“She’s the hottest athlete of anything” - Celtic legends weigh in on how much Caitlin Clark could cash in after joining WNBA

Iowa star Caitlin Clark has continued to take the basketball world by storm, leading the University of Iowa to the Elite 8 of the NCAA March Madness Tournament. While there was talk of Clark declaring for the WNBA draft after she and Iowa lost to Angel Reese and LSU, she returned to Iowa for one more season. Now, with the end of the year in sight, Clark is expected to declare for the draft.

In the meantime, season ticket prices for the Indiana Fever, who hold the No. 1 draft pick, have skyrocketed in anticipation of Clark being drafted.

Of course, as many have pointed out, the highest-earning WNBA players only make a fraction of the money that NBA players do. This has raised a number of questions about Caitlin Clark's earnings in the years to come given her NIL valuation.

While companies like State Farm and Gatorade likely will continue their partnership with Clark once she gets drafted, the pay gap between the NBA and WNBA has become a hot topic.

During a recent episode of their Ticket & The Truth podcast, Paul George and Kevin Garnett spoke about the situation. As they learned, the highest-paid WNBA player last year earned $242,000. Kevin Garnett said:

"She's going to come in expecting more than that. ... She got arguably the most momentum of any athlete right now she's the hottest athlete of anything bro real s**t and she ain't even won that s**t."

"You can't pay her more than A'ja Wilson" - Paul Pierce shoots back at Kevin Garnett over Caitlin Clark claim

While Caitlin Clark is taking the world of basketball by storm and is poised to be an immediate star in the WNBA, some think she is untested as a pro. Given that her experience comes at the collegiate level rather than at the professional level, many, including Paul Pierce believe she shouldn't be the highest-paid pro.

Back in June, for example, A'ja Wilson signed a two-year contract extension with the Las Vegas Aces worth $398,422 over two years. For reference, the highest paid WNBA players were Arike Ogunbowale, Kahleah Copper, and Jewell Loyd.

As Pierce explained, he isn't sure that Clark should be out-earning the three players in her rookie season.

"You can't pay her more than A'ja Wilson. Sabrina got a shoe. ... They don't got the money to give her more than that."

One league that does have the money to give Caitlin Clark more is Ice Cube's Big3 league, which has offered Caitlin Clark $5 million to play for them. The season, which consists of eight games, and two playoff games, would also coincide with the WNBA offseason, allowing Clark to play in both leagues.

Whether or not she accepts, of course, is another story.