Caitlin Clark has already broken barriers in college basketball, and now she’s broken one in pro sports, even before leaving the NCAA.
Ice Cube‘s professional Big3 league has offered the Iowa Hawkeyes’ point guard $5 million to play in the 3-on-3 half-court basketball competition. She would be the first woman to compete in the league stacked with former NBA players.
After TMZ initially reported the news, Cube confirmed it on Twitter, writing, “BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”
The deal would reportedly allow Clark to still play in the WNBA after the 10-week Big3 season is over.
In January 2017, Ice Cube, along with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, announced the launch of the Big3, promising that it would feature some of the best players to ever play the game. Cube and Kwatinetz envsioned a player-centric league focused on entertainment and innovation.
Among those innovations, they introduced the 4-point shot, with three 4-point circles beyond the 3-point line. Since then, the Big3 became the first professional sports league certified by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a Black-owned and operated business and the first league to have female coaches within a male sport.
The league has also empowered diverse executives and entrepreneurs to hold top roles at its sports teams and provides revenue share with players, being one of the few leagues to do so. Basketball legends including Dr. J, ‘The Ice Man’ George Gervin, Gary Payton, Allen Iverson, Lisa Leslie, Rick Barry, Stephen Jackson and more have competed as coaches and players. Among the many hoops legends they brought into the league was Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, who is now Commissioner of the Big3. By design, the league sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment and culture.
