It's been previously reported that Caitlin Clark turned down multiple offers to join both seasons 1 and 2 of Unrivaled, but her opinion on Project B — the 5x5 women's basketball league that will be based in several international countries — wasn't made clear until very recently. In the Thursday episode of her "Show Me Something" podcast, Clark's Indiana Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham revealed she's already pitched the league to the star guard, but she turned it down.
"I tried to get her to play in this one," Cunningham said, "But she was like, 'No.'"
That response isn't exactly a surprise, as Clark has repeatedly made it clear that the WNBA and the Indiana Fever are her focus, something that's likely even more true ahead since she missed most of the 2025 season due to injury. She's also not exactly hurting for extra cash; according to a list published by Sportico this week, Clark is the No. 6 highest-paid female athlete (and every other person listed before her plays tennis).
If anything, Clark has emphasized that she is most focused on USA Basketball. She was announced as part of the team's roster that will assemble in Durham, North Carolina, this month, but it's unclear if she has recovered enough to play on the court. If so, this month's training camp will mark her official return to 5x5 basketball, which could see her playing in a qualifier tournament in 2026.
The WNBA has to sign a new CBA before 2026 season chatter can begin
Those are both crucial first steps to getting Clark back into a Fever jersey and on the court next season. Of course, there are a lot of things that have to happen before that takes place, and very little of that has to do with Clark herself.
The WNBA and the players' association are still attempting to hash out details of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Both sides most recently agreed to a 40-day extension of talks, which has set a new deadline of January 9. This new date raises the likelihood that the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will be unable to hold Expansion Drafts this month (this year's rookie team, the Golden State Valkyries, drafted its initial round of players in December 2024), because the terms of Expansion Drafts are included in CBA negotiations.
One of the biggest snags appears to be the language that explains how revenue sharing would work moving forward. The current CBA, which was signed in January 2020, dictates that players receive a percentage of any revenue that exceeds a specific amount. Of that excess, 30% is kept by the league, and the remaining 70% is split between the league and the players. The players have never seen any additional money from this arrangement, because it was set up in 2020 just before the pandemic, and the WNBA struggled financially throughout the surge in COVID-19.