Only a few players in NBA history who struck fear into their opponents. On the basketball court, Shaquille O’Neal would make his opponent’s night a living nightmare. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he was the toughest player in the league. Charles Oakley had him beat in that regard. The New York Knicks legend even went as far as straightening out O’Neal himself, with the help of some friends.
Advertisement
Oakley can put up with people being better than him at basketball. However, one thing he won’t put up with is disrespect. It didn’t matter who the person was; anyone who had disrespected Oaklay received the appropriate treatment.
Even though O’Neal stood at 7-foot-1 and 325 pounds, Oakley didn’t see Shaq as much of a tough guy.
“I never took Shaq as a tough guy. I think they’re more tougher now on TV than they play,” Oakley said on The Art of Dialogue
Those are strong words from Oakley, but he meant every letter. The sentiment behind his comments comes from a certain incident he had involving O’Neal. Many years later, he remembers the details quite vividly.
“Shaq is all right. You know, we had a couple of run-ins. I mean, we straightened them out,” Oakley started narrating. “Me and MJ were together,” he said. “I seen [Shaq] and I walked up to him like, ‘You’ve been disrespecting. You know that was some BS you did.’ He said, ‘Nah, unc.'”
At that point, it was Michael Jordan who diffused the situation. “MJ went in. ‘Oh, what’s he doing, man?’ I said, ‘he crossed the line, man. He know what he did.’… So MJ pulled me away,” Oakley recalled.
Oakley didn’t go into depth regarding the details of the incident. Oakley insinuated that O’Neal disrespected him in what was “sneaky” behavior. Nevertheless, from his attitude, it’s clear it was serious enough that he took matters into his own hands.
“So I saw him in Chicago, and I was with my boys. I approached him. You can play with people who’ll let you get away with it, but I’m not letting you get away with it,” Oakley proclaimed.
What exactly happened in that encounter? Well, that remains a secret. The important information is that Oakley and his crew made sure O’Neal understood not to get on their bad side again.
Many people knew Oakley for his reputation as an enforcer on the court. However, from this story, it’s evident that the title applies off the court as well.
