News/Commentary

Charles Barkley rips ‘petty’ WNBA: ‘They cannot have f*cked this Caitlin Clark thing up any worse!’

September 4, 2024 | | Print Article

A former NBA All-Star ripped into the “petty jealousness” displayed by the players in the WNBA when discussing the treatment of rookie Caitlin Clark.

“…they cannot have f*cked this Caitlin Clark thing up any worse if they tried!”

(Video Credit: The Bill Simmons Podcast)

Known for his unfiltered commentary, NBA player turned talking head Charles Barkley joined “The Bill Simmons” Podcast Wednesday where he went beyond the typical points about the Indiana Fever’s point guard fueling a ratings spike for the oft-divisive women’s basketball league.

“People believe what we say on television… Just because people don’t like you or your personality, they can’t get on TV and slander you. It’s just total bullsh*t,” said Barkley prompting Simmons to note, “That’s why, the growth of the WNBA, you know it’s starting to become serious when there’s really stupid discourse about the league and the players. I’m like, ‘Oh, you guys have made it! Welcome.'”

With the door flung wide open, the former basketballer walked through to fire off his suggestion that negative attention within the league focused on the Fever rookie was the fault of the other players, “These ladies — and I’m a WNBA fan — they cannot have f*cked this Caitlin Clark thing up any worse if they tried!”

“This girl is incredible,” Barkley went on to say before he took further aim at her peers. “The number of attention, eyeballs, she’s brought to college and the pros — and for these women to have this petty jealousness — you’re saying to yourself, ‘Damn, what is going on here?'”

Even with all the animosity raining down on the number one draft pick for 2024, who’d won scores of accolades during her time playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA where she became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, the commentator called out her discipline when he said, “And the thing I love about her, she never says a word.”

Himself an 11-time NBA All-Star, Barkley went on to reiterate his disappointment with how the WNBA had violently welcomed Clark into the league as he said, “But these ladies, who I love and respect their game, they couldn’t have f*cked this thing up any worse.”

“There’s been so much negativity, and a lot of it is just petty jealousness,” he added.

In addition to the coverage of the league, Barkley weighed in on Clark being passed over to play for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics.

“I tell you what was really good that happened to her: not making the Olympic team. Giving her the time off has given her a chance to recharge her batteries. She probably did deserve to make the Olympic team on merit but her getting that time off probably was the best thing to happen to her,” he argued, noting that she hadn’t had time to rest with the WNBA season starting shortly after the end of the NCAA championship.

Barkley’s position on the treatment of Clark was split much the same as the treatment itself as some saw nothing wrong with it while more appeared to agree with the commentary.

Kevin Haggerty
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