Caitlin Clark’s reason for not playing in | NBA News
The extremely anticipated Unrivaled Basketball League is set to begin on Friday, however Caitlin Clark will not be gracing the courts. Clark, who had a standout rookie season in the WNBA, breaking quite a few information and serving to Indiana Fever to its first playoff run since 2016, has determined not to take part.
Her exceptional performances earned her the title of WNBA Rookie of the Year, and he or she was even featured as TIME’s athlete of 2024. Basketball fanatics are excited because the brand-new Unrivaled League, based by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, prepares for launch.
The league, which options six groups of six gamers every and operates in a 3v3 format, has attracted a number of large names from the WNBA, together with Angel Reese of Chicago Sky and Courtney Vandersloot and Sabrina Ionescu of New York Liberty. However, Clark will not be amongst them.
Despite reportedly being supplied a $1million deal plus equity to play in the league, Clark declined the offer. According to the Sports Business Journal, the younger star turned down the chance as she does not need the publicity and will benefit from some much-needed relaxation after an intense season, experiences the Mirror US.
To say that Clark had a whirlwind 2024 could be an understatement. She loved an thrilling NCAA season with the Iowa Hawkeyes earlier than being snapped up by the Fever as the highest choose in the WNBA draft in April – playing by way of till the close of the season in September.
And whereas some followers are dissatisfied that Clark is skipping the new 3-on-3 league to recharge her batteries and play golf with the likes of Annika Sorenstam, others see it as a well-earned break after a tumultuous 12 months. Sports pundit Skip Bayless confirmed his help on social media, sharing: “Good for Caitlin Clark not playing in this new 3-on-3 league.
“After all of the jealousy and resentment she felt final season all a budget pictures and bullying makes an attempt she made a late-season run at MVP. SHE’S the reason WNBA reputation exploded final season. She would not need 3-on-3.”
League president Alex Bazzell also weighed in on Clark’s decision during Sarah Spain’s Good Game podcast, explaining: “We needed to discover steadiness to provide her time. She would rush from faculty to draft to execs; she was in conversations day by day…there was by no means actually a downtime sadly for her.
“She also just wanted this offseason to take a break, which we get.” Bazzell additional clarified that the Unrivaled League “always has a spot” for the basketball celebrity, ought to she determine to make her debut.
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