During an appearance on Shaquille O’Neal’s ‘The Big Podcast’ Stephen Jackson recalled an incident that happened while he was playing in Charlotte involving Charles Oakley. Jackson joined the Bobcats in 2009 and the following year, Michael Jordan bought a majority stake in the franchise. One of the first moves that the franchise made under MJ’s ownership was getting Oakley as their assistant coach.
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Six years after bidding farewell to a 19-year-long career, Oakley joined the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets). During his time as a player, Oakley was known for his intimidating physical game. When he took over the coaching responsibility in Charlotte, the NBA legend didn’t let go of his intimidating style.
Jackson recalled how Oakley was a tough taskmaster with the players. He ordered the players to not use towels on their heads when they were on the bench. However, Gerard Wallace chose to ignore the orders and put a towel on his head for his dreads. After Oakley snatched the towel off his head, Wallace doubled down on the rebellious act and put another one up. This infuriated the NBA legend.
Jackson knew that when these two met in the locker room, there would be a brawl. To make matters worse, Jordan stepped inside the locker room for a few words with the players.
Jackson said, “After Mike said his little speech, Oak [got] 10 times madder…All the coaches walk out and Oak circled around through the other way. As soon as I see Oak walking to Wallace’s locker, I just stand, I’m like, ‘Oak, you cannot do this’. [He said], ‘Didn’t I say I was going to slap you’. I’m like, ‘Oak please, you a coach now’. I’m looking at him dead in his eyes.”
After a 10-minute-long rant, Oakley finally calmed down and realized that as a coach, he could not bring the old enforcer energy to his players. It’s unclear what MJ said in the locker room that made him so furious, but fortunately, Jackson was there to avoid a potential fight.
Jordan considered Oakley his ‘bodyguard’
In all his years of being in the NBA, Jordan didn’t make a lot of friends. He often isolated himself to focus more on his game and if he made friends along the way, he ended up having a fallout with most of them. In most cases, MJ was painted as an arrogant, inconsiderate person who could not be on good terms with people. However, he didn’t have this problem with Oakley.
In an old Chicago Tribune article, MJ was quoted saying, “That’s my bodyguard. I’m going to be like a big brother to him. We have a great relationship, and that’s how the whole team has to be. One person has to care for another person. We’ve got to learn to help each other out in bad situations.”
The fact that MJ spoke so highly of him is a testament to their relationship. This could be one of the reasons why when Jordan took over the Charlotte franchise, he wanted his friend to be a part of that program. However, Oakley was the assistant coach for the Bobcats for only one year.
