Top 81 Quotes & Sayings by Charles Oakley
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Charles Oakley.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
I just tried to go out there and play with attitude, doing what I was supposed to do and knowing my role on the team. Doing what my team expected me to do every night, not just once a week. It was all about work and I was just a tough guy who would knock somebody down.
Some things don't just walk away. A dog got a broken leg, he ain't just going to walk away. He going to try to get himself together.
I'm all about having a good time and respecting my teammates.
One guy can't make a team better.
I love New York, gave my whole heart.
I don't like 7-footers shooting threes, it's a disrespect to the game for me.
I just don't like when you preach one thing and do something else.
My thing is, when Barkley played basketball, he didn't practice, he wasn't a leader, he wasn't this or that, he just had natural talent so he got chosen to the Dream Team, All Star team because he had the talent and he was the franchise player on the team.
One of the things about the NBA is anybody could be traded.
I was in New York, I went to a Yankees game and I called and said, 'Can I get tickets to the Knicks game?' They said, 'We can't get you tickets no more to the Knicks game.'... They had tickets, but they said they didn't have no tickets for me.
Back in our day and era, you had to have your potential and be ready to play right away. Everybody was talented.
When you walk out here with the Bobcats logo, stand for something. Not wearing your hat to the back, sagging jeans. Be a professional, that's how I present myself to them.
You can't throw a hook on the side of the road and expect to catch a fish in the grass.
David Stern is the mastermind behind a lot of stuff, he controls a lot of stuff, he dictates a lot of stuff so he's going to make himself look good.
I don't just hop in the car. I have destinations. I drive to relax. I'll be gone for two weeks, hit four or five major cities. I don't like being nowhere for more than two or three days. I just go. I don't have a schedule.
I'm a veteran. I understand the game. I can control a game. I understand systems. I can play several positions.
If you have a horse that isn't winning any races, sooner or later you have to get a new jockey.
You can't play Around the World in the NBA, you've gotta go to the basket.
Coming from the inner city of Cleveland and growing up you never expected a street to be named after you or anything. It's a special honor.
A gentleman pays his debt within a week or two.
If I would compare anybody to Michael Jordan, it would be Kobe Bryant.
I'm not a high jumper, but you don't see guys intimidating me or posting me up.
I'm like a toll booth. Sooner or later, you have to come to me.
I'm a trendsetter. I'm a leader, not a follower.
I'm just a piece of the pie, a slice of the pound cake.
People say, 'You're old.' Old ain't nothing. You've got new cars that break down and old cars that pass them.
I ask everybody, who's the best between Magic and LeBron? Everyone says Michael's greatest. But, OK, well, we'll give him his props. But LeBron is a better athlete, and he can do more than Michael on the basketball court.
I'm always willing to work stuff out, because I'm that type of guy.
Every superstar in this league, if you don't go through adversity, if you try to duck and dodge it, it's gonna damper your team.
I'm not the kind of guy you threaten.
Even though I retired, I work out four to five days a week, run two to three miles, I play ball.
I always try to treat people with respect and I just don't know. I got three assault cases for no reason.
I'm cool with whatever. I'll just keep eating my bread, sipping my soup and serving my time. But the chicken is going to lay some more eggs one day.
I'm in New York every two weeks. I don't have to ring a bell when I come to the city. I just do what I'm supposed to do when I'm in the city. I don't shy away.
Don't say, 'I don't want to do this, because, whatever.' Don't give up on something. You got to work hard.
When you play 40 minutes a game, you're going to average a lot of rebounds.
We had guys come out of high school, Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, but all these guys could play.
If you're picky, you have to learn about cooking.
I don't have any specialties. Anything I cook, I just make it special.
People hate to go out to eat with me because they know I'm going to send it back. Like, I'm trying to order simple. But don't blame me if you bring out the wrong stuff.
There's always someone who wants to make you look bad.
A lot of guys do the pretty things. Dunking, tattoos, earrings, sagging jeans. That's the league now. They have athletic ability, but they don't know the game.
You can't say, 'You're a scorer, you score. You rebound, you rebound.' Basketball is more than that. Basketball is knowing the next step, knowing the next play, knowing how to make things happen.
Every headline in the paper, I don't write them. My story's inside the paper, not the headline.
Just because there's glass on the road don't mean there's been an accident.
You can't shut somebody up by losing.
It's been so overwhelming, the people in New York. That's why they call New York, New York - because they care about things and know real situations. My love for the fans, it's mouth-dropping.
I just want to let the fans know I don't hate the Knicks. I love the Knicks.
Potential is like a summer crop. If it don't rain, it don't grow.
If you see a man kiss me, I better be in my casket.
I want to do what's best for the team, always.
If you're out after 6 o'clock, have a jacket on, because you might go somewhere. People say, 'Oh, I ain't dressed for it.' But if you have a jacket on, you can go anywhere.
They told me many times throughout my career to bite my tongue and I told them my tongue's been bleeding since I was born.
Do me a favor and don't make me out to be no hero.
I'm not a troublemaker. People say, 'You got into a lot of incidents.' Yeah, but it was on the basketball floor.
In the old days Michael Jordan and Larry Bird worked for everything they got. They worked hard on their game.
Chicago was a good place for me. Maybe New York will be better.
I shoot five or six times, go out and play defense and make sure everything is clicking. I'm like a transmission in a car. You can't see me, but I make the car go.
My thing was, if somebody talks about you this and that, you got to go prove them wrong.
When I first got into this league, I knew a lot. But I made myself better by listening and working hard.
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