Former Toronto Raptor Charles Oakley is not Impressed With the Toronto Raptors
Before the 1998-1999 NBA season began, the Toronto Raptors had a young superstar in Vince Carter, an exciting team perhaps ready to take a step forward and become a contender and a reputation for being soft.
Their answer was to trade for Charles Oakley, a hard-nosed, physical rebounder who was a staple on the brutal New York Knicks who perennially challenged Michael Jordan's Bulls in the playoffs.
Oakley made a big impact as a leader, even helping the Raptors to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.
The current version of the Raptors, while talented, has some of those same "soft" whispers around the league, and Oakley himself gave voice to them:
‘You ain’t going nowhere with 7-footers shooting three-pointers. You can’t put four or five scorers on the floor at one time. You can, but you ain’t going nowhere. You got four or five scorers on the floor, ain’t enough shots in a game, in a quarter, for everybody to be consistent. You need your two scorers, outside threat and a post-up threat. You need your sixth man who can score. You need another guy that can just be an all-around energy guy, and you need another guy who can just, you know, play basketball.'
Oakley's one of those retired guys who constantly insinuates, despite his age, he could come back and play. Perhaps the Raptors would sign him to beat up Chris Bosh every day?
