Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley was tossed out of Madison Square Garden last week after getting into a verbal altercation with Knicks owner James Dolan and MSG head security. After being tossed out, Oakley was interviewed by ESPN New York reporter Michael Wallace, and he was asked what he thought of his former teammate Michael Jordan. Oakley responded that he was “hurt” by the fact that Jordan made him a scapegoat for the Knicks’ woes. “He knew the rules and I didn’t,” Oakley said.
The Knicks and Bulls have not exactly been close these days, especially since Charles Oakley was sent down to the D-League following a verbal altercation at Madison Square Garden with Knicks players. Now, we have a new chapter in the saga… “The Knicks have traded Charles Oakley to the Pacers, but are reportedly not getting Amar’e Stoudemire in return , despite the fact that the two have been linked in trade rumors all season. NY traded for the veteran forward in the offseason, but he’s been out since November.
Michael Jordan was a popular figure in New York, but when former New York Knicks great Charles Oakley was traded to the Bulls earlier this year, he wasn’t exactly happy about it. Oakley, who had been a friend of Jordan’s since the 1980s, was so upset about the trade that he said he “couldn’t stand” the man who sent him packing. Oakley also made it clear he didn’t mourn the departure of his friend, and it wasn’t long before he was voicing his displeasure to the media.
When Michael Jordan’s close buddy Charles Oakley was moved from the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks in 1988, he made no secret of his disappointment. The Bulls and Knicks, of course, were fierce rivals in the years that followed, engaging in some of the most violent fights in NBA history, especially in the NBA playoffs, when the two teams played six times in an eight-year period after Oakley’s move to New York.
Jordan and Oakley, despite their relationship, went above and above to help their respective teams win. Jordan had to take a lot of punches in the face from the Knicks’ defense. Many of them were caused by Oakley, who devised his own set of “Jordan Rules” that had severe repercussions when his close buddy disobeyed them.
With the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley had three seasons together.
Following the 1985 NBA Draft, the Bulls acquired Oakley’s draft rights from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the two became teammates in Chicago. Oakley was the team’s second-highest scorer in his second season, as well as the team’s top rebounder and one of its finest defenders, and the two soon became friends. Jordan had a target on his back every time the Bulls hit the court, so he took up the job of bodyguard for him.
However, one year after acquiring Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, the Bulls traded Oakley to the Knicks for center Bill Cartwright, a move Jordan despised at the time. But it was a decision he couldn’t avoid, and he and Oakley fought tooth and nail for the next several years as the Bulls and Knicks grew into two of the greatest teams in the Eastern Conference.
During the physical battles between the Bulls and the Knicks, Oakley had no issue putting Jordan on the ground.
Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley (L-R) | Mitchell Layton/Getty Images; Mitchell Layton/Getty Images; Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
The Bulls and Knicks played six times in the NBA playoffs between 1989 and 1996, with the Bulls winning five of the six series and the Knicks winning just one, in 1994, when Jordan was pursuing a baseball career. Despite losing the overwhelming majority of their games, Oakley and the Knicks never made it easy for Jordan and the Bulls, and in the early 1990s, they effectively stole the distinction of NBA’s most physical team from the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons.
As Oakley previously told DJ Vlad, much as the Pistons had their own set of “Jordan Regulations,” he had his own set of rules for the Bulls, especially for his close buddy.
“I mean, you come to the paint, that’s my job. His work is outdoors, while mine is painting. Some individuals purchase a lot of real estate, while others own very little. Outside, he can have all of my real estate; inside, he can have all of mine. Michael Jordan was well-versed in the regulations. It wasn’t like anybody attempted to harm him, but we need to inform you when you come inside. You’ve entered my domain, and I’m sorry to inform you that things are still the same; you must pay the toll.”
Michael Jordan, according to Charles Oakley
If you watch the old Bulls-Knicks series, it doesn’t seem like Jordan and Oakley were best buddies. But that only goes to show how much each of them was prepared to risk to win.
Later, they became teammates with the Wizards.
Jordan and Oakley last met in the playoffs in 1996, when the Bulls defeated the Knicks in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals on route to their fourth of six NBA championships. Jordan returned to retirement following Chicago’s last championship run in 1998, while Oakley was moved from New York to Toronto after a decade with the team.
Oakley played three seasons with the Raptors before returning to Chicago in 2001-02 to play one more season with the Bulls, the same year Jordan made his NBA comeback with the Washington Wizards. In 2002-03, the two became teammates once again in Washington, after which Jordan retired for the last time and Oakley played seven games for the Houston Rockets before retiring.
Michael Jordan Was Nearly Signed by the New York Knicks in 1996
In a recent interview with the New York Post, Charles Oakley had some choice words for the New York Knicks after the team traded him to the Atlanta Hawks, and he doesn’t seem to hold back when it comes to Michael Jordan.. Read more about best bulls team and let us know what you think.
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