Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Sports Columnist
“Phenom”, “Freak Of Nature”, “The Female Steph Curry”: these are just some of the statements used to describe Caitlin Clark and her unchallenged rule over the world of women’s basketball. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, it would have been impossible not to know about the six foot female point guard who has been lighting the world on FIRE for the past year and a half.
This past season, Clark averaged 31.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 8.9 assists on her way to breaking an array of college records that were once thought to be unbreakable.
To name just a few examples, this past season Clark broke the all time division 1 single season points record for both men’s and women’s collegiate basketball. On top of that, she set team records at Iowa for almost every single stat category including points, assists, and three pointers made.
Despite losing to South Carolina in the march madness championship, Clark’s astounding play and competitive spirit have earned her notoriety and respect among the sports community (in both men’s and women’s basketball). While WNBA players like Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum have earned respect and renown for their roles at the professional level, Clark is already the most well-renowned women’s basketball player of all time and she is not even out of college yet!
This situation has put her in a unique position compared to other WNBA prospects. While most other top players would have no other choice but to head straight to the W, Clark’s brand has given her options of what she wants to do in order to further her career and make money in the process.
These options include a 5 Million dollar offer from Ice Cube himself to come play in his Big3 League. To give you context, the average WNBA player’s salary is a little over 100,000. For someone of Clark’s immense talent, that money seems like a slap in the face compared to what she would be earning as a top prospect in the NBA.
With that in mind, they have started to speculate whether or not Clark herself could play in the NBA. Just looking at how many miles ahead Clark is compared to the rest of her competition, the theory that she could make it to the NBA while making the money she deserves in the process seems reasonable to speculate on.
Unfortunately for Clark herself, while something like this has happened several times throughout NBA history, there is one thing holding her back from being able to compete at the men’s level: size.
For those of you that are not familiar with Clark’s stature, she is only 6 foot 154 pounds. While she would have no problem creating her shot off the dribble and sinking deep trays like she always does, any aspect of the game involving size would leave her completely outmatched. Any time she dared to go inside she would be met with a brick wall, and any time she dared to play defense she would be driven right past and scored on inside.
Clark may have the offensive skills and IQ required of an NBA player, but unfortunately she is just held back by something that is not her fault in the slightest.
Now, looking at Ice Cube’s Big3 League, the situation is a little different. The Big3 is composed of overseas players, retired vets, and old Hall of Famers still clinging on to their past.
Not only would this league provide Clark with great competition and a way to improve and hone her skills against former NBA players, her athletic ability would out-match that of the old heads playing, and she would have an advantage against the competition.
On top of all of this, Clark is once again being offered 5 million dollars to play in this league!! Combine that with all the brand deals and commercials and she could make millions and millions of dollars.
Now, with all that being said, money is not the only thing that matters to Clark. She is viewed as the unanimous top prospect in the WNBA draft, and while it might not pay much, she still must compete at the highest level of women’s basketball to gain the universal respect of other WNBA players.
While she would without a doubt dominate the league, playing in the W is a unique experience of competition and grit that Clark can only experience once in her lifetime.
If you ask me, I believe she should spend a little time making money in the Big3 and then transfer over to the WNBA when the time is right. At the end of the day, she is not only her own basketball player, but her own person. Whatever she decides to do, I have no doubt that her future will be very, very bright.
Photo Credit: John Mac CC BY-SA 2.0