The 80s and 90s saw a new role emerge on the hardwood floors of the NBA. While the basketball courts out in the cities already had guys standing on business, the league saw the rise of a specific post, better known as ‘The Enforcer.’ Richard Jefferson discusses why Charles Oakley, one of the best names to go with that tag, whole-heartedly embraced that role on the floor.
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Hosted by Georges Niang and Kevin Spies, the Bench Seat podcast’s latest episode featured a discussion on enforcers. The conversation kicked off when Niang mentioned the amount of fines levied against him this past year, prompting Jefferson to bring up Charles Oakley, the epitome of an enforcer.
Oakley was constantly throwing hands and elbows at other players, starting scuffles, and also ending most of them. This ended up tallying a $100,000 bill in fines by the NBA. But why didn’t Oak Tree have a problem with it? Here is what RJ had to say.
“Oak said, ‘If I don’t do this, then they don’t pay me and I don’t get to beat—So, I’m doing this for my job. So, you can keep sending those fines but just know, that my role is,’ In hockey, they call him a goon, in basketball they call him an enforcer. So, he’s like, ‘This is my job. So, I will accept the fines. I’ll pay the $100,000 fine because I’m making $2 million.”
The reason why Richard Jefferson agreed with Oakley’s take was due to the Hall of Famer, Rod Thorn. The former Chicago Bulls head coach was the one who drafted RJ into the league while he was the general manager of the New Jersey Nets. (Now Brooklyn Nets)
Thorn was also the man in charge of the fines levied on players by the league. And one day, out of concern, Thorn decided to give the New York Knicks bigman a heads-up on the massive fine total that was being accumulated, leading to Oakley’s initial response.
For those who are unaware of the term, an enforcer is someone who would commit hard, physical fouls on the opposing team. The enforcer’s main goal was to instill fear in the opponent, ensuring their star player would not be harmed.
And Charles played this role to absolute perfection, having done so to protect a young Michael Jordan as well, during his days with the Chicago Bulls.
Richard Jefferson and Niang agree on this modern-day NBA Enforcer
The role of an enforcer can now be labeled as a lost art in the NBA. With the risk of injuries being more than ever now, an enforcer is not something the league was looking to pursue when it went through a dynamic change from the 90s to the 2000s.
Although, there have been a few names since the early 2000s who still embellished that role, if there is one player who fits the part perfectly, it is none other than Draymond Green.
The Golden State Warriors forward made a name for himself early in the league. However, the name wasn’t ‘Enforcer’ anymore. Instead, Green was quickly labeled as a dirty player, deliberately hurting others and playing with excessive force.
Having seen Draymond Green’s conduct despite being fined, ejected, and suspended for days and weeks, it is no secret that the four-time NBA champion doesn’t have much regard for it. But if there was someone who embodied that role from the 90s, it is none other than the Warriors forward.
