Amid Caitlin Clark’s shaky start to her WNBA career, Damian Lillard took a stand against her. The recent NCAA sensation took the hoops community by storm with her balling action. However, Clark’s WNBA rookie season hasn’t been great, as she took a few blows on the court. NBA legend Charles Barkley came out to her rescue, calling out other players for the damage. But an angry Elle Duncan hit back for his statement.

The NBA legend called the other players “petty” and asked them to be grateful to Clark as he credited her for the attention and money roped into the league. Frustrated with Chuck’s statement, Duncan ripped Barkley apart with a brutal rant and also got Lillard’s approval. She said, “I am tired of it… Who are these girls hating on Caitlin Clark… What are these women supposed to do? Faun over her, fangirl over her, bend the fuc*ing knee… What do you want from them… We’re not every single game gonna revisit and retread the same tired-a** rhetoric that ‘All girls are hating on her, they need to be thankful’, they have been. They have said it.” 

Elle Duncan didn’t stop there. She also went on to call out the men’s league. She argued that if at all the NBA players “faun(ed)” over a particular player, they would be called “weak” and “soft move.” And Damian Lillard further doubled it down, as he shared the IG post on his stories and wrote, “Bingo.”  Moreover, it wasn’t just Duncan, several other ballers also joined the party to hit back at Charles Barkley. Sparks forward Dearica Hamby didn’t hesitate to drop the F-bomb on the legend and wrote, “Seriously…. wtf are you talking about,” on her X handle.

King James and DrayMagic side with Charles Barkley

While Charles Barkley asked the players to be ‘grateful’ for Clark considering the value she brought to the league, Bron and Green had a different reason. They had rather sided with Clark instead. LeBron James compared his eldest son Bronny James’ situation to Caitlin Clark. Bronny faced a lot of hate from fans during his freshman year stretch where the crowd repeatedly trolled him with “Whose your daddy?” and “Overrated” chants.

Speaking of it, in his recent podcast with JJ Redick, James said, “My son… kind of getting a lot of animosity and hatred towards him when he’s just a kid trying to live out his dream… And we have grown a** men and women out here doing whatever they can to try to make sure that does not happen. That is the weirdest thing in the world, but it is what it is. And I’m glad that Caitlin has a great head on her shoulders.” 

On the other hand, Draymond Green spoke about the reality of the league. Appearing on TNT for the postseason analysis, he said, “They’re gonna hate you even more,” highlighting the ballers in the WNBA. However, it has been only 5 games since Clark started her journey in the WNBA. The young gun has a lot of time to prove her toughness and temperament. Will Caitlin Clark weather the storm? Let us know in the comments.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow in what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.