We know how Charles Barkley feels about the women of San Antonio, but how do the women of San Antonio feel about Charles Barkley?
After decades of Barkley trolling the “big ol’ women” down in San Antonio, they finally had their chance to get back at him this week. Barkley was in San Antonio for the NCAA men’s Final Four and championship game. And while visiting the city, TNT Sports set up a mock episode of Pop The Balloon, hosted by Kenny Smith, where the women of San Antonio could air their grievances with Barkley.
For those new to Pop the Balloon, it’s the latest dating game sensation, recently expanding to Netflix. Singles engage in rounds of speed dating, and if they’re not feeling it, they can end the date abruptly and quickly by popping a balloon. In Barkley’s round of the game, the San Antonio women popped their balloons as soon as he entered the room.
Each woman then gave their reasoning for snubbing Barkley. They went after his physique, his affinity for churros and his golf swing, but the best slight was about Barkley’s inability to win a championship.
“Let’s be real, you don’t even have any rings,” one San Antonian told Barkley. “So I can’t trust that you’re gonna give me one if you don’t even have any.”
Barkley’s history with the women of San Antonio dates back nearly two decades. Although the one-sided feud almost ended a few years ago, when Barkley blamed “cancel culture” for coming after his jokes about the women of San Antonio, claiming TNT executives wanted to end the bit. Alas, jokes about the “big ol’ women” of San Antonio survived cancel culture and lived to tell the tale over the weekend when Barkley said, ‘Y’all got some big b*tches here.”
San Antonio women may have preferred to see Barkley retire the bit after two decades. The dating game bit, however, made it clear that at least some of the women are in on the joke.