A biography for Charles Oakleyhasn’t been written yet.
“I still can't believe I'm even in the NBA. Me? Hah.”
“I just don't like when you preach one thing and do something else.”
“I just tried to go out there and play with attitude, doing what I was supposed to do and knowing my role on the team. Doing what my team expected me to do every night, not just once a week. It was all about work and I was just a tough guy who would knock somebody down.”
“It's been so overwhelming, the people in New York. That's why they call New York, New York - because they care about things and know real situations. My love for the fans, it's mouth-dropping.”
“I don't like 7-footers shooting threes, it's a disrespect to the game for me.”
“One of the things about the NBA is anybody could be traded.”
“Don't say, 'I don't want to do this, because, whatever.' Don't give up on something. You got to work hard.”
“If you're out after 6 o'clock, have a jacket on, because you might go somewhere. People say, 'Oh, I ain't dressed for it.' But if you have a jacket on, you can go anywhere.”
“I ask everybody, who's the best between Magic and LeBron? Everyone says Michael's greatest. But, OK, well, we'll give him his props. But LeBron is a better athlete, and he can do more than Michael on the basketball court.”
“Chicago was a good place for me. Maybe New York will be better.”
“Some things don't just walk away. A dog got a broken leg, he ain't just going to walk away. He going to try to get himself together.”
“Your offense might not be great every game, but defense is just about working hard and outworking your opponents.”
“Why complain to the NBA and to the officials all the time, just like Tyrone Hill, always complaining about me on the court?”
“Every superstar in this league, if you don't go through adversity, if you try to duck and dodge it, it's gonna damper your team.”
“My thing was I had attitude every night. No matter who I played, who I went against, what team, you've got to have an attitude.”
“I'm all about having a good time and respecting my teammates.”
“A lot of guys do the pretty things. Dunking, tattoos, earrings, sagging jeans. That's the league now. They have athletic ability, but they don't know the game.”
“One guy can't make a team better.”
“Even though I retired, I work out four to five days a week, run two to three miles, I play ball.”
“If you a real true guy you don't talk about a guy after he is deceased.”