Charles Barkley San Antonio women quote: Revisiting analyst’s jab at ‘big ole women’ of Texas originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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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.
If you haven’t already heard over the years, the former NBA star — a staple of “Inside the NBA” for decades now with his blend of analysis, criticism and dry humor — is not particularly fond of the women from San Antonio.
One of his most famous running jokes has come at the expense of the women near the home of the Spurs. At any opportunity to bring them up, Barkley has teased them for being “big ole women.”
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.
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Charles Barkley San Antonio women comment
Barkley’s comments about the women from San Antonio are nothing new.
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 — often creating either awkward silences or chuckles from the rest of the crew.
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.
😂 Two of Charles Barkley’s funniest ‘Inside The NBA’ moments!
1: San Antonio women/Eating churros
2: Phoenix Suns Arena rant
https://t.co/OLka7JyYhm— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 20, 2020
In 2019, when a clip of a halftime performer doing flips went viral, Barkley found a way to make it about San Antonio women.
“I bet you couldn’t do that to those big a– women in San Antonio,” Barkley said.
Charles Barkley:
➖➖➖
“I bet you couldn’t do that to those big ass women in San Antonio”— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 15, 2019
“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 — and, appearing to be given lines from the show to say, they took their own digs at Barkley.
“Barkley? Is that the fat, bald one?” one of the women said.
In 2023, Barkley asked a question to a newer Spurs superstar, Wembanyama, about how to say “Churro” in French — referring back to his running joke about the women in San Antonio eating churros.
Charles Barkley: “Victor, I got one final question for you. How do you say ‘Churro’ in French?”
Victor Wembanyama: “Churro? What is that?”
Charles: “You’ve been in San Antonio long enough. It’s a dessert.”
Wemby: “What?” 🤣
(via @NBAonTNT)pic.twitter.com/loqu32WD94
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 1, 2023
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.”
The best part of making the finals, I think the “inside the NBA” crew will be on location.
WELCOME BACK TO SAN ANTONIO CHARLES BARKLEY. @ESPNNBA
— San Antonio Spurs Talk (@saspurstalk21) May 31, 2026
Charles Barkley seeing all the Big Ole Woman in San Antonio at the finals pic.twitter.com/F8Qb6rJoG3
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) May 31, 2026
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Charles Barkley San Antonio women video
If you thought that Barkley’s one-sided feud with San Antonio women was only a few cracked jokes, you’d be wildly incorrect.
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.
The video below begins with women at a Spurs game playing into the jokes, wearing shirts that say “Barkley Don’t Know.”
Here’s another compilation of Barkley-San Antonio gripes:
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Charles Barkley apologizes for San Antonio women comment
In 2017, Barkley made a declaration that he was ready to finally apologize for all the comments he had made about San Antonio women.
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.”
“I see why they got them big ole women down in San Antonio,” Barkley said.
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.
“If you crack a joke the wrong way,” Barkley said, per SI, “they’re like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, you crossed the line.’ I mean, they won’t even let me talk about San Antonio anymore when I’m always talking about their big ole women down in San Antonio. They’re like, ‘Charles, we got one lady [who] wrote an article.’
“I’m like, ‘First of all, I didn’t call anybody personally fat in San Antonio; I was just joking around. … We’ve been having fun with this for probably 10–15 years. We go to San Antonio; the people are having a blast with it. The people in San Antonio had T-shirts made up.”
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.
Even as recently as 2025, Barkley was in San Antonio and doubled-down on his comments.
A rivalry as old as time: Charles Barkley vs San Antonio women pic.twitter.com/7Yjiw1mZIk
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 8, 2025
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