: “I didn’t rule out doing it in the future, but this year is just not the best for me.
Clark has been playing golf in the off season (Image: Getty)
“It’s going to be good for me to do my own thing and have my own space. I kind of want to just stay out of the spotlight.”
After being named TIME’s Athlete of the Year for 2024, Clark admitted that she’s still grappling with the relentless media attention. Discussing the challenges of social media, she added: “It’s something I’m trying to navigate. I’m trying to find a balance while being a rookie.
“I’m probably the most popular player in the league at the moment, and somebody a lot of people turn to to have a voice on this type of stuff. I hope we can do a better job as a league of protecting our players and putting better resources around them to make it a safer environment.”
Clark won Rookie of the Year (Image: Getty)
Regarding the possibility of Clark joining the Unrivaled league in the future, the competition’s president Alex Bazzel previously stated: “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.
“So people think it was like, ‘well, let’s make extra roster spots so we can give ourselves more time to recruit Caitlin’ – that’s not entirely true. It was more about we already have players ready to come in [and] we want to make sure that they’re a part of this.
“At the same time, like, of course, I’ve been on record saying Caitlin will always have a spot in our league, and that is true, right? Like, we always want to be a home for the best of the best.
“We went through our negotiations. Inevitably, she needed time this offseason, which we respect, so we hope to see her next year. She won’t be playing this year.”