Charles Oakley

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Charles Oakley bigraphy, stories - American basketball player-coach

Charles Oakley : biography

December 18, 1963 –

Charles Oakley (born December 18, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. Oakley, a former power forward, was a member of the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets

Post-playing career

Oakley was hired as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats under Paul Silas on December 26, 2010. He left that position on December 1, 2011 after experiencing health issues with back pain during the 2010-11 season.

Personal life

In 2011, Oakley filed a lawsuit against the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, alleging a group assault by five security guards employed by the casino on May 28, 2010.

Playing career

Oakley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and attended Virginia Union University.

He placed in the top ten in rebounds per game five times between 1987 and 1994 (second in 1987 and 1988). In all but one of these seasons he played the full complement of 82 games. Due to his durability he actually placed in the top ten in total rebounds 6 times and led the league in total rebounds twice (1987 and 1988). In 1994, he became an NBA All-Star and was chosen to the league’s All-Defense 1st team.

Drafted in 1985 by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Oakley’s draft rights were traded to the Chicago Bulls. Oakley provided another scoring option and steady offensive and defensive performances to an up-and-coming Bulls squad led by Michael Jordan. He earned All-Rookie Team honors in 1986.

With the drafting and development of Horace Grant, the Bulls traded Oakley to the New York Knicks for 7’1" center Bill Cartwright. Oakley eventually became a part of the core which the Knicks built around, which also featured Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and point guard Mark Jackson. During the Knicks’ 1994 season, which included a record 25 playoff games, Oakley started every regular season and playoff game for a record 107 starts in a single season. During his tenure with the Knicks, Oakley was primarily known as a defensive specialist.

In 1998, Oakley was traded by New York to the Toronto Raptors for blossoming star Marcus Camby. For the Raptors, he provided a veteran presence to a young team that included Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. Oakley, in his final three seasons, played for the Bulls again, followed by the Washington Wizards and the Houston Rockets. For the Rockets, he was briefly reunited with former Knicks personnel Mark Jackson, who was the veteran point guard behind Steve Francis; Patrick Ewing, who was an assistant coach with the Rockets; and head coach Jeff Van Gundy, former head coach in Oakley’s days in New York City.

As recently as 2007, it was publicized that Oakley, at age 44, wanted to make an NBA comeback. He claimed Dallas, Miami, Cleveland and New York were interested but said he would "not [come] back cheap". Oakley currently ranks 14th all-time in NBA games played with 1,282 games.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 77 || 30 || 23.0 || .519 || .000 || .662 || 8.6 || 1.7 || .9 || .4 || 9.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 82 || 81 || 36.3 || .445 || .367 || .686 || 13.1 || 3.6 || 1.0 || .4 || 14.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 82 || 82 || 34.3 || .483 || .250 || .727 || 13.0 || 3.0 || .8 || .3 || 12.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 82 || 82 || 31.8 || .510 || .250 || .773 || 10.5 || 2.3 || 1.3 || .2 || 12.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 61 || 61 || 36.0 || .524 || .000 || .761 || 11.9 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .3 || 14.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 76 || 74 || 36.0 || .516 || .000 || .784 || 12.1 || 2.7 || .8 || .2 || 11.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 82 || 82 || 28.2 || .522 || .000 || .735 || 8.5 || 1.6 || .8 || .2 || 6.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 82 || 82 || 27.2 || .508 || .000 || .722 || 8.6 || 1.5 || 1.0 || .2 || 6.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 82 || 82 || 35.8 || .478 || .000 || .776 || 11.8 || 2.7 || 1.3 || .2 || 11.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 50 || 49 || 31.3 || .489 || .250 || .793 || 8.9 || 2.5 || 1.2 || .1 || 10.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 53 || 51 || 33.5 || .471 || .269 || .833 || 8.7 || 2.6 || 1.1 || .3 || 11.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 80 || 80 || 35.9 || .488 || .263 || .808 || 9.8 || 2.8 || 1.4 || .3 || 10.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New York | 79 || 79 || 34.6 || .440 || .000 || .851 || 9.2 || 2.5 || 1.6 || .3 || 9.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 50 || 50 || 32.9 || .428 || .200 || .807 || 7.5 || 3.4 || .9 || .4 || 7.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 80 || 80 || 30.4 || .418 || .341 || .776 || 6.8 || 3.2 || 1.3 || .6 || 6.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 78 || 77 || 35.5 || .388 || .224 || .836 || 9.5 || 3.4 || 1.0 || .6 || 9.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 57 || 26 || 34.3 || .369 || .167 || .750 || 6.0 || 2.0 || .9 || .2 || 3.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 42 || 1 || 12.2 || .418 || – || .824 || 2.5 || 1.0 || .3 || .1 || 1.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Houston | 7 || 0 || 3.6 || .333 || – || .833 || .7 || .3 || .0 || .0 || 1.3 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;" colspan=2| All-Star | 1 || 0 || 11.0 || .333 || – || – || 3.0 || 3.0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;" colspan=2| Career | 1,282 || 1,159 || 31.4 || .471 || .253 || .761 || 9.5 || 2.5 || 1.1 || .3 || 9.7