On the opening night of the new women's 3v3 basketball league, Unrivaled, fans of the sport couldn't help but feel like something was missing.
The league made its debut Friday night with two games between its newly selected teams made up of WNBA stars.
The first game between Mist BC and Lunar Owls BC featured stars like Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Skylar Diggins-Smith. The second game featured Rose BC and Vinyl BC, with stars Angel Reese, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale and Aliyah Boston.
But despite all these stars on the court, there was one name noticeably absent from the festivities: Caitlin Clark.
The Indiana Fever star decided not to participate in the inaugural season of Unrivaled to give his body time to recover after a grueling schedule that ran almost non-stop from November 2023 to September 2024.
Still, many of his fans took to social media on the night of the league's debut to make it clear that his absence was felt.
Fans are missing Caitlin Clark's game as the Unrivaled 3v3 league debuted on Friday.
Many of the WNBA's top players, including Clark's college rival Angel Reese (center), participated
Clark has been enjoying her free time and was recently spotted with her boyfriend Connor McCaffrey.
“Caitlin Clark would have gotten 50 points in this format,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.
A women's basketball fan posted: 'Caitlin Clark would have dusted off Unrivaled.' Oh my goodness, that would have been glorious! The fast-paced play is made for her.”
That user sent another post saying, 'No double teams.' Caitlin Clark would have cooked in Unrivaled. The fast-paced piece is made by Taylor for her. It's still very exciting even without it.
“Caitlin Clark would cook these idiots at 3 on 3,” another post reads.
But one user called Clark's decision to sit out a smart one, saying, “Caitlin Clark made the right decision by opting out of this inaugural season of Unrivaled.” This is pretty hectic. I think the rest will be very useful to you.
Clark has been making good use of her free time: She recently relaxed on a date night with her boyfriend Connor McCaffrey at a volleyball game.
But it hasn't all been fun and games for Clark. A man has been accused of stalking the Fever star after driving to Indianapolis and starting sending her threatening messages.
He is being held in jail on $50,000 bail.