The WNBA has turned into a political football, and Enes Kanter Freedom’s stunt at Sunday’s game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky seemed to make it clear that that fact would not be changing any time soon.
Speaking as a guest on Michael Smerconish’s radio show, Charles Barkley weighed in on the conversation surrounding the WNBA and Kanter’s recent antics.
“First of all, I always support the gay community. I always support the transgender community,” Barkley began. “I got nothing but love and respect for gay people and transgender people, but under no circumstances do I think men should play against women. Zero. I’m disappointed in Adam Silver and Cathy [Engelbert], the commissioner.”
Barkley lamented that the league has lost control of the conversation, allowing itself to be hijacked by bad actors hoping to further their political agenda, and said he wishes that Silver and Engelbert came out strong against including transgender athletes in the WNBA and ended the conversation there.
“People are looking for attention now,” Barkley said of Kanter and others who are looking to capitalize on the politicization of the league. “But he has a point though.”
He continued:
“Because Cathy and Adam haven’t said, ‘Hey, it’s in the title. WNBA. We’re not going to have transgender people in the WNBA, and we’re not going to discuss it again. That’s what Adam and Cathy should have done two or three weeks ago before they turned it over to the internet and every fool, idiot, and jackass to have an opinion on. Adam should come out [and say], and Cathy, I like both of them a lot — ‘There’s no transgender people going to play in the WNBA. If you don’t like it, kick rocks. And we’re not going to discuss it anymore.’
“Enes is trying to get attention. Listen, if he did all the operations things — no, we’re not doing that either. [Silver and Engelbert should have said] ‘The WNBA is for women, and listen, this is the last time we’re going to discuss it. We’re not going to turn it over to the fools on the internet. We’re not going to turn it over to Congress. The WNBA is for women only, period. And we’re not going to discuss it again.’”
Barkley expressed frustration that attention was being taken away from some of the great basketball stories coming from the league this year, shouting out the phenomenal rookie season of Olivia Miles.
“This was a great summer for them,” he said. “They all got raises. They started making the money that they deserve. They expanded. They’re going to increase games next season. But I can’t remember the last time I heard something positive about the WNBA.”
He also expressed surprise that Sophie Cunningham, whose comments regarding high school transgender athletes sparked the culture war that the league currently finds itself in, faced any backlash at all.
“Sophie Cunningham, who, I can’t believe people got mad at her for telling the truth. She said, ‘No, I’m protecting girls. No transvestites in the [WNBA].’”
It’s unclear if Barkley simply misspoke or misunderstood Cunningham’s original comments when suggesting the Fever player used the word “transvestites” in her remarks. She did not use that word, which is an outdated term to describe someone who wears the clothing of another sex.
Barkley then criticized DiJonai Carrington, who committed a hard foul against Cunningham and posted a message that read “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media after she was ejected, sparking another media cycle.
“The reason they made it black and white [was] when that girl tweeted ‘White privilege.’ That was stupid on her part. That’s why I say, we can’t turn our world over to the internet fools. When she tweeted ‘White privilege’ that was 100% a mistake. It was a dirty play. Period. That would have been the end of it. But when you turn stuff, the internet, all the race hustlers start coming out. They have a ton of race hustlers out there, white and black. We can’t ever let them fools win.”
Barkley went on to suggest that he believes that many WNBA players don’t like Caitlin Clark or Sophie Cunningham. When Smerconish attempted to clarify that that dislike was not about race, Barkley hedged.
“I’m not going to get on here and call somebody a racist because I don’t have any proof. Whether it’s race, sexuality, or whatever, there’s something going on there. Because most of the time when you see something, it has something to do with Caitlin or Sophie. I think those other women in the WNBA don’t like them.”
Barkley believes that there are multiple factors at play with regard to his take on the rest of the league’s feelings about Clark and Cunningham.
“Jealousy I think is a part of it. Race is a part of it, and sexuality is a part of it. Now, I don’t know how much, but I’m comfortable saying they don’t like Caitlin. I have no idea why, she’s just a really good basketball player. Same thing with Sophie, she’s a good player. But I think it has something to do with sexuality, race, and jealousy. I think it’s all three of them. I don’t know how you break up the percentages.”
You can watch Barkley’s comments in their entirety below.