Charles Oakley has had quite the eventful start to 2017, and for all the wrong reasons. As we are all well aware by now, Oakley and New York Knicks Owner James Dolan don’t have the friendliest of relationships. Oakley was recently kicked out of a Knicks game after an altercation between him and Dolan which subsequently turned physical and resulted in the 53-year old being arrested. Since then, we have seen Dolan ban Oakley from Madison Square Garden, a ruling that was quickly overturned in a meeting between Oakley, Dolan, Adam Silver, and Michael Jordan.
With all the drama seemingly in the past, the ex-New York Knick is set to make a return to the hardwood. Obviously he’s not making an NBA return at his age, but instead, Oakley will serve as a player-coach for Ice Cube’s highly anticipated ‘Big3’ professional basketball league. Following from Big3:
The BIG3, the highly anticipated 3-on-3 professional basketball league, announced today New York Knicks legend and NBA All-Star Charles Oakley will serve as a player coach of the Killer 3s, the newly announced BIG3 team with superstar captain Chauncey Billups and co-captain Stephen Jackson in the league’s inaugural season…
“I couldn’t be happier to be a part of this league,” said Oakley. “Everyone seems to realize we are about to make history together as players. What an exciting opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best ever.”
The BIG3 has recently revealed the names of the first three teams, as well as each team’s captains. Rashard Lewis and Jason Williams will captain the 3 Headed Monsters, Kenyon Martin and Al Harrington will captain the Trilogy and Chauncey Billups and Stephen Jackson will captain the Killer 3s.
During his 18-year stint in the NBA, Oakley was one of the NBA’s most formidable inside threats during the early 1990’s. Undersized for the power forward position at 6’8″, the Virginia Union product was still able to be a ferocious rebounder. With the days dwindling before the kick off of Ice Cube’s Big3 league, the anticipation to see how these retired players perform continues to increase.
