The wild scenario in which Caitlin Clark could be able to start her own league: Book author

Caitlin Clark’s biographer and USA Today sports columnist, Christine Brennan, hinted that the WNBA superstar could start her own league if she really wanted to, helping to keep an ongoing conspiracy theory going. 

Brennan was appearing on ESPN LA to promote her book “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports” – an unauthorized biography about Clark – when the writer was asked by host John Ireland about the idea. 

“Nike loves her. She’s got Wilson, obviously. She’s got Gatorade,” Brennan said. “Even though the salary’s $76,000 for a rookie — it’s more this year now — she’s making $28 million from Nike alone, according to the Wall Street Journal. So she’s at $40 million, whatever. OK, fine, she’s doing great. And if Nike said, ‘We’re going to make the Nike-Clark league,’ it would obviously take a few years to get the arenas and whatever.

“But you know the TV contract. I mean, it’s Caitlin. Again, the TV viewership, it’s Caitlin Clark. It’s not Angel [Reese] and Caitlin. It’s Cailtin. It’s Caitlin Clark only. And I think Angel’s a great rebounder and excellent at what she does, but she doesn’t move the needle on TV ratings. It’s Caitlin. And they could do it. I think they could absolutely put it together in a couple of years. And I’ll stay on that because I agree with you. It’s fascinating and it’s doable because of the void in the vacuum of leadership the WNBA continues to exhibit.”

Certainly, a lot has been made about Clark and her treatment since she joined the WNBA last year as the No. 1 overall pick and has become the biggest name in the league, selling out arenas and boosting television viewership. 

But Clark has been a lightning rod of controversy as debates have raged over whether she has been protected enough by the officials when she’s been on the court and if she’s taken an unfair brunt of the frustration from other WNBA players. 

But the idea isn’t likely to go away, especially if the physical play continues against Clark. 

Clark did turn down an invite to join the startup 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, which competes during the WNBA offseason. 

Brennan has been a source of controversy herself due to the framing of her coverage of the WNBA and Clark, and drew the ire of the WNBA Players Association over her line of questioning to DiJonai Carrington following an incident with Clark last season.

Clark has played in just nine of the Fever’s 16 games this season because of injury and is currently out with a groin injury.

She is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per contest and was named an All-Star game captain via fan votes.