Greatest unsung hero in every NBA team’s history

New York Knicks: Charles Oakley

Remember when I talked about how sluggish the Reggie Miller-era Indiana Pacers played? Well, the 1990s New York Knicks played a similarly unappealing brand of basketball. This probably explains why they were such great rivals, along with major geographical differences between always-busy New York and not as bustling Indianapolis.

While their best player in center Patrick Ewing often relied on finesse and his mid-range game to get buckets, the rest of the team consisted of oblong players that had only one goal. That was to make the opposition work for every basket, even if it means turning the game into a pro wrestling match.

Forward/center Charles Oakley was the prime representative of this directive. The former Virginia Union standout (between Oakley and Ben Wallace, that school has a knack for producing good defense-first forwards) spent 10 of his 19 NBA seasons with the Knicks, terrorizing anyone who dared to attempt a layup on his watch.

Overall, his numbers weren’t eye-catching. He averaged only 10.4 points per game during his time in New York, but Oakley’s rugged play earned him a place in Knicks fans’ heart even after he went elsewhere.

That love for Oakley hasn’t been dulled down by the hands of time if the support for him after the incident with Knicks owner James Dolan was any indication. That’s because Oakley represented what made those Knicks teams in the 1990s so great.

Yes, they had Ewing and that made things easier for everybody, but guys like Oakley, Anthony Mason and John Starks were arguably a bigger part of those teams’ identity. They didn’t win a title, as Michael Jordan had a lot to do with that, but they fostered a consistency that the team hasn’t experienced in a long time.