“It hurt him from the heart” Charles Oakley reveals how ‘broken and sad’ Michael Jordan was after the former was traded to New York Knicks
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Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley
Given that the level of competitiveness in NBA, is at the highest level, it becomes highly difficult for player to form significant friendships. Similar was the case with, arguable GOAT, Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley who played alongside one-another for three seasons from 1985 to 1988 until the Enforcer was traded away to New York Knicks for Bill Cartwright in the summer.
Eventually that particular trade proved to be a beneficial scenario for the Bulls, who went onto lift 3 straight NBA Championship 1991 to 1993. In an appearance of Bulls Talk podcast, Charles Oakley revealed the honest feeling of Michael Jordan to his trade to the Knicks.
Charles Oakley reveals how sad Michael Jordan was after he got traded to Knicks
“The Enforcer” noted that he received news of his trade at the Mike Tyson-Leon Spinks heavyweight fight in Atlantic City in June 1988.
According to Oakley, Jordan was unhappy with the trade because of their friendship, but the trade had to be done. The most important thing for Oakley is that they stayed friends even after the deal. They are still pretty close with each other till this day, usually playing golf and going on vacation together.
He stated, “Mike was upset. I told him, ‘Let’s just the watch the fight and have a good night.’ And that’s what we did. I didn’t hold no grudge against Jerry (Krause), Jerry Reinsdorf, Michael, nobody. But Michael, it hurt him from the heart. We had just bonded, got real close. But we stayed friends to this day. And he won six championships, and I won zero.”
Having revealed how Oakley and Jordan became such close friends, he had earlier stated, “He was always about business, and I was there doing my craft, working on my game and showing them I wanted to be there. Sometimes when training camp started, we just seem to get closer and closer. Next thing you know, we started just hanging. He took me to All-Star Dallas, took me on his wings, and we’ve been tight ever since.”
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Yakshpat Bhargava
(3989 Articles Published)