Caitlin Clark Needs To Skip The WNBA for the Big3

Before we get started, we have to set the stage. You have to understand the three elements we're going to talk about. First, the thing you probably know the least about, the Big3 basketball league.

The Big3 is a 3-on-3 basketball league that started in 2017. Its the brain-child of musician, actor, and media mogul Ice Cube, and his business partner Jeff Kwatinetz. The league currently has 12 teams, and has Basketball Hall of Fame star Clyde Drexler as their Commissioner. The league plays a modified 3-on-3 game, different from the FIBA 3-on-3 rules. This includes special elements like "four-point zones" where circles are set at 30 feet from the hoop. As the name describes, shots from here are worth 4 points instead of 3 points.

The league is filled with well known names, mostly former NBA players. The games are competitive, and the league has nationally televised games. Everything with the Big3 seems to be trending up.

The second thing we need to cover is the WNBA.

If you're not familiar with the WNBA, its the Women's National Basketball Association. This league is a branch of the NBA, who subsidizes the league. Its been around since 1996, and has had some of the biggest names in the history of women's basketball play in the league. However, over the last 27 years of the league, it has never gained a profit. With the NBA paying for its losses; in other words, LeBron James and Steph Curry pay to keep the WNBA open.

But we've seen explosive growth over the last 20 years in Women's NCAA Basketball, with some of the most watched games of all time happening in recent memory. So how can the WNBA be failing, while Women's NCAA Basketball is exploding in popularity? I don't think anyone has a strong answer, because if they did, they could making millions of dollars fixing the WNBA. The only thing we do know, is that the fact one of the women's games is finding success means that its not a problem with women's sports...its a specific problem with the WNBA.

Perhaps one of the issues is the fact that the league can't translate the stars from the NCAA level into WNBA stars. Because teams cut them as soon as they get drafted.

So if you have a player who got popular on ESPN while playing in the NCAA Women's Final Four, and they get taken in the WNBA Draft, it would make sense to use their popularity. However the WNBA keeps cutting these players from their league.

Which brings us to Caitlin Clark. One of the most recognizable faces women's basketball has ever had.

The Iowa star is the highest scorer in NCAA basketball history. She breaks records on the regular, and draws in millions of viewers whenever her team plays on national television. She could be a TV draw for the next decade if treated properly in her professional career. Which is where we get to a crossroads.

Clark would be the obvious #1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. Sending her to play for the Indiana Fever, a team subsidized by the NBA's Indiana Pacers. We bring the Pacers into the conversation, because even the Pacers can't sell out their arena. In fact, the Pacers are dead-last in the NBA in attendance for 2023-2024. Which is wild since they're a team that's 10 games over .500 and in the Playoffs for this year.

So if Clark is headed to the WNBA, first she has to not get cut by the team that takes her. Then if she does go to the Indiana Fever, she has to figure out how to draw more people than a winning NBA franchise. All while getting paid $76k for her first season in the WNBA.

Or, Clark could take up the offer presented by the Big3 to join their league.

Ice Cube and the Big3 have made a VERY public offer to Caitlin Clark that if she joins their 3-on-3 basketball league instead of the WNBA, he will give her $5 million. Which is probably more than she could make in her entire WNBA career. Clark would immediately be a star, and barrier breaker, on a national level.

She would immediately be teammates with former NBA stars, be coached by basketball icons, and bring a huge new spotlight onto what women in sports can achieve. All things that she wouldn't even be able to consider in the WNBA.

Not to mention the fact that $5 million creates generation wealth for a family. Getting $76,000 for her first year in the WNBA isn't even enough to qualify for a mortgage in many of the cities the WNBA plays in.

Caitlin Clark has the change to make sports history, and possibly change the direction of women's sports in our country. All she has to do is the easy thing...take the money and be a star.