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WNBA All-Star Fires Back At Charles Barkley’s Criticism Of Players Who Don’t Appreciate Caitlin Clark

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WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike fired back at Charles Barkley over his comments about Caitlin Clark. The seven-year veteran, who currently serves an analyst with ESPN, does not see things in the same way as the Basketball Hall of Famer.

She is grateful for this year’s rookie class, even beyond Clark.

Barkley, one of the four personalities on the desk for Inside The NBA, addressed the WNBA as a whole. More specifically, he spoke directly to the women that he believes are not giving the greatest scorer in college basketball history the respect that she deserves.

There has been a lot of chatter about Clark and her transition to the professional game. Diana Taurasi grabbed headlines with her strong warning about reality and Brittney Griner backed her teammate with similar thoughts. Sheryl Swoopes made uninformed comments about the former Iowa star’s scoring record back in February. The discussion about Clark has been a discussion in itself!

Barkley turned to the camera on Wednesday night and directly addressed the people he views as haters.

The Round Mound of Rebound’s comments were divisive. Some fans were outraged. Others, largely newer fans, loved what he said. Most fell somewhere in between, with a logical understanding of the nuance to both sides.

Ogwumike spoke up on behalf of WNBA players as a whole. The former No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft has nothing but appreciation for the No. 1 pick in this year’s class.

Charles and Inside the NBA team are the GOATs of the industry, so respectfully I’ll offer my perspective with love. ❤️

Every WNBA player I know supports this rookie class and are grateful for the spotlight & money that Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and co. are bringing to the W!

— @chiney on X

She talked about how Taurasi’s comments were blown out of proportion by people who don’t know her and addressed Swoopes’ mistake.

There are 2 key incidents where CC was criticized. Sheryl Swoopes was wrong on major facts and she apologized to her privately.

Diana Taurasi pointed out that ALL rookies struggle in the W and no one is immune. It wasn’t hate, it was Diana being Diana. If you know, you know. 🤣

— @chiney on X

Another key piece of the discussion is the new chartered flight system. Ogwumike explained that they already existed, even though Clark certainly expedited the process for the entire league this season.

Also, charter flights were actually first deployed last year during the W post-season because:

  1. Safety with increasing number of star players
  2. Revenue trends are starting to support it. W has quickly gone from $60M in 2019 to over $200M in 2023 on a billion dollar valuation.
  3. Ever since teams got in trouble last year for trying to find workarounds for charters, this was likely in the plans for this year, especially as owners and players presented a united front. (Our amazing Commish is very methodical, the right things happen but not overnight.)
— @chiney on X

WNBA expansion is also something that has been in the works for some time.

Expansion has also been in the works the past few years. But again slow & steady wins the race. (I used to get mad at the NWSL bc they move way faster than us. 😂)

We desperately needed more teams and roster spots, but more importantly – we need the right owners to sustain them.

— @chiney on X

It is hard to deny that Caitlin Clark is the catalyst for a lot of change in the WNBA. She is a superstar.

However, Chiney Ogwumike pushed back on Charles Barkley’s opinion that players aren’t grateful for what she has done. Perhaps reality falls somewhere in the middle! It usually does.