You notice the hair, because that is all that has changed with Charles Oakley since he left the Knicks in 1998.
With a do that’s considerably longer and stringier than during his stylish years in New York, Oakley showed yesterday that he’s obviously spending more time practicing jumpers than tending to his coiffure.
Canning all four of his second-half shots, including a clutch 25-foot, 3-point bomb late in the fourth quarter, the Raptors’ on-court leader was a force in his team’s ample comeback before falling to the Knicks, 92-88, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round at the Garden.
Oakley finished with 11 points on 5 of 8 shooting, and he added seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a blocked shot in 41 minutes. But as Knick fans came to admire during his 10 seasons at the Garden, the rugged 36-year-old power forward made an impact beyond the stat sheet.
Whether it was plunging on the court for every loose ball, or taking a charge on a fast-breaking Marcus Camby, the 14-year veteran was involved.
“Oak does all the little things,” said the Raptors’ Antonio Davis. “Diving on loose balls, being very vocal. Those types of things are needed. He can shoot, but all these things are extra. Everybody needs that leadership.”
It helped the Knicks advance to the championship in ’94, and it was needed all those years when Patrick Ewing was giving the team scoring, but little guidance.
Oakley, who still lives in White Plains in the offseason, said that he no longer groans about the controversial trade that sent him to Toronto for Camby. After two seasons out of New York, he said returning to play against the Knicks yesterday doesn’t give him an extra boost.
Still, while guarding Ewing in crunch time yesterday, the 6-foot-9 245-pound Oakley was particularly aggressive, forcing his former teammate to make off-balance shots.
“He clawed, he scratched, he battled, it’s nothing different,” Ewing said. “Just doing what he does best.”