Caitlin signs historic endorsement deal

Caitlin Clark has entered the same stratosphere as Michael Jordan.

The No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever has signed a multi-year partnership with Wilson, becoming the first athlete to do so since Jordan in the 1980s, according to Boardroom.

Wilson produces the official ball for the WNBA, and this union will include a signature basketball collection that launched Tuesday.

Clark previously signed a historic eightyear, $28 million deal with Nike that includes a signature shoe, and this partnership comes with a brand she used during her childhood.

“I loved that thing more than anything. My brothers and I would always fight over it,” Clark told Boardroom. “That was the best basketball. But I’m just super excited to have a collaboration and create basketballs together that are really cool. I’ve seen the designs that young girls, boys, whoever can get their hands on and go dribble in the driveway or take it to practice with them.”

Wilson released a teaser video Monday night previewing a big announcement “Tomo22ow,” referencing Clark’s number with Iowa and now Indiana.

The NCAA’s all-time scoring leader will test, advise and offer her opinions on Wilson products, and there will be Clark-inspired merchandise released throughout the year, per the company’s press release.

Boardroom added that Clark’s duties include “thinking of specific silhouettes that make it easier to hoop in and certain fabrics that function outside of just being aesthetically pleasing.”

The merchandise includes her “first-ever signature basketball line” to debut later this year, per Wilson.

Clark has played in just four WNBA games so far — all losses — but that has not stopped companies from lining up to make the 22-year-old the face of their products or brands.

That she now shares a connection with Jordan is not lost on Clark.

“I feel fortunate and lucky,” Clark told Forbes. “Michael is the best of all time. To see young kids eventually dribbling with my signature [ball], how lucky am I to be part of something like this, to be able to be the first to do this since [Jordan]?”