The claim that Caitlin Clark turned down an offer to work with Nike is satire

Social media posts claim rising American basketball star Caitlin Clark turned down multi-million dollar deals with Nike and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers because of their “woke” values. That’s not true; Clark signed with Nike as a collegiate player, and the allegations are satirical website.

“Caitlin Clark Turns Down Massive $400 Million Offer from Nike Saying, ‘I Don’t Like This Kaepernick Clow,’” reads a Facebook post from June 24, 2024.

Another post from June 23 reads: “Urgent: Caitlin Clark rejects $550 million sponsorship deal with LeBron James, calling him a ‘woke pervert.’”

These claims also appeared on Facebook and other websites.

Many posts bring to mind former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernickwhich started a trend of athletes taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality against black Americans.

The player’s 2018 advertising campaign ended with a boycott of Nike, which is one of the reasons why the company did so was accused of adopting a “woke” ideology, a culture war refrain that often appears in controversies over social issues. AFP previously denied posts suggesting that basketball legend Michael Jordan left the brand for ideological reasons differences.

CLikewise with Laims’ suggestions that Clark, the No. 1 draft pick in the Women’s National Basketball Association, turned down a multimillion-dollar offer FALSEHOOD.

Clark signed a 2022 contract with Nike (archived here ). It expired at the end of her record-breaking 2023-24 college basketball season at the University of Iowa.

In April 2024, The Athletic and The Wall Street Journal reported that Clark was set to sign a new deal with the brand worth more than $20 million that would include a signature shoe (archived here and here).

AFP contacted representatives from Clark and Nike for comment but did not receive a response.

‘Nothing is real’

Keyword search it was found that the headlines shared on the internet come from satirical sites.

Both stories were published by Esspots.com, which describes their content as “fictional” and claims so “specializes in satire, parody and humor” (archive here).

“Before you read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is true,” we read on the website.

The claim about James comes from a June 20 Facebook post that reads: also marked as satire. However, the accusation spread to other posts without such disclaimers.

Clark faced unprecedented attention for her rookie season with Indiana Fever and her recent omission from the U.S. women’s national basketball team’s Olympic roster, making her a focal point in a broader debate about racism and misogyny.

“It’s disappointing. Everyone in the world deserves the same respect… People shouldn’t be using my name to push their agendas.” she said The Athletic June 13 (archive here).

AFP previously denied claims that Clark would play for the Canadian national basketball team at the 2024 Olympics.