Charles Oakley




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CHARLES OAKLEY

Position: Forward
Born: 12/18/63, Cleveland, Ohio
College: Virginia Union
Height: 6' 9"
Weight: 245 lbs.
Stats

Background: A classic blue-collar player, Charles Oakley has been one of the premier rebounders in the NBA for a decade. Named to his first All-Star Game in his ninth season, the hardworking 6-foot-9 forward was the heart and soul of a New York Knicks team that reached the 1994 NBA Finals.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Oakley attended Virginia Union, where he averaged 20.3 points and 14.0 rebounds in four seasons. As a senior in 1984-85 he led all Division II players by pulling down 17.3 rebounds per game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Oakley with the ninth overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft but sent his rights to the Chicago Bulls along with the rights to Calvin Duncan for Ennis Whatley and Keith Lee. It didn't take Oakley long to make the transition from Division II to the NBA. As a rookie in 1985-86 he pulled down 9.6 boards per game and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. That campaign was followed by a pair of stellar seasons. In 1986-87 he finished second in the league in rebounding (13.1 rpg) while averaging 14.5 points and a career-best 3.6 assists. He also recorded the only two triple-doubles of his career. One season later he was edged out for the NBA rebounding title by Michael Cage, who pulled down 13.03 rebounds per game compared to Oakley's 13.00. Cage grabbed 30 rebounds on the last day of the season to take the title.

In June 1988 the Bulls traded Oakley to New York for Bill Cartwright. In 1989-90, his second year with the Knicks, Oakley was headed toward one of his best seasons ever when he suffered a broken bone in his left hand that forced him to miss the last month of the regular season. At the time of the injury he was second in the league in rebounding (11.9 rpg) and had career highs in both scoring (14.6 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.524). In 1990-91 he finished third in the NBA with 12.1 rebounds per game, the highest mark by a Knicks player in 13 years.

Oakley and Patrick Ewing formed an awesome frontcourt combination, and the Knicks began to take shape as a serious contender. Oakley's numbers dipped a bit in 1991-92 and 1992-93, but New York won its division each year. In 1993-94 Oakley had a banner season, as did the Knicks. He finished sixth in the league in rebounding (11.8 rpg), earned a spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and played in his first NBA All-Star Game. He then contributed 13.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs to help the Knicks to the NBA Finals.

Although an injury sidelined him for 32 games in 1994-95, Oakley averaged 10.1 points and 8.9 rebounds.

Transactions: Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round (ninth pick overall) of the 1985 NBA Draft. Draft rights traded by the Cavaliers with draft rights to Calvin Duncan to the Chicago Bulls for Ennis Whatley and draft rights to Keith Lee on 6/18/85. Traded by the Bulls with 1988 first- and third-round draft choices to the New York Knicks for Bill Cartwright and 1988 first- and third-round draft choices on 6/27/88.

1994-95: Oakley began the season for the New York Knicks with a streak of 250 consecutive games under his belt, having not missed a contest since an April 12, 1991, game against the Indiana Pacers. But in December he suffered a dislocated toe and sat out four games. Oakley returned on December 22 to lead the team with 19 points and 13 rebounds. On December 25 he scored a season-best 20 points in a game against the Chicago Bulls, but the toe eventually got the best of him and two days later he underwent surgery. At the time, he was averaging 12.5 points and 11.1 rebounds.

Oakley missed 32 games altogether. He rejoined the club in late February, but in 30 games after his return he was not able to match his preinjury output, averaging 8.5 points and 7.4 boards. His overall rebounding average (8.9 rpg) ranked second on the club to that of Patrick Ewing.

The Knicks finished the season at 55-27 and in second place in the Atlantic Division. They eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a four-game first-round series, bolstered by 19 points and 11 rebounds from Oakley in Game 1. In the conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers, Oakley averaged 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, but New York lost the series in seven games.

1993-94: Oakley may not have been the best known or the flashiest of players, but he was clearly the heart and soul of the New York Knicks in 1993-94. And as the epitome of New York's hard-nosed brand of basketball, Oakley finally received some long-overdue recognition. At midseason he was named to play in the NBA All-Star Game, the first such honor of his career.

The nine-year veteran turned in another solid blue-collar campaign. He broke his own club record for offensive rebounds in a season (349) and finished the year ranked seventh in the NBA with 11.8 boards per game. Oakley also averaged 11.8 points, third on the team behind Patrick Ewing and John Starks.

Oakley was the only Knicks player to start and appear in all 82 contests, and his intimidating style of defense helped New York lead the league in points allowed per game with 91.5, the lowest such figure of any NBA team since the 1954-55 season. Oakley carried New York all the way to the 1994 NBA Finals, which the Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games.

1992-93: Oakley started all 82 games for the fifth time in his career and turned in averages of 6.9 points and 8.6 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game. He spearheaded the league's best defense and was considered by many to be the best defensive power forward in the NBA.

The eight-year veteran, who was named team cocaptain along with Patrick Ewing prior to the season, shot better than 50 percent from the field (.508) for the fifth straight year. He had his best month in April, shooting .515 from the floor and averaging 9.1 points and 11.4 rebounds. He rebounded in double figures 16 times in the season's final 26 games, including a season-best 19 boards on April 17 against the Detroit Pistons.

The Chicago Bulls once again proved to be the Knicks' nemesis, eliminating New York from the playoffs for the fourth straight season with a six-game series victory in the Eastern Conference Finals. Oakley nevertheless had a strong postseason, contributing 11.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in 15 appearances.

1991-92: Oakley's production tailed off a bit in his seventh NBA season, but he proved a vital cog in Coach Pat Riley's defensive machine. The veteran power forward dipped to 6.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, but his .522 field-goal percentage was the second-best mark of his career.

Oakley was one of four Knicks to start all 82 games in 1991-92, joining Patrick Ewing, Xavier McDaniel, and Gerald Wilkins. He led the team in rebounding 22 times, including six straight games in November during which he averaged 14.0 boards. Oakley had one of his best games on January 29 against the Washington Bullets with 13 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. He turned in another strong performance on February 17 against the Heat in Miami, totaling 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 steals.

The Knicks nearly eliminated the defending NBA-champion Chicago Bulls from the playoffs, pushing the Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Oakley contributed 5.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in 12 postseason contests.

1990-91: Oakley placed third in the NBA with 12.1 rebounds per game in 1990-91, the highest average for a Knicks player since Bob McAdoo's 12.3 in 1977-78. The six-year veteran led New York in rebounding 49 times during the year and rebounded in double figures in 54 of his 76 appearances.

Oakley's best month of the season was December, when he shot .533 from the field and averaged 12.7 points and 13.0 rebounds. He then poured in a season-high 24 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 19, and he grabbed his 5,000th career rebound on February 17 against the Detroit Pistons. The "Chairman of the Boards" capped the regular season in style with 24 rebounds in the April 20 finale against the Charlotte Hornets.

The Knicks advanced to the playoffs for the fourth straight year but lost to the Chicago Bulls in a first-round series sweep. Oakley averaged 7.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in three postseason games.

1989-90: Oakley posted career highs in scoring (14.6 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.524) in his fifth NBA campaign, despite sitting out the season's final 17 games with a broken left hand. He sustained the injury in a March 20 contest against the Orlando Magic, just as he was heading into the homestretch of his finest all-around campaign.

In 61 overall appearances, Oakley averaged 11.9 rebounds, a figure that would have ranked him third in the league had he played the minimum of 70 games. He also saw his streak of consecutive games played snapped at 323 when he served a one-game suspension on December 19 for fighting with the Seattle SuperSonics' Xavier McDaniel three days earlier.

Oakley returned to active duty for the playoffs and contributed 12.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in 10 postseason appearances. The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which they lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games.

1988-89: In a blockbuster trade on the eve of the 1988 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls sent Oakley and draft choices to the New York Knicks for Bill Cartwright and draft choices. Chicago wanted to make room for second-year forward Horace Grant on its front line, and the Knicks needed a reliable power forward to play alongside Patrick Ewing.

In his first season with New York, Oakley shared rebounding duties with Ewing and finished sixth in the NBA with a team-high 10.5 boards per game. He also averaged 12.9 points and shot .510 from the floor, second on the Knicks behind Ewing's .567.

Oakley grabbed 343 offensive rebounds for the year, setting a club record he would break in 1993-94. He also established a team single-game mark for offensive boards with 14 against the Boston Celtics on January 3. He notched his season scoring high with 27 points against the Atlanta Hawks on December 27.

In Rick Pitino's second and final season as head coach, New York won the Atlantic Division title with a 52-30 record. The Knicks then advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, only to lose to Chicago in six games. Oakley contributed 9.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game in nine postseason appearances.

1987-88: Oakley wound up on the losing end of a fierce battle with the Los Angeles Clippers' Michael Cage for the NBA's rebounding title. While Oakley grabbed a career-high 35 boards in the Bulls' second-to-last game of the season and then 21 in the season finale, Cage snagged 30 rebounds in the Clippers' last game to edge Oakley, 13.03 to 13.00.

Because Cage played in only 72 games and Oakley played in all 82 contests, Oakley finished as the league leader in total rebounds (1,066) for the second straight year. He also averaged 12.4 points-second on the Bulls to Michael Jordan's 35.0-and shot .483 from the field.

Oakley stormed out of the gate in November, averaging 15.9 points and 15.7 rebounds over the season's first 13 games. He scored a season-high 26 points on November 14 against the Indiana Pacers, then posted a career-high 35 rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 22.

Jordan won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award while leading the Bulls to a 50-32 record, tying the Atlanta Hawks for second in the Central Division. Chicago then advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but the Bulls fell to the Detroit Pistons in five games. Oakley averaged 10.1 points and 12.8 rebounds in the postseason.

1986-87: A full-time starter for the Bulls at power forward, Oakley ascended to the top of the league's rebounding charts in only his second season. He led the NBA in total rebounds with 1,074, posting the second-highest total in Bulls history behind Tom Boerwinkle's 1,133 in 1970-71. Oakley's 13.1 rebounding average ranked second in the league to Charles Barkley's 14.6.

Oakley was the leading member of Michael Jordan's supporting cast in Jordan's third NBA season. He finished second to Jordan on the Bulls in scoring (14.5 ppg), minutes played (36.3 per game), and steals (85), and his 296 assists (3.6 per game) marked a career high.

Oakley recorded his first-ever triple-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 10. He scored a season-high 28 points against the San Antonio Spurs on November 14 and grabbed 21 rebounds on three different occasions.

The Bulls took a 40-42 record into the 1987 NBA Playoffs but were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round. Oakley made huge contributions in the series, averaging 20.0 points and 15.3 rebounds in three postseason games.

1985-86: Charles Oakley was the NCAA Division II Player of the Year in 1985 after a standout senior season at Virginia Union University. He averaged 24.0 points and led all Division II players with 17.3 rebounds per game, closing out his career as Virginia Union's all-time leading rebounder with 1,293 boards.

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Oakley with the ninth overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft, then promptly traded his rights along with the draft rights to Calvin Duncan to the Chicago Bulls for Ennis Whatley and the draft rights to Keith Lee.

Oakley began one of the league's true blue-collar careers by earning a berth on the NBA All-Rookie Team. He started slowly, seeing action off the bench in 40 of the first 45 games and averaging 4.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game. But Oakley started 30 of the season's final 37 games at power forward and exploded to average 15.4 points and 12.8 rebounds in 33.9 minutes per game. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Month for March after starting all 14 games and averaging 15.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.

For the season, Oakley led the Bulls in both rebounding (8.6 rpg) and field-goal percentage (.519). The bruising rookie had a phenomenal game against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 15, with 35 points, 26 rebounds, and 7 assists.

CHARLES OAKLEY

Sea. Team G Min. FG 3Pt. FT Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. Tot. PG
85-86Chicago771772.519.000.66266413368307409.6
86-87Chicago822980.445.367.68610742968536119214.5
87-88Chicago822816.483.250.72710662486828101412.4
88-89New York822604.510.250.77386118710414106112.9
89-90New York612196.524.000.761727146641688914.6
90-91New York762739.516.000.784920204621785311.2
91-92New York822309.522.000.73570013367155066.2
92-93New York822230.508.000.72270812685155656.9
93-94New York822932.478.000.7769652181101896911.8
94-95New York501567.489.250.79344512660750610.1
95-96New York531775.471.269.833460137581460411.4
Career Totals:80925920.493.252.74685901954831210889911.0
1996 Playoffs:8308.500.333.69469148010513.1
Playoff Totals:1093907.466.400.744117322112729123011.3
All-Star Totals:111.333------330022.0

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