Carli Lloyd Aspires to be like NBA Icons Shaq & Barkley

The FOX Sports analyst revealed shat she believes the women’s game does not allow enough ‘honest’ opinions when it comes to commentary and critique of the game, and that the ‘flack’ she receives is due to people not understanding that.

Her controversial role saw her critique and slam the USWNT at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they exited the tournament in the quarterfinals for the first time in history.

She said: “What’s great about it is you get our own opinions. Right. And that comes with a lot of flack sometimes, but I’ve always been somebody that’s truly valued, being authentic.

For women’s sports and women’s soccer in general, we need to get to a place where we can critique, where we can offer more opinions, because I listened to these other commentators… Shaq, Barkley, I mean, they’re hilarious. Yes, you know, and they’ve experienced it, they get it, they see things… they offer their opinion.

I get so much flack because I’m speaking truth and honesty and stuff that I’ve experienced and I’ve seen… which should be embraced.”

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Says women’s soccer doesn’t accept ‘honesty

The 41-year-old added that her goal in an analyst role is to be like NBA on TNT analysts Shaq and Charles Barkley – both of whom are ex-players who voice their opinions and have a sense of comradery on set. Lloyd, who has a controversial take on social media, has struggled to draw in fans and followers due to her ‘honest’ and ‘opinionated’ takes on X, formerly Twitter.

The ex-USWNT star will continue to work with FOX Sports, among others, heading into the 2024 calendar year that is set to feature the Paris Olympics, the Copa America and a soon-to-be-revealed NWSL tournament that will play on in the summer.