“Hey, LeBron, you’re 100 percent right on these girls hating on Caitlin Clark. Y’all petty, girls.” During the WNBA season, Charles Barkley’s take on women’s basketball got a lot of backlash. Even his best friend and co-host Shaquille O’Neal distanced himself from such takes. Shaq brushed it off, stating “Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating — it’s not hating.” Fast forward to today, Sir Charles has an opinion that might again lead to issues, not just with the current players of the league, but the upcoming players as well.

“Caitlin is a supernova, and JuJu probably is a better player.” Charles Barkley spoke to Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara on a podcast. “So those two women are going to be running the WNBA for the next 10, 12, 14, 15, 20 years basically.” The 76ers legend did not mention other standout rookies like Angel Reese or upcoming players like Paige Bueckers. The selection of JuJu shouldn’t be surprising, because Chuck called her a “real deal” on the same podcast. Not just the 11x All-Star, even Nike thinks the same about the USC women’s basketball standout.

“USC sophomore phenom JuJu Watkins has agreed on a multiyear contract extension with Nike that will give her one of the richest shoe endorsement deals in women’s basketball.” ESPN’s new NBA insider, Shams Charania, shared in a report. She previously signed a deal with the shoe giant back in 2022, alongside Bronny James and Caitlin Clark. Hence, with the Fever star signing a great deal and Watkins joining the forces, no wonder Chuck has some high regard for the two talents.

“Hey, I tell all them bitter, angry girls in the WNBA and who are upset about, Caitlin Clark. Move over more. So Juju is special.” Charles Barkley via the Throwbacks podcast. “Number one, I want to give a shout-out to Caitlin for what she did for women’s basketball the last three years, man. It’s been incredible. And I wish those women would embrace it. But Matt, that girl, JuJu, she is the real, real deal, it’s crazy.”

This would not be the first time that the Trojans star has garnered the attention of an NBA legend. From LeBron James to Gilbert Arenas, many legends of the sport have lauded the young guard for her playing style. Arenas even called her style “the most NBA-like” because she depends more on her basic skills. As for Barkley, hyping up the two hottest names in their leagues was not the end of the conversation.

The ’93 MVP gave a shout-out to A’ja Wilson and called her the best player in the world. He even praised Napheesa Collier and also revealed Lynx as his favorite for the WNBA Finals. But just a few months ago, his criticism of the league and players was absolutely brutal.

Charles Barkley and his support for Caitlin Clark know no bounds

A month ago, the founder of Round Mound Media again went on a rant about the WNBA players. He criticized them for the mishandling of the fame and popularity that Clark brought to the league. “These ladies – and I’m a WNBA fan – they cannot have f–ked this Caitlin Clark thing up any worse if they tried.” If you think Charles Barkley would stop there, he didn’t.

“If you got a bunch of dudes in a room and say let’s f–k up the WNBA, we couldn’t have come up with a master plan than what these women have done,” Barkley said on The Bill Simmons Podcast. But one of the former players and part-owner of the Seattle Storm was quick to shut down that narrative.

Sue Bird said, “That is probably like the biggest insult you can throw at an athlete especially an entire league of athletes.” On her podcast, she revealed that the hate on players for guarding and defending does not reciprocate hatred towards anybody. A thought similar to what Shaquille O’Neal said about Charles Barkley.