Charles Oakley played in the NBA from 1985 to 2004. He played for the Bulls, Knicks, Raptors, Wizards and Rockets.
On a night where the Raptors decided to honor Oakley, the former Raptor had some harsh words about the state of today’s NBA.
“Who do I like watching? It’s hard to watch,” he said. “I don’t know, it’s just, it’s a different game. It’s some good games and a lot of bad games. More bad games than good games these days.”
Oakley went on to elaborate.
“I don’t know what it is. They just roll you out there like a basketball. That’s why … you see the same teams in the finals or winning 55 games. Strong teams, strong-minded coach. Just the players, they don’t think it, they don’t know how to play together,” he said. “So that’s one of things I see the weakness is: Communication, the guys don’t love the game. They play the game, but they don’t play with their heart.”
It’s easy to see where Oakley is coming from because there’s no loyalty in today’s game. Players switch teams like we switch underwear nowadays.