When we caught up with longtime NBA big man Charles Oakley, he told us that he is actually better in the kitchen than he is on the basketball court.
That must make him a pretty good chef considering that Oakley played nineteen professional seasons, even earning an All-Star appearance in 1994 while also collecting multiple All-Defensive honors during his career.
Last month, Oakley released his life memoir, entitled The Last Enforcer: Outrageous Stories from the Life and Times of One of the NBA’s Fiercest Competitors.
Written with the help of sportswriter Frank Isola, Oakley walks readers through his relationships with the likes of Michael Jordan (who provided the foreword to this book), LeBron James, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, James Dolan, Donald Trump, George Floyd, and more.
Oakley also shares details about kicking Dennis Rodman out of a steakhouse in South Beach, an altercation with reality TV court judge Greg Mathis, and visiting Mike Tyson in prison.
The longtime NBA forward told us about the experience of writing the book with Isola, the player he feels is carrying his legacy as an “enforcer” in the modern NBA, and quite a bit about food.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.