Lucrative women’s basketball league’s latest recruit could be final piece to tempt Caitlin Clark with time running out for ‘Messi-like’ deal

Unrivaled has signed an Iowa Hawkeye – and it may pave the way for another.

Kate Martin, the Las Vegas Aces rookie and Caitlin Clark’s college teammate, agreed to a deal with the upstart women’s basketball league.

Unrivaled is a new 3-on-3 league that has recruited the world’s best women’s basketball players for its eight-week season, including Angel Reese.

There were only 30 slots available, and after the announcement of Martin’s signing, 27 have been filled.

Three spots, with hope that Clark may take one amid reports of a lucrative offer.

Martin appeared in 34 games with the Las Vegas Aces this past season, averaging 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11 minutes per game.

The numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, but Martin is very close to former Iowa teammate Clark, something not many of the other 26 signed up members bring to the party.

Unrivaled has had their eyes on the biggest star in women’s basketball, with a reported ‘Lionel Messi–like’ deal on the table awaiting Clark.

Unrivaled president, Alex Bazzell, confirmed as much in an interview with Sports Business Journal.

“We are going to make that offer,” Bazzell said.

“It’s going to be a historic offer, but we’re giving her time to mentally escape basketball before we sit down and have that conversation.

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“But one way or another, I think this league’s built for the stars, and I think we can move the needle forward in a different way for those stars and give them upside long term, too.”

It’s no secret that Clark is one of the most polarizing figures, not only in women’s basketball, but in all of sports.

Love her or hate her, she moves the needle.

She attracts eyeballs.

And that’s what Bazzell is counting on.

He is hoping they can sign Clark and she can have an impact the way that global superstar, Messi, has had on MLS.

The hope would be Clark drives ticket sales and ratings for TV partner TNT Sports, while attracting big-name advertisers, which Clark has proven to do, after just one season in the WNBA.

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Unrivaled was cofounded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier (Bazzell’s wife), in hopes to create a league that will be paying out its 30 players the “highest salaries in professional women’s sports league history.”

League sources confirmed to Front Office Sports that Unrivaled won’t be taking a one-size-fits-all approach toward compensation. Instead, players will be paid on a sliding scale.

The bigger the star, the more they will earn, and there is no bigger star than Clark.

She will have a big decision to make in the near future, and with one of her best friends now in the league, that decision may have just been made a tiny bit easier.