Charles Oakley expresses his dislike for Charles Barkley
Basketball of today is a far cry from the way the game was played in the 90’s, and the 80’s.
In the 80’s, guys went for broke when it came time to win, and if someone got hurt, emotionally or physically — oh, well.
Its been no secret that Charles Oakley and Charles Barkley were not the best of friends. I find this interesting because they’ve shared a mutual friend over the years, in one Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
Oakley spent quite a bit of time Wednesday at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, CT (he even joined Stephen A., Skip Bayless, and Jemele Hill on First Take.)
During on the interviews he conducted, he did not deny slapping Sir Charles during a 1999 NBA Player’s Association meeting, when asked.
Then he offered up these golden nuggets…
On definitely slapping Barkley in a preseason game in 1996:
“If something goes down, we’re not going to talk about it a week later. Some guys say, ‘I’ll meet you after the game.’ No. It’s in the game. Just like different restaurants have different menus, it’s a different era. I don’t know what type of players there are now. In my time, that was just the way we played the game.”
On how he feels about Barkley today:
“I don’t go around talking to him. He has opinions. He talks every Tuesday and Thursday about things I did. I just don’t like the way he tried to act like he was a good citizen when he played or that he was this and that. He was one of the hardest people to get along with, to play with, everything — but people don’t write about it. People give him a free pass because he’s on TV, but I don’t believe in that. When he spit on the guy in Cleveland, he got a break. I just don’t like when you preach one thing and do something else. That’s what the world is coming to. It’s just phony. Nobody stands up for what they say anymore.”
Clearly, Oak has no qualms about sharing his true feelings.
Back in February, Barkley expressed that he Oakley should let it go.
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