Conservative talk show host Clay Travis has doubled down on his challenge to the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces to go head-to-head with a high school state champion boys’ team.
But now, online gambling company BetOnline has entered the fray with an offer to back Travis’ $1 million bet, making the deal a no-lose scenario for the Aces.
Well … no loss financially, at least. A professional sports team losing to a high school team, even a champion team, would certainly result in a loss of reputation.
Perhaps that’s why the Aces have yet to respond to Travis’ proposal.
WNBA players have long complained they are underpaid. Now they have a chance to make $1 million by winning a single game against a high school boys team. (The boys would still get a million if they win too).
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) November 9, 2023
Ealier this year, Travis turned heads when he posited that “a good state championship-level boys high school team would absolutely smoke the WNBA champions.”
“A good state championship level boys high school team would absolutely SMOKE the WNBA champions”
Blue check marks are losing their minds over @ClayTravis saying the WNBA sucks! pic.twitter.com/1MqsPabEcB
— OutKick (@Outkick) February 2, 2023
Travis admitted that schools in smaller states might not be able to field comparable talent due to lack of population to draw from.
Should the WNBA take the challenge?
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“But for the 25 largest states in America, every single one of those states has a state champion boys basketball team that would obliterate the WNBA champion in a game,” Travis said.
Then, late last month, Travis’ comments were resurrected on social media again thanks to a post from the X account Hoop Herald.
That post drew the attention of three-time WNBA champion and Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who responded by simply calling Travis a “dumba**.”
Travis in turn responded to that by offering to put his own skin in the game.
“I’ll put a million dollars on the line, your WNBA champion team against a 2024 high school boy’s state champion team of my choice,” Travis said.
“You guys win, you get a million bucks of my money, my team wins, you all pay me a million and I give it all to the boy’s high school team. You in?”
WARNING: The following post contains language that some readers may find offensive.
I’ll put a million dollars on the line, your WNBA champion team against a 2024 high school boy’s state champion team of my choice. You guys win, you get a million bucks of my money, my team wins, you all pay me a million and I give it all to the boy’s high school team. You in? https://t.co/mYheqnZJLz
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 27, 2023
Travis, begin Travis, also worked in a jab at the WNBA’s typically dismal ratings.
“This, [by the way], would probably be the most watched WNBA game of all time,” he said.
This, btw, would probably be the most watched WNBA game of all time. Ball’s in your court. Lots of boy’s state champion teams would love to compete for this money. My million is out there. Put your money where your mouth is and prove I’m wrong and make a million in the process.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 27, 2023
Some readers will no doubt remember the tennis “Battle of the Sexes” in which Billie Jean King smoked Bobby Riggs in thee sets in 1973. Granted, Riggs was 55 and King 29 at the time, but even so, there’s just no way to know for sure how a game between a group of 20-something professional women players (the WNBA says that its players’ average age over the league’s history has been 27.3) and a similar group of amateur boys in their mid-to-late teens would go.
Well, actually, there is one way to know for sure. But the Aces would have to take up Travis on his offer for that to happen.
