Caitlin Clark wasn’t the only high-profile basketball star to turn down Unrivaled, with Sophie Cunningham having her own reason for rejecting their offer.
The 3v3 women’s league has got off to a solid start in its inaugural season. Both president Alex Bazzell and co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier were naturally keen to bring WNBA Rookie of the Year Clark on board given her star power.
The Indiana Fever star ultimately decided to knock back their reported $1 million offer in favor of having a break during the offseason and pursuing her other interests, such as golf. And her new team-mate Cunningham also declined, with her reasoning being financial.
She explained on Sports & SHEnanigans, with Jillian that her current role as an analyst for NBA side Phoenix Suns is better paying, while also allowing her to recover from a shoulder injury she played through the 2024 season with.
Asked if she’d be interested in signing with Unrivaled in the future, Cunningham replied: “Yeah, 1,000 per cent. I think that just the more eyes, the more that people get to learn and care about the people who are playing in the leagues, then they’re followers and then they want to know what we’re all doing.
“I did get asked to be a part of it. I respectfully declined it just because I asked to do broadcasting for the Suns and so the money situation, I’m making more in broadcasting than that right now.
“Unrivaled has been amazing. I think I will be a part of it in the next couple of years, so I am excited about that. But I’m happy with what I’m doing right now. I need to get healed up a little bit, but those girls are holding it down and they’re doing a great job.”
Cunningham opted to take a break from basketball during the offseason (
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Unrivaled promised every player a minimum salary of $200k, which is more than Cunningham was paid by the Phoenix Mercury last year before she joined the Fever last month. But she claims her deal with the Suns trumps both of those sums.
Both she and Clark will no doubt be back in negotiations with Bazzell and Co later this year. He insists the door is always open for the latter, telling the Ringer WNBA podcast in November: “I’ve been on record saying Caitlin will always have a spot in our league, and that’s true.
“We always want to be a home for the best of the best, she’s first-team All-W. We went through our negotiations, and inevitably, she needed time this offseason, which we respect. We hope to see her next year, she won’t be playing this year.”
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