In a story of how the mighty have fallen comes a report that former NY Knicks, Bulls, Raptors,and Rockets player, Charles Oakley was reportedly beaten down by a small Las Vegas casino’s security team sometime this past week. Some pics have been floating all over the internet via Twitter of the incident since a hostess from another casino was a first hand witness to the unfortunate event. No details are currently available as to why the assault took place. The takedown of one of the NBA’s most feared players apparently was pretty severe since “Oak” was taken to a local Vegas hospital and sustained a broken right arm and sprained neck, along with a few other minor bumps and bruises.
Even at age 46, standing 6’9, and still in great shape, Oakley probably was a tough takedown for any of the casino’s rent-a-cops. As recently as 2007, Oakley hinted at a return to the NBA with either the Mavericks, Heat, or Cavaliers but decided to remain retired after no one wanted to offer more than the league minimum contract. Since his retirement he has made news for continually stating how “soft” today’s players are compared to players during his heyday in the late 80’s and early 90’s when he was one of the league’s elite level defenders, rebounders, and was revered for his physical style of play. More recently Oakley, as a close friend of Lebron James, chimed in on his free agency frenzy, and stated that the reigning league MVP won’t go to the NY Knicks.
Oakley remains one of the more underrated players of his generation since he was a throwback of years past when players played the game as it was supposed to be played. After becoming one of the NBA’s greatest success stories coming out of the tiny Virginia Union University, Oakley developed a reputation of being one of the hardest working players in the league. While most top draft picks of his generation like Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins were high flyers, Oakley played below the rim using his high basketball IQ and an often over the top physical demeanor. Although he never won a rebounding title, he finished in the Top 10 in rebounding every season between ’87-’94 and finished his career with more than 12,000 rebounds. The legendary Michael Jordan, although he took a beating from “Oak” during the Bulls/Knicks playoff battles during the 90’s has stated on numerous occasions that Oakley is the smartest player with the basketball he has ever played with or against. The two have a close personal friendship even to this day.
Hopefully Oakley is on the mend and will be given a job within his friend MJ’s new team, the Charlotte Bobcats, since judging by this incident, Oakley obviously has too much free time on his hands. I’d love to see what kind of shape the casino security guards are in after the fracas, since by reputation Oakley has been known to never go down without a fight.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
