Former All-Star Charles Oakley is one of the most candid, consistent and forthright people in the NBA community. A longtime friend and former teammate of Michael Jordan, Oakley became a legend in New York City with the Knicks. Often a seemingly immovable object, Oakley defended, grabbed rebounds and did the dirty work in the Big Apple as the team made deep playoff runs with the likes of Patrick Ewing and John Starks.
As such, Oakley, who recently released a new memoir, enjoyed (er, endured) many battles in the postseason. In 1997 and 1998 that meant going up against the Miami Heat and their formidable roster of players like Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Dan Majerle, PJ Brown and more. Those matchups each went the full amount of games and resulted in major brawls, from Brown flipping Knicks guard Charlie Ward to New York’s coach Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Mourning’s leg mid-boxing match.
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We caught up with Oakley to ask him about those playoff wars. We also asked him about his time in New York City, if he’s watching the playoffs now, what he thinks about the upcoming next chapter of the Knicks-Heat matchup, how much of Jimmy Butler he’s seen this year and much more. And for more on these battles, check out Blood in the Garden by author Chris Herring or The Knicks of the Nineties by Paul Knepper.