In March 2024, as the Iowa Hawkeyes, led by superstar Caitlin Clark, made their run to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game, news broke that the Big3 league had extended a $5 million offer to the college basketball phenom. To put this into context, her WNBA contract pays Clark just $338,056 over four years.
While the window for Clark joining the league appears to be shut now, the news of the Fever star potentially playing in a men’s league shocked many at the time. As Clark was drafted into the W, so was Angel Reese. The two players brought their college rivalry into the league, and Big-3 founder and hip-hop musician Ice Cube’s recent remark about the two stars adds further intrigue to their rivalry.
Who Is More Valuable to Big3? Ice Cube Speaks About Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark
In a video clip that TMZ Sports posted on Sunday, the musician and entrepreneur was asked about Reese and whether the league would be open to offering the Chicago Sky star a contract.
He responded, “Yes, she’s a great player. Now the thing with Caitlin Clark, it was just, I won’t lie, millions of dollars for the league ’cause of her stardom, [that’s what] what our sponsors were telling us.”
He then explained that the Big3’s sponsors did not give him the same input about the two-time All-Star from Chicago: “They didn’t tell us the same thing about Angel Reese, so I don’t know if we can make that same offer. I don’t think we can make that same offer because it won’t have the same impact on the league.”
The BIG3’s $5M offer to #CaitlinClark won’t be moving forward — and while #IceCube has nothing against #AngelReese, he says a similar offer isn’t likely simply because sponsor interest just didn’t line up the same way. pic.twitter.com/nyJggdRju8
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) July 27, 2025
The league’s new season began on June 14, and games are typically played during the weekend. Speaking about this season, Ice Cube said, “We’ve got some great players, you know, Lance Stephenson, Dwight Howard, Wesley Johnson has been great, Montrezl Harrell has been great. You know the league has been must-see TV.”
The rapper and songwriter, known to be a big Los Angeles Lakers fan, was then asked for his thoughts about Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter taking over as the majority owner of the Lakers.
“You’ve got to give him a shot,” he said. “It’s not about what I think, it’s about you know him executing. He was able to execute with the Dodgers, so I am confident he can execute with the Lakers, so we’ll see.”
When he made the offer to Clark in 2024, Ice Cube had noted how his league had given opportunities to WNBA legends such as Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie, who both coached Big3 teams to championships in their respective first years in the league.
The Big3 league is a 3×3 professional basketball league that features former Hall of Famers, NBA All-Stars, and champions playing basketball alongside other professional hoopers. Players like Joe Johnson and Rashard Lewis have lit up the league in the past.
This season, eight teams are competing for the title, and the champion will be crowned on August 24 at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida.