Caitlin Clark has garnered a lot of attention with her performance over the last few games for both, sold-out arenas and her performance. There is an evident struggle in the latter, as the 22-year-old is trying to find a path in her first season in the WNBA. However, the criticisms have already started and Charles Barkley is not a fan of it. The Philadelphia 76ers legend demanded the fans to leave the Indiana Fever guard alone. Sadly, looks like Barkley’s words did not reach the ears of former NBA veteran Nick Young. 

One thing that Clark is not used to in the WNBA yet, is getting fouled. The WNBA is more physical than the NCAA, and she is just learning the act of selling a foul. In her game against the Seattle Storm today, Clark was in a similar scenario where she was fouled. After looking at the play, where the 22-year-old hacked and fell to the floor with her hand on the head, Nick Young tweeted, “Clark gotta stop acting like she died on every foul“, criticizing her act of selling. 

Right before the start of game 1 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks, Barkley addressed the hate and criticism of Clark. He said, “Y’all petty, man. Hey LeBron, you are 100% on the girls hating on Caitlin Clark. Y’all should be thanking that girl for getting y’all a** private charters. Don’t be petty like dudes.” 

Well, Barkley’s demand stood only for a few hours because here we are with Nick Young, who has found another flaw in Clark’s game. Also, Barkley had mentioned in his rant that LeBron James was right about his take on Clark, so let’s take a look into it. 

LeBron James endorses Caitlin Clark, elaborates on the benefits she has brought to the WNBA players

Before Clark’s arrival, WNBA teams were not allowed to book charter flights. With her entry into the league, the attention increased and to ensure safety, charter flights were allowed. More over, the guard’s fanfare has followed her all through the league, selling out arenas and setting record-attendance for each of the five games. These are just two of the many impacts that the WNBA players have felt. LeBron James highlighted this in his podcast Mind the Game with JJ Redick. 

“”The one thing that I love that she’s bringing to her sport? More people want to watch. More people want to tune in. Don’t get it twisted… Caitlin Clark is the reason a lot of great things are going to happen for the WNBA. There’s a very small number of men and women that actually get to live out their dream of playing the professional sport”, said James in his podcast. 

Clark has played five games in the WNBA now. She has not won a game yet. Indiana Fever is at the bottom of the table and thus the pressure and criticism are high on her. Well, there is a reason why the Fever had the first pick in the draft. Changes do not come in a single season. This could be a start to something legendary, and let’s hold our horses until then.