If you would have told me back in December that 2017 would be the year of Charles Oakley, I might have reacted like Oak after a foul he didn’t like. Or I would have pointed and laughed at you like you deserved. Or I would have asked for your Biff Tannen Sports Almanac, because you clearly had some absurd knowledge of the future. Regardless, here we are on All-Star Weekend and Charles Oakley is already pretty much owning 2017.
The latest bit of news on Oakley is he’s making his grand return to the court this year. No, not Madison Square Garden — not yet at least — but he’s coming back to play basketball against real athletes. According to the latest #WojBomb from Adrian Wojnarowski, Oakley is set to join Ice Cube’s much ballyhooed about 3-on-3 league, The Big 3. According to Woj, Oakley will be joining a team with Chauncey Billups and Stephen Jackson, and will act as both player and coach.
Sources: Charles Oakley will be a player/coach on a team with Chauncey Billups and Stephen Jackson in the @TheBig3.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 17, 2017
In case you’re wondering, Oakley is 53 years old, six years older than the league’s founder Cube, who will definitely not be lacing them up to get mixed by Jason Williams. Oakley played his last NBA game in 2004 as a backup for Yao Ming and tossed in four points in a loss, and appeared on the Spike series Pros Vs. Joes a few years later elbowing some unlucky souls four rebounds on a makeshift basketball court.
