Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to invest in women’s basketball through exciting upstart league ‘Unrivaled’, which is still hoping Caitlin Clark will take part.
Antetokounmpo’s venture capital firm, Build Your Legacy Ventures, is backing Unrivaled, the new 3×3 league set to be staged in Miami that was co-founded by WNBA All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. The league, which will pay each of its 36 players a guaranteed $250,000 salary for the eight-week season, will tip off for its inaugural campaign in January.
Antetokounmpo joins a growing list of professional athletes entering the venture capital game, including NBA superstar Kevin Durant and tennis icon Serena Williams. Due to the immense amount of wealth being generated by sports stars via earnings, with Antetokounmpo’s last two contracts totaling more than $400 million, the path toward venture capital investment has never been clearer.
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The formation of the Build Your Legacy Ventures fund will follow on from Antetokounmpo’s personal portfolio. He already has stakes in MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers and MLS’s Nashville SC.
“This fund is not just about capital,” Antetokounmpo said in a statement. “It’s about forging partnerships and opening my network.”
The 29-year-old clearly feels the best way to do this is through Unrivaled. On Wednesday, Unrivaled unveiled the majority of the rosters for its six teams with 34 of 36 total players announced. The league still has two “wildcard” spots available, and one place was likely reserved for Clark in case she changed her mind.
Despite the exciting league “leaving a roster spot open” for Clark, the Indiana Fever guard reportedly won’t be joining in January. According to ESPN, the reigning Rookie of the Year is set to turn down a reported $1 million in order to prioritize rest and escape from the spotlight ahead of her sophomore campaign in 2025.
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Caitlin Clark is reportedly unlikely to join Unrivaled, despite the league seemingly waiting on her (
(Image: Getty))
Clark has endured a whirlwind 10 months. She chased and eventually broke the all-time NCAA scoring record while at Iowa before leading the Hawkeyes to the national championship game in March.
She was selected by the Fever with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft just weeks later led the team to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. As a result, Clark has largely laid low aside from an appearance at the Annika LPGA pro-am tournament.
When asked by the Indianapolis Star if she had any interest in joining Unrivaled last month, she said: “We’ll see. I don’t know. Just taking it as it goes, and see if I want to play eventually.”
Antetokounmpo’s 6-9 Bucks sit 10th in the Eastern Conference. The franchise is next in action against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Cup on Friday, Nov. 22.
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