It’s been quite a year for Charles Oakley. After being dragged out of Madison Square Garden by upwards of 20 security guards and then publicly accused of substance abuse and/or mental illness problems by embattled Knicks owner James Dolan, he was widely lionized by fans and the NBA world at large for his ongoing and disproportionate mistreatment by the organization where he spent the bulk of his career.
They haven’t exactly mended fences, and Oakley has since moved on to other ventures, namely hurling obscenities at the players he’s coaching in Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball tournament. Oak is also professor emeritus of the “League is Too Soft Today” school of former NBA tough guys, and during a BIG3 event in Dallas on Saturday, his distaste for today’s game spilled over into casual misogyny.
NBA legend Charles Oakley on the new NBA generation: "they are so sensitive. Some need to be wearing dresses" @iamrapaport live in Dallas pic.twitter.com/ebqsCo0BW2
— David Astramskas (@redapples) July 30, 2017
Complaining about the modern NBA being too soft is a tired refrain that hardly merits a response. And in the modern NBA, league brass and the majority of the players also tend to frown on overtly sexist comments.
But Oak’s indictment is also a bit peculiar given that he recently defended LeBron and other current players against similar accusations levied by Dennis Rodman, who in the same sentence he referred to as “Miss wedding dress.”
So it appears that although his thinking on the subject of the league’s overall toughness has evolved, his sexism remains fully intact.
