Turns out Caitlin Clark will not play basketball during the WNBA offseason.
According to a report from ESPN, the Indiana Fever star and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year will not compete this winter in Unrivaled, the new 3×3 league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
Unrivaled announced the rosters for the new league on Wednesday, which revealed 34 of 36 players. There are still two wild-card spots to be filled.
When asked earlier this month about Unrivaled, Clark told IndyStar, “We’ll see. I don’t know. Just taking it as it goes, and see if I want to play eventually.”
More on the new league: Here are Unrivaled rosters for 3×3 offseason league for WNBA stars
Caitlin Clark ready for break: ‘Like everybody’s watching your every move’
Front Office Sports reported last month that Unrivaled offered Clark a lucrative deal to entice her to join the league — similar to the one Inter Miami gave Lionel Messi to lure him from Europe to MLS.
Unrivaled expanded its original 30-player pool to 36, and added Fever players Lexie Hull and Aliyah Boston, plus one of Clark’s best friends, Kate Martin, joined up.
Training camp starts for players on Jan. 2, and the season, which tips off in Miami, runs for eight weeks starting on Jan. 17.
“I always think it’s good to play, certainly when you think about coming back into training camp having played games versus not,” new Fever coach Stephanie White said at her introductory news conference. “Just in my experience, in the number of years I’ve been doing this, if you haven’t played, timing, rhythm game shape, like all those things are really tough to simulate just working out. So I do think that there is some value, but each player approaches it differently. And certainly, I support whatever it is that they decide to do.”
‘A fortuitous moment.’ How Fever brought Stephanie White back as new coach.
What is Unrivaled? How will it work?
Unrivaled will be a six-team league with six players on each team playing 3×3. The teams will be picked by a selection committee to ensure it is split by position and skill, Collier said on X.It will be a new type of 3×3, though, with a 70-foot-by-50-foot court, four quarters, a game clock and a shot clock. Olympic and FIBA 3×3 games are 10 minutes total, with a 12-second shot clock.
It will be an eight-week season, starting in January 2025. After six weeks of round-robin play, the top four teams will have a two-week postseason. There will also be a 1v1 tournament throughout the season, and Collier said whoever is deemed the best individual player in the world will win a minimum of $250,000.
According to the Unrivaled website, the league will have the highest average salaries in women’s sports history, and all players will also receive equity in the league.
When does Unrivaled begin?
Training camp starts for players on Jan. 2, and the season, which tips off in Miami, runs for eight weeks starting on Jan. 17.
Will Unrivaled games be on TV?
Games will air on TNT and stream on Max.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark and Unrivaled: Fever star will not play in 3×3 league
