[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

From NESN:

No one ever questioned Charles Oakley‘s toughness during his 19-year NBA career. But that isn’t stopping him from criticizing others.

Oakley appeared on The Jim Rome Show on Tuesday, and he had plenty to say about Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, among others. The longtime Knicks big man said that he doesn’t consider KG to be as tough as he wants other players to believe.

"Garnett left Minnesota and hollered and screamed and all that but he’s not a tough guy. He’s one of the weakest guys to ever play the game," Oakley said. "He’s a complementary player and went to Paul Pierce‘s team and won a championship. I wouldn’t consider him a top 10 tough guy."

Oakley then decided that ripping into The Big Ticket wasn’t enough. He also took a shot at one of Garnett’s former teammates, Kendrick Perkins, later on in the show.

"He’s just like Garnett. They holler and complain," Oakley said of Perk. "If Kendrick Perkins would play basketball, Oklahoma City would win a championship the next three or four years…[He brings] Nothing [to the table]. That’s why he got dunked on and he got mad about someone tweeting about it. You’re a power forward, you don’t let guys dunk on you. I played 18, 19 years, I got dunked on three times. You’re limited on offense, do something on defense, get a rebound make some free throws."

Oakley, of course, is referring to Perkins expressing his displeasure with LeBron James tweeting that Perk should be embarrassed about getting emphatically dunked on by Blake Griffin.

But even before Oakley’s outburst on the former Boston center, he momentarily steered away from the C’s to take a shot at Charles Barkley, whom he battled in the paint for years before the two retired. He called Barkley "a coward" and "a fraud."

"Barkley for his size was a good player, but he’s a coward though," Oakley said. "He was a good player for his size but, he wasn’t a leader and wasn’t a role model. Now he talks so bad about younger guys, I don’t respect that from him…He’s a fraud, he can criticize all the younger kids and if he got something to say, call them and talk to them before you just blast them. He’s wants to be funny, that whole TNT thing and all that, they’re like some clowns on that show."

Well, we can probably rule out Oakley joining the TNT crew anytime soon. And Garnett and Perkins probably wouldn’t be too welcoming if he were to show up to their respective locker rooms, either.

http://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/msn/charles_oakley_calls_kevin_garnett_one_of_weakest_guys_to_ever_play_also_rips_kendrick_perkins_charles_barkley/10044811

Have to say, maybe the one thing I disagree with him on is KG being one of the weakest players to ever play the game. He has a definite wiry strength to him, but most of what Oak is saying is dead on. Kendrick Perkins needs to back his play up and go out there and actually grind. If Perkins was everything he was supposed to be, the Thunder would be in a much better position than they even already are in.

Now, as far as the Chuckster, I do like him. I read "I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It" (got a bit hard to go through the political stuff, as I tend to disagree with him) and I think he is an entertaining and funny studio commentator. Nonetheless, he does talk worse about a lot of these guys than he really needs to. He said it himself, "He is not a role model", but why not be a leader and mentor when you have the chance? Oak knows his role, and I guarantee that none of them want beef with the dude.

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

He’s right about KG. It seems like KG thought he was supposed to be some type of tough guy when he came to Boston, but that just usually ends up with him talking a whole bunch or making dirty plays and never backing it up. Maybe it’s because he thought that was supposed to be his role, or because his skills were on the decline, but it’s been really disappointing to watch, because I used to really like KG.

Otherwise, I typically hate when ex-players come out with garbage like this where they talk about how the game was better when they played, and all that nonsense. You know why Charles Oakley never got dunked on? Because he was a horrible shot-blocker.

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

 retirement is a tough lonnnnnnng time….. go fishing oak’.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Oakley is a loser if you noticed no one was tough to him. KG is a tough ass dude Perkins too. Except it get over it cry to yourself.

[NYK2010Participant]

Oak is funny but some of that was true though.

He had some good battles with Barkley.

KG is an idiot sometimes he probably has a big ego and thinks he’s a big intimidator.

Truth be told, Oakley at least hit jump shots and was a good free throw shooter.

Kendrick Perkins can’t do either of those.

 

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

But he left due to back problems. Either way, this guy speaks his mind and while Chuck and KG are two of the best PF’s in league history, he is dead on with Perkins. Oak averaged 9.7 ppg and 9.5 rpg for his career. I do not care how much better of a shot blocker Perkins may be (due to his obvious length advantage on Oakley), he is not half as tough or close to the rebounder Oak was.

He is not even close to the rebounder he should be this season. For everyone talking up how much weight he had lost and how much better that would make him, results have not been good. 4.4 ppg and 5.9 rpg in 26.5 minutes per game my friends, is bad. BAD. A poster (who I will keep nameless, but could be discovered easily in the archives) claiming Perk should win defensive player of the year. That, my friends, is a reputation that Perkins has not come close to deserving.

Perkins can say whatever he wants about LeBron James, but the proof is in the play. LeBron is averaging .1 fewer rebounds per 36 minutes than Perkins. This is a guy who has this reputation as a shut down defensive center and I think he has not at all lived up to that billing since coming to OKC. He needs to let his play do the talking and I thought it was super weak he even cared about LeBron James or anyone tweeting about a play that got obvious cred. Oak may not have blocked shots like Perkins, but you never said "wow, Oakley is not pulling his weight" when it came to grabbing boards and knocking people on their @ss. If Perkins wants to be the tough guy, Oak is telling him he ain’t doing it right.

[NYK2010Participant]

Also Oakley made the All Defensive team mostly becaz of his grit, toughness and hard work.

He averaged almost 10 rebs a game in the playoffs too.

[Anton123Participant]

 "I got dunked on three times"

C’mon man, you also averaged 0.3 blocks over your career, it’s not a thing to boast about. You didn’t even manage to get 400 blocks in 19 years

And yes, sorry Mikey, that post about Perkins being the DPOY was quite premature and wrong, I fully accept that. The fact I made that post taught me to hold my horses and is now keeping me from creating an "Ibaka for DPOY" topic lol.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

But I knew it was you, homie. People put way too much into shot blocking. Charles Oakley did not have the body or athleticism to block shots. I think it is hilarious people are bringing that up as the reason he was dunked on so few times. His point was "Who cares if you get dunked on?"

When LeBron got dunked on by Jordan Crawford, everyone was making fun of him for apparently taking all of the tapes of it. Well, Perkins sees this lesson than opens his fat trap about LeBron tweeting about it? Who cares?

Oakley led the league in total rebounds his first and second year in the league and played major roles on good teams more than Perkins has. Perk won a championship, but he never played the role Oakley did in his success with the Knicks.

See, Oakley’s rep as a defender was earned on his own. He was the guy who watched Michael Jordan’s back the first few years and was the guy you hated to play against on the Knicks and Raps. Perkins, well, so far he has not exactly lived up to his rep from Boston. OKC is winning right now, but do you trust Perkins in the play-offs? Point to his experience, but I have a much fresher memory of him getting destroyed by Nene, Marc Gasol and Tyson Chandler.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I agree with him, damn near about everything.

As talented as KG was, I don’t think he wanted to be a "go-to" guy. His teams always did better when they had someone who wanted the ball down the stretch. For example, the Wolves were at their best when they had Sam and Spree. And then obviously the Celtics had Pierce and Allen. I always felt like KG would rather play defense, get the rebound, set the screen or make the pass. Those aren’t bad things, but I just never felt he was a superstar go-to player.

LeBron sort of reminds me of KG to be honest. Talented players who can do just about anything, and are capable of making big plays down the stretch, but just it really isn’t who they are. It’s who we want them to be because of all of their talents.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 Oak is going to measure toughness against his own standard, and most likely pretty much everyone falls short of that. I don’t believe that Oak was only dunked on three times, but I do know the league was different back then and the Knicks were very physical. Oakly would just level a guy if he came in to dunk on him. Perkins actually does hit Griffin a bit on that play and trys to push him back away from the basket. Oak would have probably rotated kicker and hit Griffin harder; there would have been no dunk. The refs allowed stuff back then that they would just throw you out of the game for now. I think this is for the best because basketball defense shouldn’t include the threat of physical injury as a major component. But back in the day, the Knicks and the Pistons used that threat to deter other teams from doing certain things. I much prefer the current game where smaller players can get in the air and attack the rim without too much fear that the defender will knock them down on purpose.  

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

While in Minnesota I remember Garnett sucker punching Antonio McDyess and then running away while flailing his arms like a girl hoping to get as many teammates in between him and McDyess as possible.  It was the beggining of the Tough guy Garnett.  When Joel Przybilla came into the league from the Univ. of Minnesota Garnett referred to to him as a fake thug because of a tatoo on his arm.  I do think one of them is a fake thug… but it’s not Przybilla.

[Bad DogParticipant]

LOL! I remember that when KG did that to McDyess. After that happened he never tried to punk another player taller than 6’9.  I remember when he got into it with Anthony Peeler too. Oak for the most part is right about KG. He is a fake tough guy. Always has been. He’ll yell in your face all game long but won’t do anything if confronted by someone his own size. He’s a great player but he is not an intimidator.

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

 Oak can say what he wants but truth is this.

KG and Charles were better players than him, and if I were Charles and KG I would let it be known.

Just like Shaq, Oak needs to stop worrying about the players today and just go on with his life, while I will agree Perkins is soft, Oak can’t speak on KG and Charles.

[YurpleHazEParticipant]

the thing is this isnt the first time he’s rambled about this stuff…….he’s just coming off bitter now……

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

Oakley, of course, is referring to Perkins expressing his displeasure with LeBron James tweeting that Perk should be embarrassed about getting emphatically dunked on by Blake Griffin.

——————————————————————————————————————–

 

Lebron did NOT tweet that Perk should have been embarrased about the Griffin dunk…

Anyway on to the rest of the article…

"He’s one of the weakest guys to ever play the game,"

That’s just a ridiculous statement to say about Garnett. And as far as calling KG a "complementary player" that’s also kind of weak considering that he was arguably Boston’s most valuable player during their championship season.

You’re a power forward, you don’t let guys dunk on you. I played 18, 19 years, I got dunked on three times.

Now I agree that Perkins took offense to that dunk a bit too much, and he is underacheiving on the Thunder this year (center is still their weakest link). But Oakley is being a bit disingenuous here. I can personally rememeber him getting dunked on far more than 3 times. In this clip Pippin dunks on Oakley and Oakley doesn’t even contest the play! He certainly has some selective memory, the alzheimers must be kicking in for the old Oak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q57QqREwgLY

"Barkley for his size was a good player"

Also a crazy statement. Barkley for ANY size was a GREAT player. But Oak is right about Barkley not being a team leader or a role model but he never pretended to be a role model either so calling him a fraud is innaccurate.

[beerandhiphopParticipant]

kg pwned rick rickerts face to the tune of busted grill and stitches..

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

To follow up on KG not being a tough guy, I completely agree.  He always tries to fight and punk guards.  When he tried getting into it with Bill Walker this season, why did he not try to get into it with Amar’e or Tyson Chandler?  Because those dudes would bust his ass and call his bluff.  

Dude never tries to push around or fight big men on a team.  Same with Perkins.  If you’re really this tough defensive guy, who cares that you got dunked on?  It happens to everybody.  He should have just let it go, but no, he wanted to go the extra mile and act like a school-girl and try to turn the attention elsewhere.  It’s just sad, really.

[Anton123Participant]

 Are big men really much more dangerous than guards though? I know it’s terribly off-topic, but I bet a mean guy like Stephen Jackson or a strong guard like Westbrook or Marquis Daniels could take on most of the leagues big men

And anyway, they all got a neck and a crotch lol

[Ghost01Participant]

I don’t quite see why he had to call Barkley a "coward" for not loving younger players. But the rest of what he says is true. Kendrick Perkins has no business talking about anything Lebron does or says, and KG is one of the more overrated players of this generation.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

I’m thinking that someone needs to put together a “Charles Oakley getting dunked on” mix tape on youtube. 🙂

Not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7…

[sheltwon3Participant]

Barkley made a comment when he played that he hated when Bill Walton would talk about older players like they were so good and now that he is doing comentating, he is always talking about how good he was and how young players suck.  Barkley was blessed with size and skill but really did not work as hard as he should have.  His D was the reason why he lost a lot.  Phoenix with him was talented but had trouble guarding people on a consistent basis.

I remember when Pippen called him out in Houston for being fat and lazy.  I used to like Barkley because he was funny but now I kind of see what Oakley is talking about.

Also KG is talented and Oak never said he wasn’t but he is a fake tough guy.

It is obvious that KG only picks on certain players because other people would knock his block off.

Perkins is a sensitive wannabe bully.

[NYK2010Participant]

Lebron comparison with KG I don’t see it.

KG couldn’t get out of 1st round for what 7 yrs.

I"ll take Lebron over him anyday, Lebron has been off in maybe 3 series and 2 were in the Finals against Marion and Bruce Bowen 2 guys who can D you up.

Ppl see to forget the great game against the Pistons or the 45 pts in Game 7 against Pierce.  His series against Orlando in 09 was an all-time grt series and last yr he dominated 3 rounds.

[Author]

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