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Legendary rapper, actor and entrepreneur Oshea 'Ice Cube' Jackson confirmed reports that he offered Iowa women's basketball star and projected No. 1 overall 2024 WNBA Draft prospect Caitlin Clark $5 million to play in his Big3 league.
"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship. 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," Jackson wrote while resharing TMZ's report on the offer on his X account Wednesday (March 27).
Jackson acknowledged that his Big3 league, which was launched in 2017, had previously made Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman "the first female coach of a men's basketball team" ahead of her championship winning season, as well as fellow Hall of Famer and WNBA pioneer Lisa Leslie, who won a championship in her second season as a head coach.
"With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes," Jackson said. "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 broke the late 'Pistol' Pete Maravich's 54-year record to become the new NCAA Division I basketball all-time scoring leader during the Hawkeyes' game against Ohio State on March 3. The senior guard averaged 31.8 points, 8.8 assists and 7.3 rebounds during the 2023-24 regular season and is averaging 29.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists through Iowa's first two games of the NCAA Women's March Madness Tournament.