Napheesa Collier makes her feelings clear on Caitlin Clark's future prospects in Unrivaled: "Always have a spot open"

Following her historic rookie season, Caitlin Clark opted not to partake in the first season of Unrivaled. Despite turning down the offer to play this time, one of the league's co-founders doesn't seem to be holding a grudge.

As the new women's league continues its historic inaugural season, Napheesa Collier, a guest on FanDuel TV's Run It Back show Tuesday., covered a variety of topics, including the Indiana Fever star's decision not to play.

Collier understands why Caitlin Clark opted not to play in Unrivaled, bringing up the quick timeline WNBA rookies go through. In regards to the future, she said that there will always be room for one of the top rising stars in women's basketball.

"For Caitlin, I feel like it's been such a whirlwind," Collier said. "Coming from college and all that came with that to being in her first WNBA rookie season. It's just a lot to handle, and there's no break."

"Of course, we're always going to have a spot open for her. and, hopefully, we can make it work in the future."

As Collier stated, one of the main reasons why Clark turned down the offer was to have some time away from basketball after a jam-packed two years. Even without the reigning Rookie of the Year, the league has still garnered attention.

Along with being a founder, Collier has also been one of the top performers in Unrivaled. This season, she's averaging 29.3 points and 11.5 rebounds for an undefeated Lunar Owls team.

---

Unrivaled commissioner also remains hopeful Caitlin Clark will join in the future

Napheesa Collier is not the only one who has spoken positively about Caitlin Clark's potential future with Unrivaled. Commissioner Micky Lawler also touched on the idea of the 2024 No. 1 pick partaking at some point down the road.

During an interview in January, Lawler echoed a lot of the same messages as the Minnesota Lynx star. He also said that a spot will be made for her if she wants to play but feels the league has more than enough talent to continue growing.

“Do we hope that Caitlin will join when or if she’s ready? Yes, of course," Lawler said. "But we have a lot of very, very talented players. Every single player at Unrivaled is very talented and fascinating in her own right. So we absolutely believe that what we’ve got is a super compelling sports league.”

While Caitlin Clark declined this year, she said that she plans on keeping an open mind when it comes to future seasons. Moving forward, she will have an ample amount of downtime in the offseason. That could lead to her potentially opting to take her talents to the 3-on-3 court in the future. Unrivaled landing people close to Clark, most notably Lexie Hull and Aliyah Boston, could also help sway her.