Caitlin Clark offered $5M to play in BIG3 league

Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark has a $5 million offer on the table to join the BIG3 3-on-3 basketball league.

TMZ Sports first reported the offer, which was later confirmed by rapper/actor Ice Cube, a Big3 founder.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube posted to X on Wednesday. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: 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 BIG3 recently announced that the seventh season of the league -- an all-male circuit to this point -- will tip off on June 15 on CBS and Paramount+.

Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history (men and women), is the likely No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in next month's 2024 WNBA Draft.

Clark and the top-seeded Hawkeyes (31-4) return to action at the Women's NCAA Tournament on Saturday against No. 5 Colorado in a Sweet 16 contest in Albany, N.Y.

In a series of follow-up posts, Ice Cube said Clark has a chance to be a trailblazer for women in sports and still go to the WNBA.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year. Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes.

"America's women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet.

"And they should have more than just one professional option in the US at a time when American pro sports leagues are being infiltrated by autocratic, anti-women regimes such as Qatar. Our pathbreaking offer to Caitlin Clark demonstrates that BIG3 now offers another choice for athletes."

Clark, a 6-foot senior guard, is averaging 31.8 points, 8.8 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season. Her record total stands at 3,830 career points.