Please leave shotguns and knives at home when I say something sweet about Caitlin Clark: She can be found easily without the WNBA. Want to see her splash Magic Johnson with ice cream and smash Charles Barkley’s cheeseburger? Capital One has the ad. State Farm, Gatorade and Wilson are in the commercial circus, along with Nike, which is about to retail her signature sneaker for $140.

Travis Scott and the Kelce boys are helping with the viral presentation. Why? Clark is mentioned in the context of Michael Jordan’s early shoes. “Nike’s signature roster features all-time greats, and I’m incredibly proud to join some of the best athletes in the world,” she said. “I’m excited to share a first look at what we’ve started to create together.”

It has occurred to me that Clark doesn’t need the WNBA. The league could fold today — without a new labor deal, after days and nights of meetings since last Tuesday — and she would continue on with the most important journey in women’s sports history. Unlike other giant athletes who have bargained for new collective bargaining deals, she could start her own enterprise. Remember, she is why 18.7 million viewers watched her play in the national title game less than two years ago. In the pros, she has battled opponents who have tried to kick her, taunt her, bruise her and injure her, choosing revenge-via-intimidation and ignoring her mystical way of bringing attention to a once-lame association.

She should be entering her third season since Iowa. Her prime is awaited by all of us, knowing Clark can attract millions by simply finding her place and lofting a shot from 25 to 30 feet. Days ago, she urged colleagues and management to cut a deal. Why should she pause her fabled career for warfare when the NFL and NBA have avoided labor problems? Women’s hoops was about to burn brightly because of Clark, A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu. The deadline to reach an agreement was Monday. It’s almost Tuesday, as I file this.

“I don’t understand why we don’t just get in a room and iron it out and shake hands,” Clark said days ago, before leaving for a World Cup qualifier in Puerto Rico. “That’s how business is. You look each other in the eye, you shake hands, you respect both sides. For me, that’s what I would love to see.”

She isn’t a fan of commissioner Cathy Englebert, who reportedly told Collier that Clark “should be grateful” to play in the WNBA while fighting injuries. Clark said Collier “made a lot of very valid points” and “said it all” in her comments. You wonder if she looks at the mess and wonders if 16 billionaires could put together a new league? Wouldn’t they do it for her, with support from her endorsement leaders?

The league starts May 8, with a college draft and a two-team expansion setup also on the immediate calendar. A delay would threaten what is critical about the sport. Clark must be front and center or hype significantly dials down. There were days when her battles with Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky were bigger than Major League Baseball. They can’t keep negotiating week after week. The public lost interest months ago.

The players, of course, should be paid what they deserve — mostly Clark. If training camp doesn’t happen on April 19, the WNBA will disappear in the public frontage. Monday, Engelbert said: “We’re working as hard as we can to get it done as quickly as possible. We’re going to keep going. We’re going to get this deal done.”

But executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said this from the union perspective: “We’re still working. We’re still fighting. There’s still some things — big issues, things — that we have to get through.”

If they are spilling small crumbs of progress, we watch Clark online. What she always emphasized was dealing cooly with media. The other day, when the mixed zone opened in Puerto Rico, she walked past mobs of reporters beside a wall of ads. Then, she completely turned away and looked at the ads before leaving. Is she tired of the process? Last season, her health problems prompted high-priced tickets to drop near $25.

She wants to play basketball. She is not certain she’ll have a place this season. I would demand a new commissioner if I were her. If nothing else, call money people.

We want to see her filled with joy and verve. On the verge of a strike, she is sad.

And mad.

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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.