Larry Brown Sports

Brittney Griner is set to become a member of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, who have the first overall pick in the upcoming WNBA draft. That is basically a foregone conclusion at this point, but what about the possibility of pursuing an NBA career?

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban created quite the stir last week when he said he was considering drafting Griner in the second round of the NBA Draft. Griner certainly seems excited about the possibility, but many people feel that it is insane to think a woman could physically compete with men. During an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday, Barkley let it be known that he is one of those people.

“She can’t play against guys,” Barkley said, via Nick Birdsong of AI.com. “I mean, you’re going to go at her, probably aggressively, cause you’re offended that she’s trying to play against you cause it’s kind of an insult to you. But she can’t play with men and I think whether she plays against a guy who has no…cause most of those guys, let’s…who are we kidding? Ninety to 95 percent of those guys who pay in the summer league are never going to play in the NBA.”

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma shared some similar thoughts earlier this week, saying it would be a publicity “sham” if Cuban ever did give Griner a chance to play for the Mavericks.

“I agree with Geno,” Barkley continued. “I mean, if you brought her in, yeah they’d sell some tickets to the summer league which I don’t understand what type of loser would go to the summer league anyway. But I agree with Geno 100 percent. A girl can’t play against men. It’s just a publicity (stunt). Mark’s one of my great friends, great friends. But a woman can’t play against a man.”

My gut tells me Barkley and Auriemma are right. WNBA legend Lisa Leslie told Larry Brown Sports earlier this week that Griner would have to bulk up to play in the NBA. I’m not sure how easy that would be and I’m skeptical Griner even has the skill set needed to compete against some of the best male basketball players in the world.

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Charles Barkley made an appearance on “Conan” on Thursday night and covered a wide range of topics. Conan O’Brien had Sir Charles talking about everything from his personal hygiene to the prospect of him working as a general manager in the NBA in the near future. Conan also brought up how Barkley has been critical of Michael Jordan’s looks in the past, and Charles was happy to elaborate.

“People tell me he’s good looking,” Barkley said. “First of all, he’s not good looking. He’s not. Every man who’s got $500 million is good looking. But seriously, if he was a plumber people wouldn’t be saying he’s good looking.”

And then there was the manscaping talk. Apparently Barkley is big into keeping himself groomed, which Conan couldn’t resist poking fun at him for.

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Louisville guard Kevin Ware has begun his road to recovery in the wake of suffering one of the most gruesome injuries you will ever see in sports. The sophomore is a long way away from playing basketball again, but he has undergone successful surgery and already begun moving around on crutches. The amazing amount of support he has received has undoubtedly helped accelerate the process.

Ware told the Courier-Journal that he received phone calls in the hospital from Dwight Howard and Charles Barkley, who lent words of encouragement. He also got a visit from NCAA President Mark Emmert and browsed through hundreds of tweets from pro athletes like Michael Bush, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Rajon Rondo.

“I’ve never had this much support in my life,” Ware said. “Like, I’m just so grateful for it, you know?”

Ware said that just being able to move around — even if it is with his leg in a cast and on crutches — brought his spirits up. After his body went into shock when he saw his bone sticking through his skin, he said the only thing on his mind was making sure his teammates won the game.

“And that made me just go into Kevin mode,” he explained. “I just told Luke (Hancock), ‘I’m good. Just win this game.’ I just kept repeating that. I got louder and louder, and Russ was there and I’m pulling their jerseys, trying to get in their face like, ‘Y’all got to win this game.’ When they took me off the court, I heard so many cheers, and I’m like ‘When I’m out of surgery, there’s gonna be some good news.’”

There was indeed very good news, as Louisville dominated Duke to advance to the Final Four. Ware said he didn’t remember his teammates putting the  Midwest Regional trophy in his hospital bed with him because he was so heavily medicated after surgery. However, the memories came back the next morning when the trophy was still sitting next to him.

Assuming his leg does not become infected, Ware should be released from the hospital on Tuesday and there’s a good chance he’ll be able to join his teammates in Atlanta. Having him on the sidelines could give the Cardinals a shot in the arm that they may not even need.

Doug Gottlieb tried to make a joke during CBS’ broadcast of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night, and he ended up hearing nothing but crickets and Twitter outrage. If he could do it over, I’m sure Gottlieb would take back his comment about bringing the “white man’s perspective” to CBS’ panel of tournament analysts. He later apologized.

“It was not a smart thing to say and I apologize,” Gottlieb said according to the Associated Press.

However, Charles Barkley was not offended. After catching wind of the way Gottlieb was being torn apart on Twitter and other social media sites, Barkley decided to take a few moments to defend his colleague later in the broadcast.

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This is so splendid on so many levels. I would love to meet the person behind this closed caption on CBS just to shake their hand and applaud them for their incredible accuracy in transcribing analyst Charles Barkley’s words.

via Timothy Burke at Deadspin

Charles Barkley turns 50 on Wednesday, and his eventful life was celebrated in a program aired by TNT. The special, “Sir Charles at 50,” was funny and insightful, and it contained many stories Barkley shared about his life.

One of the best and lesser-known stories Barkley shared was about the time he went on a massive eating binge before the 1984 NBA Draft to discourage the Philadelphia 76ers from selecting him.

“The 76ers bring me in a month before the draft,” Barkley recalled to interviewer Ernie Johnson, “and I weigh 300 pounds.

“The Sixers bring me in and say, ‘We want to see how dedicated and motivated you are. We want to see you lose 10 pounds in the next month and get to 290.’”

Johnson asked if Barkley thought that would be easy, and he said, “Oh yeah, I thought it was easy.

“So I go down to Texas with my agent and play. I actually get down to about 285. Philadelphia wants me to stop [by] on my way to New York the day before the draft. I’m about 285 at this point. My agent says to me — and remember, they had a hard salary cap back then, ‘Well, I think the Sixers might draft you, but the only problem is you’re going to have to sign a one-year deal for $75,000.’ I said, ‘Dude, I didn’t leave college for a one-year deal for $75,000.’ He said, ‘The Sixers are over the cap — that’s what they can give you.’ So I said ‘I don’t want the Sixers to draft me.’

“So that night, we went out. I had two big ol’ steaks. Big plate of french fries. Ate like a whole cake. Got up the next morning, went to like IHOP, ate like 10 pancakes, a pound of bacon. Fly to Philadelphia, get on the scale, I’m 302.

“(Former 76ers owner) Harold Katz says, ‘Are you kidding me? Not only did you not lose the 10 pounds, you gained like five pounds!” said Barkley.

The Sixers ended up selecting Barkley anyway, and they cut a few players in order to give him a more suitable contract. He played eight seasons for the team, made six All-Star games while he was with them, and he went on to have a Hall of Fame career, despite his best efforts to eat his way out of Philly.

So by Sir Charles’ math, he gained about 17 pounds in less than 24 hours. I didn’t even know that was possible.

Charles Barkley has been mocked on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” for many of his personal hygienic and grooming habits. The crew teased him recently for getting his eyebrows waxed. Barkley was not embarrassed; he even boasted about getting manicures and pedicures. But things may have gone a little too far on Friday.

During halftime of the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge in Houston, Hall of Famer Karl Malone revealed on TNT that Chuck used to store Vaseline in his naval while he played.

“He had the shiniest lips I ever seen on a human being, male or female,” Malone said.

Barkley defended himself, “Ain’t nothing worse than a black man with big crusty lips.”

Barkley said he used the Vaseline to prevent chapped lips, and that many other people with large lips could relate to him.

“American’s on my side with this one,” Barkley responded.

Gross image of Barkley’s belly button below:

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