Artie Lange's Podcast Channel - 6 - CHARLES OAKLEY
Episode Date: December 10, 2019Former New York Knick and Chicago Bull star Charles Oakley sits in to discuss basketball, cooking, and the upcoming roast of OJ Anderson. Sponsored by... MyBookie.ag - to go http://bit.ly/MYB-Artie a...nd use code Artie to get a 50% signup bonus BlueChew - go to BlueChew.com and use code Artie to try it for FREE!
Transcript
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Hey, it's Artie Lang's Halfway House, and we're having fun on this show.
My co-host Mike Boschetti is here.
Mike, the fans love you.
A lot of the feedback is amazing.
And how do you feel about that? Say something nice to the show. My co-host Mike Boschetti is here. Mike, the fans love you. A lot of the feedback is amazing. And how do you feel about that? Say something nice to the fans.
I love you. Without you guys, we're nothing.
Well, there you go. That's excellent.
No doubt.
My buddy Jimmy Palumbo, who's been here a lot, is also here. And there's a real reason because Jimmy and I are both such insane fans of my guest today. Legendary basketball player,
good man, tough man, man's man, has got a
lot going on now in his life.
He's doing a lot of good.
The great Charles Oakley.
Thank you.
Thank you.
What's up?
The Oak man.
Always did good.
I don't talk about it.
I just do it.
Like Nike.
Okay.
So Charles, give me your background real quick for the fans.
Where'd you grow up?
Cleveland, Ohio.
You're a Cleveland guy.
Went to John Hay, went to Virginia Union, got drafted top 10 to
Chicago. Right. Three years
traded to New York 10.
So you went to the Bulls. You were the Bulls in the 80s.
Yes, 85 to 88.
So you're there when Jordan comes in.
No, he was there before me, a year before me.
He got there a year before. So Jordan comes in
and so
describe, like you knew Jordan was going to
be amazing, right?
Describe, like how much did it surprise you
what he became as a teammate to Michael Jordan?
It didn't surprise me a lot
because I see him every day in practice.
Right.
It surprised people who are watching TV.
Yeah.
So my thing is he practiced hard and he played
so when he came to the game, it became easy.
Uh-huh.
But practicing every day
just to seeing his attitude, the work happen,
just what he wanted, you know, achieving his individual and as a team,
that I was like, wow.
Yeah, yeah.
It was impressive to see.
Now, you're a hard worker, too.
I mean, obviously.
Well, we work hard.
He worked hard at shooting.
I worked hard on defense, rebound, diving on the floor.
Because that was your thing.
Yeah, well.
Yeah.
We had a role.
It was like a band back then. Now, I don't think guys have a role on the team. Everybody just was your thing. Yeah, well, we had a role. It was like a band back then.
Now, I don't think guys have roles on the team.
Everybody just wants to shoot threes and miss free throws.
Exactly.
There's more individualism.
They want to be global.
That was David Stern.
The commissioner who came in in 84, yeah.
That was his thing.
Down the road, the money is global.
Yeah.
Different countries.
U.S. started fading away.
Because we only can, like, dribble and dunk.
U.S. can pass and move more sexy.
They're trying to be more sexy now.
China is almost as big a market as the U.S. for the NBA.
Oh, a billion people.
Yeah.
Yeah, and they love basketball.
They love basketball.
They got a lot of money, and they can dictate some things.
Yeah, and they do.
They do.
And they do.
So from 85, you leave in 88 to go to the Knicks.
Yes.
Now, describe that breakup.
Did you want to leave the Bulls?
Did you want to leave Jordan?
You wanted to stay there.
You know, teams feel like, Teams feel like they're a piece
away.
Knicks feel like we're getting
two players for one.
They made the trade.
Kyle Wright for me. Kyle Wright and Kevin Dungan
for me.
That's not much for you though, dude.
Maybe you get two for one.
It's a deal.
It's like God now. They get two free throws, for one as a deal. Yeah, yeah, but you're worth it. Hey, it's like God now.
They get two free throws, they only can make one.
Yeah, so I mean, I guess, so was there any bitterness there?
I mean, not at all?
Oh, no.
No, no.
Good chance to get drafted and play with Michael Jordan and get traded.
I thought I was coming to heaven when I came to New York.
You're going to Ewing and the Knicks and Madison Square Garden.
It was a big difference, though, Ewing and Michael Jordan.
Of course.
But anyway.
Of course. And your relationship with Jordan is still good. It was a big difference, though, Ewing and Michael Jordan. Of course. But anyway. Of course.
And your relationship with Jordan is still good.
He's a guy who's a good friend.
Yeah, still a friend.
I went down.
He defends you.
He just built his own golf course in Florida.
Right.
And he did a lot of stuff.
Got his own basketball team.
Just got his own, you know, different brands.
Right.
Got his own brand.
So, basically, got his own playing boat.
So, he just wanted to deal with himself.
He's a part of Nike.
He owns stuff.
Yes, he owns stuff.
So, okay, so you go to the Knicks.
And again, you say, okay, Ewing,
Ewing's always the guy who ran into Jordan.
I mean, you guys had those epic battles.
You know, so how, do you think, okay,
how surprising is it that you didn't get a ring with the Knicks?
Did you think that was a definite with that situation?
Well, I thought, for watching Patrick from Georgetown when I was in Virginia Union.
As dominant as it got in college basketball.
Yeah, like, wow.
So the trade was like, okay, I'm coming to New York.
Light's bright.
They got number one draft.
I mean, it's the guard, man.
It's the center of sports.
And this and that.
It's just, they're two different demeanors.
Two different players, two different types of mindset.
Yeah.
But Ewing is the reason they had a lottery.
I mean, he was that dominant in his college.
The reason they have the lottery is because people were throwing games
to get a guy like Ewing.
But Jordan was the guy.
Jordan was a finesse.
Yeah. The difference was, Michael can rebound and bring the ball to court.
Patrick, he couldn't rebound, so we had to slow up and wait for him.
Right.
But then another bad thing was they had the same agent, David Falk.
David Falk.
Conflict of interest.
So he's telling Michael everything, but he's rubbing Patrick in the back
because he's got to make him happy.
Yeah, so that's insane that it's even allowed.
You've got the same agent.
Now, who do you root for?
You're playing in the conference finals.
I mean, who is he rooting for?
He's rooting for Michael Jordan.
That's right.
He's like a quarter and a dime.
He's rooting for Michael Jordan.
Patrick's a dime, Jordan a quarter.
Right.
So now, and those conference finals with you guys.
It was tough. I mean, we went down the wire, but back then, it was just about who the league wanted to see in the big dance.
It was like, NBA is more in control.
Absolutely.
Yes. Two calls can kill you.
Uh-huh.
You know, I just tell Mike all the time, y'all done blown it. We're down to the last minute.
It was.
Two possessions of the game.
Well, I'm going to give you one to a name, Charles Smith.
Oh, no.
Okay, I mean, the Charles Smith play.
That's the year.
I think that's 93, 92.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, things happen.
Charles Smith just has to dunk that ball, bro.
Yeah, with Patrick, Mr. Fragerow against the Indians.
We had a lot of different stuff.
I don't like to, you know, like just call a gal just like that.
Right, no, I hear you.
But we had just come up with a big shot and a big time in the game we needed against the Bulls.
Because Michael, he made shots.
Okay, but here's the thing.
So now Michael plays baseball for some inexplicable reason or whatever.
I mean, do you have any insight into that?
Like, do you think, did you see that coming?
He's going to play baseball?
Well, you know, these guys, it's just some guys.
Competitive nature.
They go through things in life.
They feel like, I did this younger.
Let me try to bring it back and do it again.
I mean, you know, the guy won three championships.
So, I mean, you can do that.
You can experience something else in life.
So now, so at that point, if there's ever a time,
now Michael's out of the league.
Yes.
You got two years coming. Yes. Without Michael league. Yes. You got two years coming.
Yes.
Without Michael Jordan.
Yes.
You got Akeem and Houston to worry about.
Two years with Houston.
So, now, how, now, are you surprised you didn't get a ring in those two years?
Well, I thought we should have beat him in 94.
Yeah, yeah.
We had him.
Absolutely.
Three, two.
You know, I don't blame Pat Riley for a lot of things,
but he just didn't jest to the moment.
He's more of a control freak.
Right.
So Pat Riley, you think— He's going to do it his way no matter what happens.
So Pat Riley, you think, was flawed as a coach for that particular situation?
Yeah, because that's why we brought him here,
because he had done that before he got here.
So we had to always listen to him because he on one of the teams had a ring.
So we couldn't like, okay, I'll forget you, this and that.
So we took all the details in and he said, I'm going to play this way, I'm going to do this.
He came to me like, you'll get less minutes.
I couldn't argue about it because I wanted to win the ring.
Right.
But you see, you were a guy I think that was a great teammate to have because the winning was more important.
Oh, no doubt.
I mean, a guy with your talents and your resume is going to go, what do you mean I'm getting less minutes?
I mean, a lot of guys would have pushed back on it.
Yes, but see, back then you had to play a role.
Yeah.
Now, somebody else, well, you know, I ain't going to play my minutes.
I'm worried about my contract.
We didn't think about that.
We thought about the city, the people who came out
and watched us play,
you know,
just trying to get something back.
We tried to make sure
we wanted to win a ring
and say,
wow,
you're a New York.
That'll last you 30 years,
40 years.
Absolutely, dude.
Absolutely.
My nephews ask me
about the old Knicks
and they ask me about
the Charles Oakley.
They know about Ewing
and Charles Oakley.
I said,
well,
this to me would explain
Charles Oakley.
A couple years ago,
LeBron came into the Garden and put like 56 points on the board.
The next night, Kobe Bryant came in and he put 61.
So I'm sitting with my nephews.
I said, let me explain to you the difference.
I said, Charles Oakley in the first quarter of that second game,
when Kobe came in, probably would have came in on a little side pass,
would have came in, his hip would have hit Kobe, his arm would have came across. Kobe would have came in on a little side pass. Would have came in. His hip would have hit Kobe.
His arm would have came across.
Kobe would have been flying. Now, he
still might have scored the 60, but he would have
been tired, bloody, and a
mess. Now he can't do that.
It would have been all jump shots, though. He would have been
coming to the paint. They go right in.
They lay it right in.
There's nobody playing defense.
So no paint. That would have been your way to do that. There's nobody playing defense. So no paint.
That would have been your way to do that.
It's no defense no more.
Can I ask you something?
Why is that?
I'm saying why is that, you think?
Because it's not money.
It's not sexy.
Teams, it's a copycat league.
Everybody's just want to switch mans and bail out now. It's like coaches don't want to put too much on these guys' minds.
They don't want to give them too much.
We just have a playbook, like, 100 pages.
They playbook now probably with five pages.
Because a superstar is making all that money.
It's one word on every page, though.
We had
100 words on every page. You don't think it
started with those fights with the Heat
and the NBA didn't want all these
and the other guy who got in a fight into the stands.
Well, look at the Pistons. Look at the Pistons in 89, the way they played.
Well, the first of them fights was,
it would stop them from going global.
They didn't want, the U.N.P.A. didn't want to see that.
Bad image.
Bad image.
So when they cleared all that out,
they came over here like on boats.
Right.
When I played in the league early,
it may have been, what, three U.N.P. guys for like—
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Now you got 30%, 35%.
Right.
Coup coach, guys like that come in.
They come in now because all they do is smoke cigarettes, don't have tattoos, and they don't drink.
Look at Marbury and Shining.
He became like the Jordan of China, right?
Went over there, yeah.
He did a good job, though.
Now, here's a guy I got to bring up that, to me,
is the biggest reason the Knicks are not good is nobody on the floor.
It's James Dolan.
Nobody wants to play for James Dolan, Charles.
My thing is, something that could be true,
but I think it's just not a lot of talent these days.
Yeah, but he's got the Garden.
He's got the Knicks.
He's got the Laura New York.
I mean, doesn't it say something about thaticks. He's got the Laura New York. I mean, doesn't say something about that guy.
He's been paying the wrong guys.
He's been paying a lot of people, but he ain't getting his return on his money.
Phil Jackson.
Only return on his money he gets is the fans.
Right.
The Parker.
And those are loyal fans that have been there forever.
They're not going anywhere.
Right.
I'm a Knicks fan forever.
Yeah, right.
And he banks on that, but that's bad to bank on.
You can't rest on your laurels there.
But Phil Jackson, to give a guy like that just to be GM all that money and power.
Well, he paid Phil because the ship was sinking.
Phil with that plug for two or three years.
Now the ship is sinking again.
I don't know who's going to be the next plug.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because now it's about to go all the way over.
But it's bad.
It's about to turn over like the Hudson.
Yeah, yeah.
The thing that annoys me about the Knicks is some of the guys,
not only the GM, these other assistants and these presidents,
they've been there for 20 years, and the Knicks stink.
And then all of a sudden I got to read Isaiah Thomas had lunch.
He's a consultant.
These guys haven't won.
I never still can figure out how Isaiah will get in the mix. Yeah. He cost them a million dollars These guys haven't won. I never still can figure how Zell get in the mix.
Yeah.
He cost them a million dollars of payout from that.
Right, right, right.
Yeah, but can I ask you something, Rich?
I've been an expense since the early 70s, right?
Yes.
How do you think guys from those days would do against people now
if they had a play?
Oh, they would kill them.
Because, I mean, you have pure people in their position,
and they play their role.
I don't think coaches tell guys that. You can build you got no chemistry guys don't understand their role
You change the lineup every three days that don't work. Well, that's why
That first dream team loss because it's not about individual basketball is about jelly. Yeah. Yeah
Well, just like everybody with Toronto with Kwan Leonard what he did only two what he did. Only two guys, three guys maybe would do that in the NBA.
LeBron, I don't know who the other one is.
Kawhi, something else, right?
Yeah, but they come in and just self-will.
Uh-huh.
You know, so the Knicks go out and sign a six-free agent.
Right.
One-year deal, and everybody playing for themselves.
To me, Michael Jordan is the best basketball player who's ever lived.
I mean, to me.
You got Kareem, you got Big O.
Where does LeBron
fall on that list to you?
Frost and Flake, Corn Flake.
One and two. Really?
Oh, yeah.
If you watch
what he do now,
some people say he can be first, but
before his career,
it could be. But right now, he's like A-minus, A-plus.
But what he's doing on the night, 17 years in the league,
self-will, I mean, he can play the game.
He don't have to score at all the first half, still get 25.
Everybody else, keep everybody happy.
A lot of guys can't do that.
But isn't it amazing that the great centers of all time get forgotten
in that mix? You're talking about Jordan, a guard.
You're talking about a forward in LeBron.
What about the dominance of Kareem with that
Skyhook? Wilt Chamberlain.
I mean, it's a different time. The three centers
from L.A. Shaq, Kareem,
Wilt. I mean, Wilt.
And Shaq, too. I mean, a center, a good center.
Shaq is...
I mean, you know, he was just force.
I think Kareem was finesse and Wilt was just sexy.
But don't you see, to me, the way Shaq played was the way I thought Ewing was going to play as a Knicks fan.
The reason Dave DeBuscher is like, yes, we got the guys because he was going to come in and just dunk over you every time.
He started shooting threes, for Christ's sake.
I mean, like, what happened?
He didn't shoot threes.
What happened to Ewing?
He could never.
I think any time when you're the most, I think, you know, as a superstar,
you have to go through adversity.
Adversity.
He couldn't handle that.
Because at Georgetown, it was every, you know.
He couldn't handle adversity.
In New York, you know, because New York fans, this and that.
He couldn't handle that.
Right.
He could handle it, just give me the ball 25 times a game,
I go home, this and that.
But for us outside, dealing with the public.
Right.
That's part of it.
I heard this on the team because back in them days,
we had to ride with our horse.
And the horse didn't want to go out.
We had to stay in with him.
Yeah, yeah, yeah him. If he went out
cold or hot,
that'd make us more hungry as a team.
Sure.
We all together,
but it was like
Gina, MJ, some other people,
Patrick, not to put him
all the way down, he didn't have that it. He didn't have that it factor put him all the way down, he didn't have that it.
He didn't have that it factor.
When he got that money, he didn't have the it factor.
It's hard for me to listen to that because since Ewing,
the Knicks have been shitty.
Yeah, but still.
And he scored 25 points a game.
He scored 25 points in that area.
It's about taking your team to the promised land and winning.
Right.
Whatever you got to do to win.
I would have rather filmed an average 15 points, seven blocks, 15 rebounds.
Yeah.
Because that'd be more defense offense.
So my thing is, his presence, you know,
just like he's here to Georgetown.
Oh, forget it.
When he played the first four games in the championship,
four goals, 10 and out.
I want to see that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But, you know, it's just, I don't know.
As a guy from Cleveland, what do you think about LeBron leaving Cleveland to go to Miami that first time?
He did the right thing.
You think so?
Everything he did was right so far.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, listen, it's hard to argue with.
Right.
He got 101 on the test.
Do you have relatives in Cleveland who are mad at him?
No.
No?
No.
Why?
Because, you know, it goes to Miami.
I'd be mad.
This is the man of life.
He got the championship, though.
He came back and got the title.
But the thing about that is they train us in the middle of the night, daytime.
They don't tell us.
I mean, come on.
But I told somebody in Cleveland, they should know.
They offered him $150 million for six years.
He took three years.
Yeah. Ain't that a sign? Right. I know. They should know. They offered him $150 million for six years. He took three years. Yeah.
Ain't that a sign?
Right, I know.
I'm leaving with no crack.
Yeah.
Just in case I want to do something else.
It wasn't about the money with him.
No, exactly.
It was about setting up stuff.
So your point is, up front, he was saying, look, it's not a long-term thing with me.
No, he told him.
You offer $150, he take half.
That's why the Knicks, with not getting Durant, I know you didn't want to play for them.
They should have signed Durant if he had one arm and one leg.
I'm serious.
When Durant comes back healthy with Kyrie, what's Brooklyn like?
Do you think they're the best team in basketball?
I mean, on paper.
No doubt.
You think so?
Brooklyn is good because they're solid.
One thing about acting the coach, you can see with Kyrie,
they didn't step down, they stepped up.
And that shows you
the guys know their role.
He know how to present to
them guys, like, hey, this is what we got to do, this and that.
I like his style. It's just like
some coaches don't
move guys. He moved them guys. Like last
year when he made the playoff, I went to him in the game,
the right guy shoot. The next
guy rebound. They play in roles.
Some teams, they don't play in roles.
They're good for the free throw line.
They're just good as a team. So you think
when Durant comes back with Kyrie, they're the best team in
basketball? You think so? I ain't gonna say the best. They're gonna be
the best of the East. Yeah, okay. You think
his injury, though? That's a bad injury.
Yeah, but he'll be back. I mean,
he don't have a lot of excess weight.
He's keeping his weight down.
It's all about what you do.
He still can shoot.
Yeah, to keep in condition.
He's one of the best shooters ever.
And when he shoot, the dude is at 6'11".
I mean, first of all, you look amazing, dude.
You haven't put on, like, you look just like you did when you played.
I love the gray hair, by the way, bro.
I wear gray, too.
I love it.
You look dignified.
I eat a lot of burgers.
I eat a lot of bacon and burgers.
But that used to work.
Do you still have a workout process now?
No.
No.
I never had a workout process.
I just did.
Are you the same weight when you played or are you lighter?
I'm about 10 or 15 pounds heavier.
Wow.
It don't look like it.
I never had a gut, so.
Right, right.
When you get a gut, it makes you heavier.
You always look bigger on the game.
I thought I looked like a professional all the time.
You did.
You looked really good, man.
A lot of guys let themselves go.
Not like Barkley.
No, not Barkley.
Barkley looked like he played for Auburn.
Who was the toughest guy as a defensive guy you had?
Besides the Jordans.
Another forward.
I ain't tech Jordan, so I can't say. What about you? as a defensive guy you had? You know, besides the Jordans. Like, another forward. Man on man.
I ain't check Jordan, so I can't say he, you know.
What about you?
Probably.
Who's the guy you hated to see that night?
I didn't hate to see none of them.
Right, I know that.
But I know that some of them, like, they get a lot of calls.
Like, Cam McHale used to cry.
Karl Malone used to cry.
Right.
Shaq was just big.
But Cam McHale was the best skill out of all of them.
But he used to cry to the refs.
All of them cried to the boss.
I mean, I've seen
they had three bottles of water and three
milk bottles.
What about the late
80s, early 90s Pistons?
I hated team outside of
Detroit. They didn't face it.
They just, you know,
it was just their time to win.
They had some good players.
They're playmakers.
But I ain't going to hype them like that.
They just, you know, other teams were trying to find themselves.
And they had a lot of guys who, you know,
Izell, post player, you know, Edwards.
They had Dennis Robin.
They had the good pieces.
Right.
And it's the same way they won it with Ben Wallace and Charles Sibilian.
They had G. Wallace compose.
He could shoot outside.
They just had the pieces just fit together.
Yeah, people forget about that Pistons team who won more recently.
Yeah, 89-90.
I hated the way Bill Cartwright on the Bulls, what he did.
I don't know.
To me, he ate Ewing up in those series.
Yeah, well, you got to blame Patrick, not Bill.
Yeah.
What is your relationship with Ewing?
Do you talk to him?
I mean, you guys went through battles together.
Yeah, but he didn't go to battle when this stuff happened in the garden.
Yeah, okay, now let's talk about that.
Yeah, let's talk about it.
Let's talk about it.
So what happened?
Some BS happened.
Some BS happened.
Nothing happened.
You can take bullshit, by the way.
No, no, no, no.
I know.
So you got into a fight at the garden.
No, let me tell you.
Go ahead.
Remember they said they get the tape? Yeah. We got the same tape they got. no, no. I know. So you got into a fight at the bar. No, let me tell you. Go ahead. Remember they said they'd get the tape?
Yeah.
We got the same tape they got.
Yeah, yeah.
Read the transcript.
We waiting on the judge to look at this tape.
Yeah.
So it's still pending, all that shit?
Yes.
Wow.
So what exactly happened?
I came in about two minutes into the game starting with four guys.
We just had left for me.
Right.
And we came down the steps from the elevator.
About 30 flights.
You know.
Yeah, sure.
From my seat.
And, you know, people just said, I want an autograph, taking pictures.
About seven, eight minutes later, I don't know, eight guys walked up on me.
Yeah, craziness.
I mean, that happens.
I mean, drinking's going on.
That happens in the game. No, no, no, no. I didn't have no drink. No, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the other guys. Well, craziness. I mean, that happens. I mean, drinking's going on. That happens in the game.
No, no, no, no. I didn't have no drink. No, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the other guys.
Well, no, this is security. Oh, really? Really? Security? So, I can't even fathom that.
You're told differently. I know. I know. I talk to Zafi because... You don't seem like an irrational guy.
No. You know, once you put your hands on me, it's different. I'm not going to do that.
My thing is they changed the tape, too.
They did a lot of legal stuff.
Dude, I'm caught up in the system.
I believe you.
They changed the tape by showing me only pushing the security guard.
Right, right.
And they had a statement on halftime where this guy came in, cussing and hollering people out.
The tape we got, they sent the tape.
Now, they got some stuff like the White House.
They got state-of-the-art equipment.
Oh, of course.
It's the garden.
They can shoot two miles away.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And hear what you say three miles away.
The camera's on the streets nowadays.
You see these kids, it looks like they're shooting a movie or something.
Yeah, but I'm saying they can zoom in to a penny.
Yeah.
So they treated me like a penny.
They zoomed right in on me.
Right.
So.
Why are they so intent on screwing you over too?
It makes me mad.
All this happened was it was two timeouts.
And every time, you know, when eight guys,
like the second timeout was eight guys together.
Right.
So as the game going on,
so eight guys standing over there in your corner where you at, and he point to the guys like, go get him.
Really?
On tape.
Wow.
Swear to God.
Wow.
All this on tape.
That's insane.
Eight guys come over at one time.
Security.
Security.
Yeah.
Didn't say nothing.
Like, you got to leave.
I like, they asked for my ticket or nothing.
Like, you got to go.
And you're Charles Oakley.
What do you want? I was talking to someone.
I had bought the ticket.
Did you yell out anything towards him?
I swear.
I didn't even come past him.
Right.
Did you yell anything to the court?
Like, play defense.
No.
Look, if I would have yelled something, we got the tape.
Right.
So you stand there beside me or behind me.
So if I'm yelling something, ain't nobody turn around.
He didn't know I was there until they told him.
Right, right, right.
So you would think I came in the game, won't pass a UFF or whatever.
No, none of that.
Wow.
I swear to my mother, my kids.
No, no, I believe you, man.
But my thing is, he just don't like me for some reason.
Who is this? The guy who owned that place. Don't. Yeah. Now my thing is, he just don't like me for some reason. Who is this?
The guy who owned that place.
Don't.
Yeah.
Now, why is that?
Why would he not like you?
I mean, I believe you.
I don't know.
You're being very sweet about the guy.
I don't like the guy.
I don't like him as a guy.
I tried not to throw him under bus like that, but he threw me under bus like that.
Here's the problem.
I don't have to play his tricks because I'm a real person.
Well, let me tell you something.
It seems to me, you know, there's one group of people that hates James Dolan, and that's the people't have to play his tricks, because I'm a real person. Well, let me tell you something. It seems to me, you know,
there's one group of people that hates James
Dolan, and that's the people who have met James Dolan.
Well, I was in New
Orleans, All-Star Game
2000, I think, 13 or 14.
Yeah. And I was with Wild Wild
West, World West. And they
was there, LeBron, all of them guys.
Right. They're my guys.
So West come over and talk to him.
I said, I'm with Dolan.
I said, okay. I never met him.
You never met Dolan? No. I reached my hand to
shake his hand. He said, I met you before.
He wouldn't turn around and look at me.
Wow. That sucks.
I'm going to say it for you. He's a rich kid.
He's a rich kid who's never had to work for a fucking thing in his life.
There's a lot of people rich.
He's the bad part.
My thing is, the commission, so I'm saying, it's like he's the bad part. But my thing is,
the commission,
so I met with the commission,
him and Dolan,
and Michael Jordan on the phone.
Adam Silver.
Yeah.
And Jordan actually,
he's an advocate for you.
He's trying to be a peacemaker.
No, no.
I didn't call him to be a peacemaker.
The commission called him.
I told the commission,
if you're going to bring,
me and you,
it's going to be you three,
if you're going to bring an extra guy,
bring all the owners.
I told him this. Yeah. He said, well, this, I said, no, because when going to bring me, us three, you're going to bring an extra guy, bring all the owners. I told him this.
Yeah.
He said, well, this—I said, no, because when this all come out again, we got to go to court, take deposition and all that.
They're going to pull your name.
Right, of course.
So they rung him in.
So Jordan's on the phone.
Yeah, he's on the phone.
So we talked for about 30, 40 minutes.
Never, you know, he cried to me like, well, you said this in the paper.
He brought 25 articles and said I said something in the paper.
Dope.
Yes.
Wow.
I said.
What a whiner.
I said, you know what? No.
Look at the headlines and look at the articles.
You know how New York is?
Yeah.
It ain't never the articles.
It's the headlines.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Headlines drive people to buy the paper.
That's why New York Post, that's a great point, Charles.
And the New York Post, at the end of the day, they read that headline.
Oh, yeah. And you look at the article, it ain't got nothing to do with it. That's a great point, Charles. In the New York Post, they read that headline.
It didn't get nothing to do with it.
It's like a scam.
The article's secondary.
Yeah, so he's like,
well, you know,
I'm sensitive to this and that.
I said, you better be glad you wasn't born in the 50s and 60s
when people used to call people
all kinds of names
at baseball in the dugout.
What you was going to do then?
Yeah, no kidding.
He sounds like a baby.
He sounds like a baby. He sounds like a baby.
Yeah, wasn't a bottle with the milk.
Don't give him the water, give him the milk.
So what is Jordan saying on the call?
So basically, everybody's talking about, well, he's the face of the NBA.
Well, you know, should be bygone, be bygone.
And y'all should come together.
You know, you should go and, you know, work with the Knicks, this and that.
He's being diplomatic.
Yeah, well. Could you work for James Doe, don should go and, you know, work with the Knicks, this and that. He's being diplomatic. Yeah, well.
Could you work for James Dolan, you think?
I mean, it sounds impossible.
Well, we're going to get to that.
Right.
So Jordan did the commission talk.
See, man, the commission had talked about this before.
I told the commission about it four years ago.
Won't you set up a meeting with me and Dolan?
Right.
You know, he said some stuff I don't want to say on the air because he already thought.
No kidding.
Oh, yeah. So I said, okay, good. So when this happened, he's trying to. It sounds impossible. He said some stuff I don't want to say on the air because he already thought I'm doing it.
Oh, yeah.
So I said, okay, good.
So when this happened, he's trying to put us together like a piece of pie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jordan ice cream, you know.
And so he said, well, you know, y'all, you know, because he's trying to get everything smoothed out.
We all started in two days.
Yeah, yeah.
So we get the dole. It's amazing how the image always comes in.
We get the dole.
He said, well, you know, I'm sensitive. We the image always go get the dollar. He said well, you know
I'm sensitive. We got these articles and isn't it?
You know it'd be nice if you can come to a venom have nice a event. Uh-huh
You know what just happened? Yeah drag me out of arena. I'm walking the place with you. That is insanely disrespectful
Oh, it's true. Yeah, I come out. Yeah, so he said out. Yeah. So he said, well, you know, we're going to be tired of your jersey.
We play Indiana in two or three days.
Wow.
I'm like, we're tired of jerseys?
No.
That's insulting to you.
It is.
After what happened.
Well, you know, we take care of our guys.
I said, you do?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, you just drunk me out of here?
Right.
I mean, that's, I mean, come on, man.
So we left, and, you know, we you just drunk me out of here? Right. I mean, that's, I mean, come on, man. So, we left
and, you know, we were still talking
and we didn't come to nothing. So, we
broke the meeting. Right. So, I went
back to my room because I had to stay three or four days just
to meet with the commission. So,
This was a meeting in person with Darlene, or just
on the phone? Yeah. Okay. But Michael was on the phone.
Right. So, I go to my room and wake up
about eight or nine o'clock. So,
they called me back and said, you know, what are we going to do with this?
They call me back.
I didn't answer the phone.
They called me about 20 times.
Right.
So I woke up about 9, and then I was asleep.
So about 9, 30, 10, he go, press release, Oakley, the commissioner, Michael, we all straightened out the issue.
I'm like, what?
Oh, wow.
You released something without me signing it off.
And it's not even close to settled.
No.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So he lied.
Yeah.
So I called him.
I'm like, what did you?
He said, well, I thought we talked.
No, we didn't.
I didn't sign no paper.
No, of course not.
So all this don't come out.
So they released that.
And everybody's like, oh, he looked like a king on ESPN.
You know, because he worked for ESPN.
And so he's like, oh, yeah, the commissioner did his job
of getting everybody back on the same page.
No, we're not on the same page.
You're not even close.
They were close.
Not even close.
They were a spare tire in the car.
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
The Knicks haven't won.
That would make me irate.
All right, listen up.
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That would make me irate. They haven't won 30 games in 30 years.
And even if you were, this is how stupid his people are,
even if you were being disruptive
or being a total jerk,
I would have been like,
let it go, let it go, let it go.
But that wasn't the case.
But that wasn't the case.
I don't see that as being the case.
That wasn't the case.
Why would the 54-year-old be a jerk?
I mean, that's some bullshit.
Right.
I know.
You're shagging cups.
Go right ahead, Charles.
No, it is.
Why would you? No security's dragging you out of here, brother.
My thing is...
Why would you get kicked out of the court?
My thing is...
He just had something on TV about somebody
said something. Like when Kyrie
went back to Boston. They had signs.
They was calling him names.
He's going through that.
Don't call him names.
He's childish. He got a billion dollars. I mean, So he's going through that. Don't call him names. That's childish. So he got a billion dollars
in the UK.
I mean, come on, man.
A guy says 17,
that's a freedom of speech.
That's why we just got
into a channel
about what we can say.
Right.
You got to be tougher.
You got to be tougher.
But don't sit on the floor.
You know they're going to say
something you ain't won
in 20 years.
Come on, this is New York.
You got to be tougher.
I don't know, but...
Mike, you got to read, Mike.
What do you got to tell the audience? There's a great event coming up. It's going to be Wednesday, December 11th. The roast of to be tougher. I don't know. Mike, you've got to read, Mike. What have you got to tell the audience?
There's a great event coming up. It's going to be Wednesday, December
11th. The roast of O.J. Anderson
at the Gotham Comedy Club, New York City.
It's a fundraiser for O.J. Anderson.
It's a scholarship fund with the great
Charles Oakley, Lawrence Taylor,
Audie Lang, Jackie Martling,
Larry Holmes, Carl Banks,
John Storks, Plexico
Burris. Plexico Burris.
Plexico Burris.
I forgot his name up short.
And Piggy Barber.
The roast of OJAnderson.com.
Now, we're going to be there.
We're going to roast OJ Anderson.
So, I do a lot with OJ and his charity.
I love OJ.
He was a guest on my old show.
That's my guy.
That's my guy.
And we do a lot.
So, me, him, John, and some other, you know,
touchdown maker. Yeah, yeah, yeah. John, and some other, you know, touchdown maker.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Shit, yeah.
Steven Baker.
So, when I do one of my Oakley experiments,
the cooking events,
so we all show up.
So, it'd be like we talk,
and they talk while I'm doing the cooking.
Right, right.
And they eat and talk.
I'd love to try some of that.
So, yes, it's sexy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We went to the Hampton twice this summer with the jersey.
Then I do like
two or three for
I do about 20 a year
okay
George what kind of food
do you cook?
I cook everything
from A to Z
yeah
you can see I'm a food guy
you cook Italian?
yeah
yeah that's good
I'm pretty good
I'll take that
you know
I can cook maybe
not all Italian
but I can do
I can do
scampi
I can do
turkey lasagna
that's good enough
that's great keep going so it's a roast are you going to get up and roast them? are you going to tell some jokes? I can do scampi. I can do turkey lasagna. That's good enough.
That's great.
So it's a roast.
Are you going to get up and roast him?
Are you going to tell some jokes?
Yeah, I'm going to roast some potatoes and bring them.
No, I'm going to do something.
OJ is my guy.
He's got a great sense of humor, too. We're trying to get him into the Hall of Fame.
He should be there.
For the game he played against the Bills.
Super Bowl MVP over 10,000-yard rushing.
The Super Bowl against the Bills alone. You know what? People forget how good he was with the Bills. Super Bowl MVP over 10,000 yard rushing. The Super Bowl against the Bills alone.
You know what?
People forget how good he was with the Cardinals.
He's a Hall of Famer.
We got to get him in there.
I think so.
We go to a lot of gyms.
Do you think the fact that OJ killed two people, OJ Simpson,
do you think that ruined the name OJ?
It might hurt him a little bit.
We're going to clear all that up in the roast.
I think the fact that OJ Simpson decapitated two human beings, it hurts O.J. Anderson.
They said O.J. made the top 100, right?
Of course.
I just watched the show.
He's top three.
O.J. was bad.
Of course he was.
Of course he was.
He got 2,000 yards in 12 games.
Let me tell you something.
I watched that show, and they talked about him.
They were like, as a football player?
Yeah, O.J. was good.
Of course.
As good as it got.
As good as it got.
Did you watch the show?
I don't know if it's a show.
They were like, O.J. Simpson, 2,000 yards, 12 games.
He deserves to be here.
So, next, they-
No, of course.
They didn't want to give it to him.
But, hey, stuff like that, you have to.
And sports, that's the thing about sports.
You can't take that away from them, though.
The numbers are the numbers.
You can't-
Barry Bonds wasn't a baseball player because his father was Barry Bonds.
If they have a top 50 baseball player all the time, they're going to have to pick him.
Yeah, no, listen.
Same thing with football.
The numbers.
It's the numbers.
Well, I love roast.
I do a lot of roast, so I'm going to love roast at OJ.
He's got a great sense of humor.
I think Knick fans can relate to Plax and Gobert because they want to shoot themselves.
No.
I gave you a card for that Robin Hood.
What is this?
Okay, explain this.
We do a lot of stuff.
Robin Hood.
Yes.
In real life, it's like take from the rich and get to the poor.
Sure, yeah.
Take from Dolan.
But we take it to the inner city and try to get back to the kids.
Why can't you maybe go to every NBA arena and try to get kicked out of each arena?
Just sit there. I've been to five
arenas this year. All the GMs gave me
tickets. I'm sure. I didn't have to pay for none.
You were also a loved guy.
I mean, you know. I'm a good guy.
I know not in the big hand.
My thing is about helping people.
Can you play for just five minutes at the end of a
Knick game right now with the slacks on?
And just blow somebody into the stand. Can you try for just five minutes at the end of a Knicks game right now with the slacks on? Yeah. And just blow somebody into the stand?
Can you try to put into words, Charles, as a guy who knows basketball, how bad the Knicks are right now?
I mean, what is going on?
I like the guys, but it's just guys not good at the money they get.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, you get a used car, you make it drive, and sometimes I get a steal.
I ain't no more steals.
I ain't no more steals. I ain't no more steals.
You can't steal the ball
in the court no more.
Is it too many white guys?
I think it's too many white guys.
No.
They ain't baby white.
White guys start the league,
so everything come back.
Get involved.
Everything come back
except your hair.
Yeah, no, I mean,
the Knicks are like,
I mean, here's what's frustrating.
You got Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks, like,
Dallas, the Yankees, and the Knicks
are the most valuable franchise on the planet.
Again, the Dolan theory, it all goes back to them,
but they wasted a lot of money on different people.
Are you interested at all in front-officer coaching?
Has it ever been something you want?
I coached with Michael T before until I had Sergio Malva.
But is that something you like doing?
It's different now.
They don't want, it's just like,
and it literally taking over.
They don't listen to their coaches anymore.
That's why they get guys on the bench
just don't know nothing,
so they have excuse to fire them.
But players, you got to, I think at all times,
you need somebody on the bench,
the players going to respect.
Yeah, of course.
They need to see somebody.
A superstar's got to respect you.
When you called me out of the game
and pointed at me and told me,
you did this and that,
and they can't memorize it. What have you this and that, and they came memorizing,
what have you done in basketball besides get this job?
Right, right.
Just get out of my face.
You need someone who's been through it.
So you got to have, you know, a tough line of coaching,
or you got to have somebody on that bench tough.
Well, listen, Larry Bird did it with Bill Fitch back in the day.
He wanted Casey Jones.
He got Casey Jones.
Jordan did it with Doug Collins, right?
No, he got Phil Jackson.
He wanted Phil.
Doug was like a slow song.
He just liked the wine.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
So you got Phil.
I mean, the superstar gets what they want.
Who's the best coach you ever played for, you think?
Oh, I love Butch Carter.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He ain't going to give us credit.
Butch is probably one of the best.
I agree.
I agree.
Upgraded.
Situation, timeout, put the players in position to excel in the game.
Not take bad shots.
Shots within your range.
That's Butch.
But, you know, you have Pat Riley.
I was going to say, it's amazing the first thing wasn't Pat Riley.
He can drive you there.
He's like a movie theater.
He's a motivational speaker.
So you got to get out and get your own popcorn and soda.
Jeff, you know,
Jeff was on the
Pat Riley.
Van Gundy.
Jeff Van Gundy.
I mean, okay, I
hear you.
So Butch, you
said, I mean,
you've got to say.
I like Butch
because he really,
I mean, he, you
know, practiced
game.
The game, like
anybody can do
something practical,
but when you show
me a game, a
situation, like in the game, you draw plays, he won the best in timeout. Right, right. Come out of like, anybody can do something in practice. But when you show me a game, a situation, like, in the game,
you draw plays, he won the best in timeout.
Right, right.
Come out of timeout, he always gave us two plays.
Okay.
You know, some people didn't remember all of them,
but he gave us two plays.
Van Gundy or Butch.
Butch.
Butch was, yeah, okay.
That was his thing.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, like, sometimes in some sports,
you got to call another timeout.
You can't get the ball in.
But we always had a second option.
If you had to be head coach, like they said, look,
you lost a bet.
You got to be head coach for a year.
And you had to deal with these new guys not playing the roles.
They would play the role.
Yeah.
I mean, how frustrating is it when—
I'm going to lose.
I'm going to lose.
Like, hey, okay.
Yeah.
You know, this is what you're supposed to do.
This is your job.
You get paid $40 million.
I mean, you got attitude for what reason?
Right.
It's a guy down the street
asking you for a quarter
of a dollar.
You got attitude
for what reason?
Exactly.
You know what?
It's like lighting
a bucket of oil.
I blame it a lot
to the commission, too,
because, you know,
he's too soft
with the players.
All-Star weekend.
He is wishy-washy, man.
You play the game.
You get three or four days
off before the season starts.
It used to be like at the All-Star game, you fly back to the city,
you get one day off.
Now they get three or four days.
Now they're going to cut the season.
Now a lower manager.
Now it's just like it's a laundry list that you're trying to build.
When you get soft, all the stuff is going to sneak in.
Yeah.
That's why the talent ain't – the talent not there.
Now they're going to change the rules back.
What is the reason for that, though?
It seems like there's a lot of basketball players.
I don't know.
They play too much ball as a young'un.
Their body can't stay healthy.
They break it down early.
Right.
So now the league trying to get them to come back out.
In two years, I think they're going to change the rules.
You come straight from high school.
That's really going to be bad.
Yeah, I think so.
Josh, are people in better shape now than they were playing
years ago, like the Knicks from the 70s.
Everybody the same size now.
Except LeBron.
Everybody's a size 6.
LeBron's a size 12.
Did you play football?
They went straight legs.
Did you play football?
Yes, I did.
Were you a tight end or something?
Tight end, defensive end.
Yeah, I was going to say.
I like to hit people.
Now, were you on a level where you could have gotten a scholarship?
I was better than football.
Oh, you were?
But now I'm better than cooking.
So cooking became a passion in your life.
Yeah, but I did it when I was in the league.
I used to bite the gas over my house, my mother's house,
and try to build a team chemistry.
I don't see that.
Everybody wants to be separate now.
You can't win like that.
Dude, you're so right.
Baseball is very individual.
Basketball, you've got to be a now. You can't win like that. Dude, you're so right. I mean, baseball's very individual. You got the basketball.
You got to be a team, man.
But baseball is most of it.
Now you're seeing so many young guys
that are playing baseball.
Most lineups got six guys to hit.
Yeah.
It used to be like a defensive player here,
a good catcher guy can throw.
But now baseball is getting more.
They want more offense.
Did you play a third sport?
Did you play any other ball?
That was football and basketball?
I played big wheels.
It's a card game.
Yeah.
And what, is your mom still in Cleveland?
Yeah, it's just, I was with her over the holidays.
Oh, that's right.
So you still got, wow, good for her.
That's great.
Every time I cook, I do all the cooking now.
And so do you go back to your community in Cleveland,
like, you know, the area you grew up in and try to help out and stuff?
I do two big events in Cleveland every year.
We call it a Robin Dance Cookout, and we go back, and we do a big thing in the shelter
with these guys.
I grew up in the neighborhood.
They've been doing stuff for 30, 40 years, so.
Wow.
I do two big cooking events in Cleveland.
I do Skid Row.
I just did something up in Harlem.
Yeah.
I did, we gave away turkeys on Thanksgiving, so.
What do you think that, Cleveland is a city.
What do you think, what's going to bring that back, man? I mean, it's Thanksgiving. What do you think? Cleveland is a city. What do you think?
What's going to bring that back, man?
I mean, it's sad.
Did you get political?
OJs, LeBron.
Did you get political?
What do you think of like a Trump?
Did you get into that at all or no?
Not really.
Trump is Trump.
I met Trump before he was, you know.
Yeah, me too.
I roasted him, actually.
Yeah, we used to have stuff on 59 on the fashion shows and all that, the talent shows.
You know, hey, Trump just put his name in the hat.
He just, hey, hey, anything can happen.
And it happened.
You think Kanye West could be president one day?
No.
Do you have a relationship as a Nick with guys like Jay-Z and those guys?
I mean, Spike Lee, Woody Allen.
What was it like playing for that weirdo, Woody Allen?
You see him and his daughter.
I can't speak.
I don't know nothing about Woody Allen, but he's the support to Nick.
He was there every day.
I think Dolph threw him out because he wasn't trying something or something.
Is that true?
Dolph threw Woody Allen?
But Jay-Z, back in the day, I just remember him, Spike Lee.
You know, we had all the movies coming out.
Spike Lee almost played defense for you.
Yeah, we needed him in a couple of sessions.
I mean, with Reggie Miller, what about a guy like Reggie Miller?
What were you like?
I mean, Reggie's a player.
I mean, he had one of them shots that he'd be like, wow, that went in.
But he could shoot, though.
Yeah.
He lights out.
I can't get visions of Charles Smith out of my head.
But guys worked on their craft back then.
It was like, you know, ugly shot, but
he could shoot. Well, Larry Bird didn't look
awkward shooting, but
where does Larry Bird fall in the
grand scheme of things? Bird and Magic.
I put Larry Bird probably top
seven. Yeah, yeah.
Bird top ten?
No, Magic top five. Bird probably seven, eight. Okay, yeah. So both top ten guys. Oh, yeah. Bird, top ten? No, imagine top five. Bird
probably seven, eight. Okay, yeah. So
both top ten guys. Oh, yeah.
What about a guy like Dr. J?
That's tough. Late
18 to 25. Who was your
hero growing up, basketball-wise?
I was a Cleveland fan.
So who are we talking about?
They had
Nate Thurman, Big Ol' Smith,
Alston Carr, Jim Jones.
I used to go to Jim Jones' house and play.
They used to invite me.
I'd just go out to the car and sit.
Because you were a kid who was getting recruited.
No, I was just right in the city
because there was a lot of stuff in the city.
So I used to play summer league
when I was in high school.
Right, right. The pros used to always do that, come back I used to play summer league when I was in high school. Right, right.
Other than the pros.
The pros used to always do that, come back and play the summer league.
They don't do that no more.
No, I was going to say, yeah.
One guy wants to go to L.A., one guy wants to go to Vegas.
Well, they're all like traveling corporations.
I saw a documentary on Kevin Durant, the way he lives.
Everything's a private jet.
I mean, I love Durant.
But, again, you can get soft.
You got to stay on.
Like, what was your workout schedule when you were a player?
I mean, how was it?
You just were always naturally whatever.
I mean, you know.
We practiced, and then, you know, you do probably lift twice a week.
Yeah, but the running, the amount of games, man.
Why does it seem like you never got hurt?
Guys get hurt.
He's tough.
No, it's noodles, so they ain't eat no beef.
That's what I'm saying. Everybody's gluten-free. Everybody's sexy now. Vegan. All they eat now is noodles, so they ain't eat no beef.
That's what I'm saying.
Everybody's gluten-free. Everybody eats sexy now.
Vegan.
Get their nails piled up.
What is Charles Smith vegan?
Vegan.
Hey, did you go back when they won in Cleveland?
Were you back at the games?
I went to the game.
When Gleron took the ring?
I went to Golden State.
They tried to throw me out of Golden State.
You hear about that?
Yeah, yeah, sort of.
What happened there now?
What happened there?
I had a pass on. Right. And they were like, where's your of. I was trying to get in the locker room. What happened there now? What happened there? I had a pass on.
Right.
And they were like, where's your pass?
I said, you can't see.
What is their problem with you?
I don't know.
I guess they just, they was,
they was irritated because I was in the stand.
You know at Golden State,
they said their fans got a lot of fans in the arena.
Yeah.
They was sitting on their hands
because it was a tight game.
No, I know.
When you're up by 10 or 15, you can be around.
You're not saying this.
I am.
It looks like a Klan meeting at a Golden State Martyrs. It is
old white motherfuckers who just look
like they're ready to lynch somebody.
You know, they are very quiet.
They was bad, though.
You'd be up 3-1. Yeah, you should be mad.
Up 3-1.
I mean, listen, I'm
more of a Jordan guy than a LeBron guy.
LeBron willed that, man.
What a series.
So we won that.
So you went out to go and stay, and they don't want to let you in the locker room?
It was cool, though.
But they knew I, you know, so I went to the parade.
Me and Shannon shot.
He flew in town.
That's great.
Is he from Cleveland, too, Shannon?
No, he's from Atlanta.
Oh, okay.
He's a LeBron guy, so he flew in town.
They're all LeBron guys. They wanted us to go on the float. I said, no, y'all just have your moment. So they showed me love. Oh, okay. He's a LeBron guy, so he's from downtown. They're all LeBron guys.
They wanted us to go to the float.
I said, no, y'all just have your moment.
So they showed me.
That's nice.
So when the thing happened at MSG,
Gibb Arena, they called me.
You know what I mean?
Right.
The owner, they called me,
coat size seats and this and that.
I mean, you know.
There's a lot of owners who are down on him for that.
A lot of owners.
Cleveland's a unique city.
Unique people come from Cleveland.
You got,
Arsenio Hall is a comic,
I know he's from Cleveland.
You got,
You're Oakley,
Don King,
Drew Carey.
Drew Carey's a Cleveland guy.
There's a lot of people
in Cleveland.
No, Cleveland is,
you got Ken Willey,
you got OJ.
Why don't we do a reality show
where you cook for the Dolans?
They from,
Arsenic.
They live,
they found a group of mile-and-hands
where my mother lives in Cleveland right now.
Oh, really?
Yes.
They big...
I don't know.
I mean, again, I just don't get the whining
about bringing articles to the meeting,
like, oh, look what he said about me.
I don't understand that at all.
I really don't.
I'm telling you, when this book comes out,
I'm telling you, it's going to be hot.
They're going to have to put it in a briefcase.
Now, talk about the book. Talk about the book. You're writing a book. Yeah, I'm writing them, when this book comes out, I'm telling them, it's going to be so hot, they're going to have to put it in a briefcase. Now, talk about the book.
Talk about the book.
You're writing a book.
Yeah, I'm writing a couple.
A cookbook and a book like my life.
So what's the book called?
My Life in Cleveland, New York.
What's the book?
You got a title?
Well, the name of the cookbook was going to be named
Set Up and Cook, but somebody else had that.
We had called them and talked to them about releasing that,
but they wouldn't release it.
Okay, so it's all your original recipe stuff you cook.
Oh, yeah.
I'm working on it every day.
Oh, wow.
And so you got the cookbook,
but then you got your life story coming out.
Yeah.
I met with someone earlier talking about doing a documentary.
I ain't got like 10 people want to do a documentary.
I know, I'm sure.
So I got to wait, keep it cool.
You know, I got to, you know, hold some stuff in.
Charles, what I remember as a fan,
what I remember with you as a fan,
mostly, is your competitive nature.
That's the one thing I remember.
Like, when you're walking around,
your shirt's untucked, and at the end of the game,
like, what are we doing?
Like, you just, you wanted it.
It was, as a fan, you made it fun to pay for the ticket.
You look pissed when your neck's lost.
But see, that's why I try to tell...
There ain't enough of that, bro.
Not anymore.
Don't come out and say this
just like the fans judge you.
Yeah.
They'll let you know
your hustle.
You give it your best effort
every night,
this and that.
They trying to,
you know.
Look,
this is the best compliment
I can give you.
At the Garden,
it's 14 bucks for a beer,
11 bucks for a hot dog.
Parking is insane.
I didn't mind paying it when I watched Charles Oakley play.
That's what I'm saying.
But a lot of people said I knocked the beer out of their hands.
That's fine.
I'll buy another one.
I'll buy another beer.
They said I was in the stand more than they were sitting in their seat.
What a great marketing tool for you to knock a beer out of hands
so they got to buy another one.
But I told them, anytime I could see the ball.
But again, you would dive.
You would go.
You're a competitor.
And that's what fans want to see after a while.
Some of these guys are walking around.
I mean, the Knicks, you know, I'm a gambler.
I'm not going to lie to you.
Last year, the Knicks were getting 17 and a half points from Houston.
I was in a halfway house.
And I bet these crazy maniacs money.
And I said, 17, I'll take the Knicks.
And not even close.
I watched a full Knicks game for the first time because I had a bet on it.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. Oh my God.
They really look pathetic.
Yeah. They look like they gave up
in the second quarter. I watched maybe four
Nick games this year. I ain't seen a guy take one charge.
I think if you
played today, you would foul out four minutes.
No, no, no.
The way they call the fouls now.
They're not going to come around me, so I can't
foul out. Were you good at that art of taking a charge?
Huh?
Were you good at the art of taking a charge?
I took a charge a lot.
And you would plant your feet to explain to people in the basketball.
Plant your feet to paint.
It's about reading.
Remember they said Houston was stealing signs in the baseball?
Yeah.
So it's about reading the ball.
Sure.
Knowing the ball there.
That's how you get charged.
And knowing the guy's momentum to the curve. You can see where the guy, you about reading the ball. Sure. Knowing the ball there. That's how you get charged. And knowing the guy's momentum's going to come.
You can see when the guy, you can see the speed, you know,
is he going to pull up or he going to come all the way.
Yeah.
So it's a judgment call, but you got to get there and get set.
Right.
And get set, get your feet planted, and they hit you.
And at the end of the game, a huge, huge thing.
But sometimes, you see, that'll stop all them little sexy guys from traveling.
Right.
From coming to the bash because they don't want to get hit.
Right.
It ain't like you hitting them, but they hitting you.
They ain't about to hit your body.
Soon as they do, they're going to get bruised.
What about the way sports have changed?
You can't hit a quarterback in the NFL.
That's bad.
I mean, the flopping in the NBA.
People complain.
That's bad.
The concussion stuff.
It's football.
They won't score.
But they ain't going to get a lot of scoring
because defense is too fast.
Yeah.
The offensive line is too slow.
I guess in the next two or three years,
you're going to see all these 300-pound guys come down to about 280,
275 because defense guys are so clever.
Yeah.
Your weight, you can't ship it quick enough.
Well, you're a Cleveland guy.
I like football, but I don't like all these receivers, Diva.
They act like some little girls.
Oh, they really are, man.
If they ain't changed the rules, these guys would be going—
their stats would be what their stats are.
Now, you're a Cleveland guy.
I got to ask Miles Garrett, the guy who hit the—
It is what it is.
What happened there?
When you're in the heat of battle, you can't even worry about what might happen.
If it happens, you got to live for it.
Yeah.
You got to live for it.
But the thing is,
if you're a quarterback,
if he had took your helmet,
how you going to go
take it back?
Why you let him
take it the first place?
No, seriously though.
No, listen man.
If somebody takes something
from me,
I'm going to fight him
right there that moment.
I know like...
Yeah, so what do you think
should happen to a guy
like Myles Geyer
for doing that?
They suspended for...
That's a good call. Spended for a year but let him come back next year. But they were talking about criminal charges. Yeah, so what do you think should happen to a guy like Miles Guy for doing that? They suspended for—that's a good call.
You think so, yeah.
Spended four years, but let him come back next year.
But they were talking about criminal charges.
Yeah, you know, that's me now.
They're going to drive anything that people are going to listen to.
It's more criminal what they did to you in the guard.
No doubt.
And I'm rooting for you there.
I appreciate that.
So, Charles, so once again, me and you were going to roast O.J. Anderson for a good cause.
Yes, yes.
At Gotham Comedy Club December 11th.
Plaxico Burr is going to be there, the great Jackie Martling.
LT.
A lot of guys.
And Lawrence Taylor.
Do you know Lawrence?
Do you know LT?
Real well.
Yeah, me too.
I met him.
When I first came to New York back in the days, I used to go to his house for New Year's.
A lot of coke.
Go to LT.
LT Sports Bar.
Yeah, yeah.
All the Giants games.
So I've been going to the Giants games since 88.
Love Lawrence Taylor.
Great guy. And he's at the Rose, by the way. So I've been going to the Giants games since 88. Love Lawrence Taylor. Great guy.
He's at the Rose, by the way.
So get those jokes ready.
Now, will you joke about Lawrence Taylor and his issues?
I'll do whatever.
I ain't scared of him.
I know you aren't.
He put his bands on, too.
Now, will you protect me if he goes after me?
Yeah, I'll protect you.
I'll protect you.
Charles, listen.
Little white guy.
Charles, let me tell you something, bro, let me tell you something, bro.
Let me tell you something, bro.
I'm a big fan, and I stayed here later because they said you could come in.
I'm a huge fan, and I really want to thank you for doing this.
I know you're probably busy.
I'm glad you called me.
And you do a lot of good shit.
I don't mind doing nothing for people.
I do all kinds of stuff.
People just don't be talked about.
It's cool, though.
I'm cool.
I do it for the moment,
for the heart,
for the love.
And you do a lot
of good stuff
and this is a big
booking for us.
And again,
once again,
Robin Hood,
this is what you
work with,
okay?
And come to the roast
and now,
Bo Shetty,
final thoughts,
Charles Oakley.
Charles Oakley,
God bless you,
all the work you do
for good people.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
I want to do more.
Yeah, well listen,
there's time, bro.
You look good.
You look 110. The Oak Tree. I'm getting a little ball. I want to do more. Yeah, well, listen. There's time, bro. You look good. You look 110.
The oak tree.
I'm getting a little ball.
I'm getting a George Jefferson.
The other thing, dude, is keep that hair.
I love the white hair.
It's dignified.
Thank you.
I'm all white, too.
I'm doing a documentary on the seven mislaps by Charles Smith.
Oh.
Charles Smith.
As a Knicks fan, that's what I'm minding.
I'm minding paying 14 bucks a day when I saw that.
We lose other teams, so Charles what I'm minding. I'm minding paying 14 bucks a day. We lose as a team, so Chuck, you tried.
And you did.
Yeah.
But you were.
Give Pat Riley more of the blame because he should have did some better substitutions.
I think that's the biggest news as a basketball fan is that you go with Butch over Pat Riley as your best coach.
But that's a big deal.
For his good strategy, you know, game plan situation.
Yeah, Butch.
But that's a big deal.
Yeah, well, all right.
I'm telling the truth. Thank you. And that's why I deal. Yeah, well, all right. I'm telling the truth.
Thank you.
And that's why I love you, dude.
That's another reason I want you in here.
I know Pat Riley White, he's like, it's cool.
Yeah, no, yeah.
I ain't paying favor to him.
No favor to him.
You, guys, Jimmy, Mike, thank you.
Charles, once again, I'll see you December 11th, dude.
Yes, we got to do this every year.
OJ, anytime.
OJ's in trouble. Oh, yeah. OJ Anderson's in trouble December 11th. I'm going to bring 11th, dude. Yes, we got to do this every year. O.J., anytime. O.J.'s in trouble.
Oh, yeah.
O.J. Anderson's in trouble December 11th.
I'm going to bring the real O.J.
We're working at 2,000 yards in 12 years.
Let me know because I'm bringing a knife.
I got jokes.
All right, Charles, I love you, dude.
Thank you so much.
R.D. Lacks, halfway out.
See you next time.