Charles Oakley is a former NBA player. Before entering the NBA he played at Virginia Union University, a HBCU. In his college career Oakley scored 2,379 points and grabbed 1,642 rebounds. Oakley was drafted 9th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1985 but his draft rights were traded to the Chicago Bulls. In 1998 Oakley was traded to the Knicks where he spent 10 seasons and took the team to 10 straight playoff appeareances as part of the team's core set of players. His playing style deemed Oakley as a defensive specialist. In 1994 Oakley was named an All-Star and NBA All-Defensive first team. In his 19 seasons Oakley played for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, and Houston Rockets. He would make a playoff appeareance in 15 of those appeareances. 

After his playing career, Oakley would become an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats for a season. He has also been the head coach for the Killer 3's of the Big3, a 3-on-3 basketball league. Outside of basketball Oakley has multiple business ventures including salons, carwash, laundromat, and steakhouses.