$3.1 million NIL-valued Caitlin Clark shows love for Vanessa Bryant by wearing Nike Kobe 6 Protro Grinch on SLAM Magazine cover

All eyes are on Caitlin Clark as the star prepares to lead the Iowa Hawkeyes on a much-anticipated NCAA Tournament run before she bows out of college basketball for a career in the WNBA.

In the 249th issue of SLAM Magazine, the $3.1 million NIL-valued Clark (as per On3) chose a unique pair of shoes to grace the cover: the Nike Kobe 6 Protro Grinch, aka the Kobe Mambacita 6.

She tagged Vanessa Bryant in the SLAM Magazine post on her Instagram stories, where she posed with the shoes.

Clark's IG page

Analyst has controversial opinion about Caitlin Clark and Iowa

The record-breaking Caitlin Clark and her Hawkeyes crew were recently handed one of the toughest March Madness brackets during Selection Sunday.

Iowa has reigning national champions, LSU, No. 2 seed UCLA, Colorado and Kansas State in its Albany 2 Region, and last year's heroics will have to be dialed up to navigate the tricky field.

Controversial media personality and sports analyst Jason Whitlock is known for his incendiary sports views. His latest theory involves Caitlin Clark and Iowa.

"D.E.I. is the biggest threat facing Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament. It's not Angel Reese, or JuJu Watkins, or even Dawn Staley's undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks, it's ‘diversity, equity and inclusion', the allegedly ‘anti-racist’ brainwashing policies and mindset that rule academia," Whitlock said.

"Yes, Clark as you know is white. Her coach Lisa Bluder. She's white, also. Most of Clark's teammates are white. Iowa is seen as the white Cinderella of women's college basketball. Liberal sports fans prefer Staley and/or Reese over Clark. They don't want Cinderella making it back to the ball."

Whitlock leaned into his theory lamenting the fact that the selection committee did not make it possible for the big four of UCLA, LSU, South Carolina and Iowa to meet in the Final Four to boost viewership.

He finished his rant listing other reasons why the popular Clark was being sabotaged.

"It would be an absolute tragedy if Clark does not make the Final Four," Whitlock said. "Most of women's college basketball's establishment is rooting against Clark. They're hardcore leftists. Clark is the wrong color. She's heterosexual. If I had to bet, Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes will get bounced from the tournament before the Final Four.”

While most of Jason Whitlock's statements are taken with a pinch of salt in the sports world, many fans will agree that Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes have been handed a minefield of a bracket to deal with.