{"id":2650397,"date":"2026-08-27T09:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/charles-barkley-takes-major-stand-with-sophie-cunningham-enes-kanter-on-trans-players-its-in-the-title-wnba\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T09:26:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:26:04","slug":"charles-barkley-takes-major-stand-with-sophie-cunningham-enes-kanter-on-trans-players-its-in-the-title-wnba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/charles-barkley-takes-major-stand-with-sophie-cunningham-enes-kanter-on-trans-players-its-in-the-title-wnba\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Barkley Takes Major Stand With Sophie Cunningham, Enes Kanter on Trans Players &#8211; &#8216;It&#8217;s in the Title: WNBA&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcharles-barkley-takes-major-stand-with-sophie-cunningham-enes-kanter-on-trans-players-its-in-the-title-wnba%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2650397&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh content begins with a &#8220;Read more&#8230;&#8221; button that, when clicked, reveals additional data. The extended content discusses a variety of topics, primarily focusing on Charles Barkley&#8217;s views on sports and social issues. Barkley criticizes the idea that professional athletes, like himself, should serve as role models, emphasizing that athletes are not necessarily designated to influence society beyond sports. He highlights a famous commercial where he states, &#8220;I&#8217;m not a role model,&#8221; underscoring this point.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion then shifts to Barkley&#8217;s opinions on sensitive social issues, notably the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harvard-swimmer-says-the-biden-admin-is-using-the-transgender-debate-as-a-civil-rights-movement\/\" title=\"Harvard swimmer claims Biden admin exploits transgender debate as &#039;civil rights move...t&#039;.\">debate surrounding transgender athletes participating<\/a> in women&#8217;s sports, such as the WNBA. Barkley expresses strong disapproval of men competing against women in sports, criticizing league commissioners for failing to address the issue decisively. he praises former NBA player enes Freedom Kanter for raising awareness and suggests that league officials should clearly state that transgender women will not participate in women&#8217;s leagues.<\/p>\n<p>The article advocates for common sense in sports policies, asserting that excluding men from women&#8217;s sports is a straightforward, sensible stance.It encourages adopting Charles Barkley&#8217;s outlook as a role model for prioritizing logical and fair policies in athletics.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Before we get to the meat of this, let\u2019s just get this out of the way: Professional athletes generally make\u00a0terrible\u00a0role models.<\/p>\n<p>NBA legend Charles Barkley would likely agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly given in this famous commercial:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e2lseCPPCP4?si=5UQHZ9y8PMEdazEw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not a role model,\u201d Barkley says in the legendary Nike commercial. \u201cJust because I dunk a basketball doesn\u2019t mean I should raise your kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Chuck is 100 percent correct, as much as the LeBron Jameses of the world may disagree.<\/p>\n<p>But just because the Round Mound of Rebound isn\u2019t a role model doesn\u2019t mean he can\u2019t  the occasional pearl of wisdom, like this:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>WARNING: The following video contains language and descriptions of women that may offend some viewers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3PD4XsoeNZU?si=VFNqduuDU-PIWAbo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(Remember what he said about not being a role model?)<\/p>\n<p>Jokes aside, Barkley does occasionally wade into much more serious issues than the waistlines of San Antonio women. And he would often tackle those topics regardless of whether he\u2019s irking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-charles-barkley-torches-biden-democrats-live-cnn-says-care-black-people-every-4-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Democrats<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-charles-barkley-interrupts-march-madness-deliver-democratic-party-talking-points\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republicans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So it should come as little surprise that when Sir Charles was asked about the ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-former-nba-player-declared-wnba-draft-attends-game-gets-kicked-player-beefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transgender issue<\/a> that has engulfed the WNBA, he offered his unvarnished takes on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/25\/sports\/who-disappointed-charles-barkley-blames-for-wnbas-trans-athlete-mess\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a>, Barkley appeared on a Monday podcast with CNN host Michael Smerconish. Naturally, the hot button topic of the WNBA was brought up, and Barkley did not mince words about the sideshow circus this entire situation was devolving into.<\/p>\n<p>And the people that disappointed him the most out of this entire ordeal? The respective commissioners of the NBA and WNBA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d Barkley told Smerconish. \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in Adam Silver and Cathy [Engelbert], the commissioner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barkley then criticized former NBA star Enes Freedom Kanter, who has declared for the WNBA Draft to challenge the league\u2019s policies on self-proclaimed transgender players. Kanter made headlines when he recently appeared at a WNBA game before getting kicked out.<\/p>\n<p>Barkley felt that Kanter\u2019s actions were largely self-serving\u2026 but that Kanter was on to something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are looking for attention now,\u201d Barkley said. \u201cBut [Kanter] has a point though. Because Cathy and Adam haven\u2019t said, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s in the title. WNBA. We\u2019re not going to have transgender people in the WNBA, and we\u2019re not going to discuss it again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barkley continued, \u201cThat\u2019s 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 jacka** to have an opinion on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdam should come out [and say], and Cathy, I like both of them a lot \u2014 \u2018There\u2019s no transgender people going to play in the WNBA. If you don\u2019t like it, kick rocks. And we\u2019re not going to discuss it anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Look, Barkley\u2019s right \u2014 on multiple levels. And even though he didn\u2019t explicitly mention her, his sentiments back up those of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who kicked an apparent hornet\u2019s nest when she dared to say that males shouldn\u2019t be in female sports.<\/p>\n<p>This ongoing headache really shouldn\u2019t have to be one. Not having men compete in women\u2019s sports is an 80\/20 issue in this country. It\u2019s common sense. It\u2019s an easy issue to get ahead of, much like Barkley suggested.<\/p>\n<p>Silver and Engelbert haven\u2019t just failed at this simple endeavor. They\u2019ve poured gasoline on the situation with their negligence.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, there\u2019s a real case to be made that this isn\u2019t even an 80\/20 issue so much as it is a basic common sense question.<\/p>\n<p>Do men belong in women\u2019s sports?<\/p>\n<p>If your answer is \u201cNo,\u201d congratulations. You\u2019re normal and have common sense, something which Charles Barkley would likely appreciate.<\/p>\n<p>If your answer is \u201cYes,\u201d it might be time to adopt Charles Barkley as your role model.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before diving in, here&#8217;s a quick note: Professional athletes often aren&#8217;t great role models. NBA star Charles Barkley famously stated in a Nike commercial, \u201cI\u2019m not a role model,\u201d emphasizing that just because he plays basketball doesn\u2019t mean he should influence others\u2019 kids<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2650398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-33.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[37373,7873,33412,7188],"class_list":["post-2650397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-charles-barkley","tag-nba","tag-transgender-athletes","tag-wnba"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-33.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650397"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2650401,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650397\/revisions\/2650401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2650398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2650397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2650397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2650397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}