Charles Oakley

Charles Oakley

No. 34, 33
Power forward / Center
Personal information
Born	(1963-12-18) December 18, 1963 Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school	John Hay (Cleveland, Ohio)
College	Virginia Union (1981–1985)
NBA Draft	1985 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Pro career	1985–2004
Career history
1985–1988	Chicago Bulls
1988–1998	New York Knicks
1998–2001	Toronto Raptors
2001–2002	Chicago Bulls
2002–2003	Washington Wizards
2004	Houston Rockets
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Defensive First Team (1994) NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1998) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1986) NBA All-Star (1994)
Career statistics
Points	12,417 (9.7 ppg)
Rebound	12,205 (9.5 rpg)
Assists	3,217 (2.5 apg)

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

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.

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.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1985–86	Chicago	77	30	23.0	.519	.000	.662	8.6	1.7	.9	.4	9.6
1986–87	Chicago	82	81	36.3	.445	.367	.686	13.1	3.6	1.0	.4	14.5
1987–88	Chicago	82	82	34.3	.483	.250	.727	13.0	3.0	.8	.3	12.4
1988–89	New York	82	82	31.8	.510	.250	.773	10.5	2.3	1.3	.2	12.9
1989–90	New York	61	61	36.0	.524	.000	.761	11.9	2.4	1.0	.3	14.6
1990–91	New York	76	74	36.0	.516	.000	.784	12.1	2.7	.8	.2	11.2
1991–92	New York	82	82	28.2	.522	.000	.735	8.5	1.6	.8	.2	6.2
1992–93	New York	82	82	27.2	.508	.000	.722	8.6	1.5	1.0	.2	6.9
1993–94	New York	82	82	35.8	.478	.000	.776	11.8	2.7	1.3	.2	11.8
1994–95	New York	50	49	31.3	.489	.250	.793	8.9	2.5	1.2	.1	10.1
1995–96	New York	53	51	33.5	.471	.269	.833	8.7	2.6	1.1	.3	11.4
1996–97	New York	80	80	35.9	.488	.263	.808	9.8	2.8	1.4	.3	10.8
1997–98	New York	79	79	34.6	.440	.000	.851	9.2	2.5	1.6	.3	9.0
1998–99	Toronto	50	50	32.9	.428	.200	.807	7.5	3.4	.9	.4	7.0
1999–2000	Toronto	80	80	30.4	.418	.341	.776	6.8	3.2	1.3	.6	6.9
2000–01	Toronto	78	77	35.5	.388	.224	.836	9.5	3.4	1.0	.6	9.6
2001–02	Chicago	57	26	34.3	.369	.167	.750	6.0	2.0	.9	.2	3.8
2002–03	Washington	42	1	12.2	.418	–	.824	2.5	1.0	.3	.1	1.8
2003–04	Houston	7	0	3.6	.333	–	.833	.7	.3	.0	.0	1.3
All-Star		1	0	11.0	.333	–	–	3.0	3.0	.0	.0	2.0
Career		1,282	1,159	31.4	.471	.253	.761	9.5	2.5	1.1	.3	9.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1986	Chicago	3	–	29.3	.524	–	.615	10.0	1.0	2.0	.7	10.0
1987	Chicago	3	–	43.0	.380	.500	.833	15.3	2.0	1.3	.3	20.0
1988	Chicago	10	–	37.3	.440	.000	.875	12.8	3.2	.6	.4	10.1
1989	New York	9	–	33.2	.479	.500	.667	11.2	1.2	1.3	.1	9.7
1990	New York	10	–	33.6	.512	1.000	.654	11.0	2.7	1.1	.2	12.1
1991	New York	3	3	33.3	.476	–	.500	10.3	1.0	.7	.3	7.7
1992	New York	12	12	29.5	.379	–	.741	9.0	.7	.7	.4	5.3
1993	New York	15	15	33.8	.481	–	.727	11.0	1.1	1.1	.1	11.1
1994	New York	25	25	39.7	.477	–	.775	11.7	2.4	1.4	.2	13.2
1995	New York	11	11	38.3	.450	.400	.824	8.5	3.7	1.7	.5	13.1
1996	New York	8	8	38.5	.500	.333	.694	8.6	1.8	1.0	.0	13.1
1997	New York	10	10	35.8	.442	.000	.759	8.8	1.6	2.2	.3	9.8
1998	New York	10	10	34.2	.408	–	.920	8.5	1.4	1.1	.2	8.1
2000	Toronto	3	3	36.7	.483	.286	.000	7.7	3.7	2.0	.3	10.0
2001	Toronto	12	12	32.6	.435	.375	.824	6.3	1.8	1.0	.6	9.3
Career		144	–	35.5	.459	.366	.755	10.0	2.0	1.2	.3	10.8

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
• List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game
• List of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players

External links

• Career at basketball-reference.com