NBA icon Charles Barkley felt insulted after his appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, back in 2019. This was because, just nine days before he made it to the show, Las Vegas Aces’ star and WNBA legend Candace Parker also gave an interview on the same podcast, claiming that she could easily beat Chuck in a 1-on-1. Interestingly, Patrick also posed the same question before Barkley, when he showed up.
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Parker claimed that she was insulted by the question, considering how Barkley had long retired while she was only a 32-year-old professional, at the time. Dan Patrick himself backed Parker to win, something which Chuck claimed was insulting to him. When Chuck was asked the same question, he hilariously claimed that it was time for him to get “sexist” on Patrick’s show.
“Let me get sexist on your show. Cuz I don’t want no woman beatin’ at my door. You are gonna make me say this Dan. A woman can’t beat me in a sport. Just stop it. Any sport,” Chuck proclaimed, as Patrick suggested that he should take golf out of the equation.
However, Barkley explained that he was talking about regular women and not a professional golfer. Chuck looked short on patience but wanted Patrick to understand that he could simply not be beaten by a woman, irrespective of the sport.
The podcast host explained how Parker was still professional, in addition to being young and athletic. However, Chuck was insulted, and aghast at the fact that the podcast host backed Parker over him.
“She is not that young. Candace Parker cannot beat me at basketball. First of all, we are gonna play half court…Okay, she can’t beat me, Dan. Dan, I can’t believe you insulted me man,” he said.
Hence, while Barkley was undoubtedly utterly confident, a lot of viewers might not feel the same way. He was 56 at the time and had long left his NBA exploits in the past. Candace Parker, on the other hand, was competing at a high level every week, and at 32, still near her prime. If there was money on the line, there is little doubt who most viewers might have backed in such a situation.
Charles Barkley did not believe Candace Parker could even beat Kenny Smith
There is little doubt that Dan Patrick was not as confident in Chuck’s then-basketball abilities, let alone his golf skills. However, Barkley was convinced that Parker simply did not stand a chance.
Patrick, in obvious exasperation, then brought up Chuck’s TNT colleagues in the form of Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. Barkley, however, said that even Smith was going to win in such a potential 1-on-1.
Of course, Smith, in addition to being 2 years younger than Chuck, is also considerably fitter. When it came to Ernie Johnson, however, Barkley claimed there was going to be an obvious winner. He responded with a simple “hell yeah”, when Patrick asked him if Parker would be able to beat his other TNT colleague, Ernie, who obviously never played in the NBA professionally.
Of course, this was hardly the first time that Chuck was found making questionable comments with respect to women. He had only recently talked about the ‘big women’ in San Antonio, which was after taking a bite off of Kenny Smith’s churro. Chuck suggested that eating such delicious snacks regularly was bound to have that effect on the women in the region.
