Thanks to ESPN keeping “Inside the NBA” alive in the 2025-26 season, and now Victor Wembanyama’s official arrival in the 2026 playoffs, the stage has been set for one of Charles Barkley’s most well-known bits.<\/p>\n
If you haven’t already heard over the years, the former NBA star \u2014 a staple of “Inside the NBA” for decades now with his blend of analysis, criticism and dry humor \u2014 is not particularly fond of the women from San Antonio.<\/p>\n
One of his most famous running jokes has come at the expense of the women near the home of the Spurs<\/a>. At any opportunity to bring them up, Barkley has teased them for being “big ole women.”<\/p>\n As the Spurs take center stage in the 2026 NBA Finals with “Inside the NBA” playing a role in coverage, here’s what to know about Barkley’s history with San Antonio women.<\/p>\n NBA PLAYOFFS HQ:\u00a0Live NBA scores<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NBA playoff schedule<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NBA playoff bracket<\/a><\/p>\n Charles Barkley San Antonio women comment<\/p>\n Barkley’s comments about the women from San Antonio are nothing new.<\/p>\n First joining “Inside the NBA” in 2000, Barkley has been cracking jokes on the show alongside Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith for over 25 years. Perhaps his most well-known bit, however, has targeted San Antonio’s female demographic \u2014 often creating either awkward silences or chuckles from the rest of the crew.<\/p>\n The joke appears to stem from some of his earlier years on the show, when he would refer to them as “big ole women” from San Antonio.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude02 Two of Charles Barkley\u2019s funniest ‘Inside The NBA’ moments!<\/p>\n 1: San Antonio women\/Eating churros \u2014 Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 20, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n In 2019, when a clip of a halftime performer doing flips went viral, Barkley found a way to make it about San Antonio women.<\/p>\n \u201cI bet you couldn\u2019t do that to those big a– women in San Antonio,” Barkley said.<\/p>\n Charles Barkley: \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2dpic.twitter.com\/ebTAWt6tVb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 15, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n “Inside the NBA” also once did a segment where the San Antonio women were given a chance to react and respond to Barkley’s criticism \u2014 and, appearing to be given lines from the show to say, they took their own digs at Barkley.<\/p>\n “Barkley? Is that the fat, bald one?” one of the women said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In 2023, Barkley asked a question to a newer Spurs superstar, Wembanyama, about how to say “Churro” in French \u2014 referring back to his running joke about the women in San Antonio eating churros.<\/p>\n Charles Barkley: “Victor, I got one final question for you. How do you say ‘Churro’ in French?”<\/p>\n Victor Wembanyama: “Churro? What is that?”<\/p>\n Charles: “You’ve been in San Antonio long enough. It’s a dessert.”<\/p>\n Wemby: “What?” \ud83e\udd23<\/p>\n (via @NBAonTNT)pic.twitter.com\/loqu32WD94<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 1, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n So, when the 2026 NBA Finals were solidified and the Spurs were involved, fans were quick to predict that Barkley would have a lot to say on “Inside the NBA.”<\/p>\n The best part of making the finals, I think the \u201cinside the NBA\u201d crew will be on location.<\/p>\n WELCOME BACK TO SAN ANTONIO CHARLES BARKLEY. @ESPNNBA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 San Antonio Spurs Talk (@saspurstalk21) May 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Charles Barkley seeing all the Big Ole Woman in San Antonio at the finals pic.twitter.com\/F8Qb6rJoG3<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) May 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Explaining Victor Wembanyama and Gregg Popovich’s relationship<\/a><\/p>\n Charles Barkley San Antonio women video<\/p>\n If you thought that Barkley’s one-sided feud with San Antonio women was only a few cracked jokes, you’d be wildly incorrect.<\/p>\n In fact, there are NBA fans who have compiled long YouTube videos solely consisting of Barkley talking about San Antonio women on “Inside the NBA,” often when the Spurs are playing.<\/p>\n The video below begins with women at a Spurs game playing into the jokes, wearing shirts that say “Barkley Don’t Know.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Here’s another compilation of Barkley-San Antonio gripes:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0What to know about Victor Wembanyama’s relationship with Gregg Popovich<\/a><\/p>\n Charles Barkley apologizes for San Antonio women comment<\/p>\n In 2017, Barkley made a declaration that he was ready to finally apologize for all the comments he had made about San Antonio women.<\/p>\n As it turned out, it was just part of his bit. He said he tried churros for the first time the night prior, and he saw “what all the excitement was about.”<\/p>\n “I see why they got them big ole women down in San Antonio,” Barkley said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n However, in more seriousness, in 2021, Barkley revealed that the producers of “Inside the NBA” told him to stop making jokes about San Antonio’s women.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you crack a joke the wrong way,\u201d Barkley said, per SI, \u201cthey\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, no, no, no, you crossed the line.\u2019 I mean, they won\u2019t even let me talk about San Antonio anymore when I\u2019m always talking about their big ole women down in San Antonio. They\u2019re like, \u2018Charles, we got one lady [who] wrote an article.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like, ‘First of all, I didn\u2019t call anybody personally fat in San Antonio; I was just joking around. \u2026 We\u2019ve been having fun with this for probably 10\u201315 years. We go to San Antonio; the people are having a blast with it. The people in San Antonio had T-shirts made up.\u201d<\/p>\n But even if that was true, and Barkley was told by his higher-ups to stop the jokes, he was only going to contain himself for so long.<\/p>\n Even as recently as 2025, Barkley was in San Antonio and doubled-down on his comments.<\/p>\n A rivalry as old as time: Charles Barkley vs San Antonio women pic.twitter.com\/7Yjiw1mZIk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n MORE: Where Victor Wembanyama’s debut playoff run falls among best ever by an NBA star\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n
2: Phoenix Suns<\/a> Arena rant
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\u201cI bet you couldn\u2019t do that to those big ass women in San Antonio\u201d<\/p>\n