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NBA legend Charles Barkley once praised Caitlin Clark for her class in the wake of some rough treatment in the WNBA, and the Indiana Fever star has now responded in style
Caitlin Clark is heading into the new season having piled on the muscle, after NBA legend Charles Barkley hit out at those in the league who were targeting the Indiana Fever star. NBA legend Barkley sensationally called out players in the WNBA for an apparent mistreatment of Clark in September of last year.
The 23-year-old college icon may have scooped the Rookie of the Year award in her freshman season, but she also had to contend with a series of brutal challenges.
Barkley, 62, suggested that her rising star off the court was encouraging some players to rough her up on it. However, the Philadelphia 76ers legend praised Clark for how she handled the intense physicality and remained focused.
“These ladies, and I’m a WNBA fan, they cannot have f—-d up this Caitlin Clark thing up any worse if they tried,” Barkley said on The Ringer with Bill Simmons in September 2024.
“This girl is incredible. The number of attention, eyeballs, she’s brought to college and the pros. And for these women to have this petty jealousness you’re saying to yourself, ‘Damn, what is going on here?'”
“And the thing I love about her, she never says a word. But these ladies, who I love and respect their game, couldn’t have f—-d this thing up any worse. There’s been so much negativity and a lot of it is just petty jealousness.”
Clark also realised that to compete at the highest level, she would need to toughen up. “I think the physicality is probably going to be one of the biggest things for myself,” she said upon entering the league in May 2024.
“Obviously, the college game, it was physical to an extent, but the people I’m going to be playing in this league are full-grown, very strong women. You’re going to get hit.”
Her prophecy rang true. The Fever star endured hard fouls from Ex-Chicago Sky star Chennedy Carter and Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins in her maiden campaign – another challenge even saw her rupture an eardrum.
The mission then seemed simple: Clark had to get stronger. And it appears she has grasped the challenge with both hands. Earlier this offseason, on an episode of the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, new Fever head coach Stephanie White declared Clark is now a more robust player as she heads into her second season.
“She figured out right away that I need to get stronger,” White said. “She’s done a great job of getting in the weight room and focusing on her strength, in terms of low center of gravity, time under tension, all of those things.”
However, fans then had a chance to see the star’s transformation with their own eyes. As Clark joined up with the Fever for training camp ahead of the 2025 campaign this month, the team’s official Instagram account posted a photo of Clark, and her new-look build had fans in a spin.
“CC ain’t skipping leg day or arm day,” one fan said under the post. Another added, along with the eyes emoji: “CC been in the weight room.”
“My hometown girl is looking stout!!” another supporter wrote. While a fourth warned the rest of the WNBA, saying: “Those legs could kick me the f— out of the earth.”
