Former professional basketball player Charles Oakley played for popular teams such as the Chicago Bulls, the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, and Washington Wizards. The 6ft 9-inch former NBA star had a very successful basketball career beginning in 1985 and ending in 2004. Moreover, he has had a fruitful coaching career from 2010 to 2011. The veteran player has had many major career highlights and awards such as winning the NBA All-Star in 1994, Getting the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1986, and the NCAA Division II rebounding leader in 1985.
In a recent interview with Betway Insider, Oakley revealed the best basketball player he has had the pleasure of working with was Michael Jordan. They formed a great friendship while playing together and when Oakley called, Jordan would answer. Surprisingly, Oakley said he and Jordan would talk mess to each other. However, they never crossed the boundary and have a lot of respect for each other. The veteran also said Jordan and him never fight and are just close friends.
While playing for the league, Oakley reveals his toughest opponent was Shaq. According to Oakley, Shaq was not only humongous but also liked to dunk on someone. In terms of skills, Oakley admits Kevin McHale and Tim Duncan were formidable opponents. The NBA veteran has had a very successful basketball career. He admits the best moment of his career was getting drafted into the NBA and making it to the finals in 1993-1994. Surprisingly, his worst career moment also happened during the 1993-94 year when he lost game 7 in Houston.
The basketball pro has played for and worked with many coaches. However, he revealed the best coach he has ever played with was Butch Carter. According to Oakley, Carter understood the game and took the cake as the best timeout coach in game situations. Moreover, this coach puts you in a position to be great. He was especially great in the dead ball timeouts and players would come into the game with 2 plays, which increases your chances of scoring. He was among very few coaches who did that.
The basketball legend revealed his all-time NBA starting five were Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kevin Durant. Oakley has had the chance to play with Patrick Ewing in New York and Michael Jordan in Chicago. He began working with the Chicago Bulls as a rookie and gained respect from doing more than was mandatory, just to be ready when the opportunity arises. Eventually, he was traded from Chicago Bulls to New York Knicks. He revealed he did not have a girlfriend at the time. The news did not sadden him because he understood it was just business. He travelled to New York with a lunch pail carrying a sandwich with one goal, to make a name for himself and play at the highest level at all times. He ended up playing there for 10 years without any problems. Moreover, he garnered fans who loved his work ethic.
Oakley was featured in The Last Dance documentary and according to him, the documentary showed a different side of Michael Jordan and all the other basketball players. Moreover, the veteran reveals he did not have any bad feelings about what Jordan said about him in the documentary.
Regarding his legacy, Oakley admitted his name gets mentioned in a lot of conversations about toughness. Although they don’t talk about players who played 20 years ago unless they won championship rings, they still talk about Charles Oakley and the veteran considers it a great thing.
Source: NBA lines site Betway