![]() ![]() Oakley doesn't plan on playing past his current contract, which expires after next season. ![]() "If those guys keep coming out, in about two or three years it's going to be all high school or one- and two-year college guys in the league." "I think the more guys that come out, the less talent there will be in the league," Oakley said. Part of the problem, Oakley says, is that players can enter the NBA before completing college or bypass university altogether and become eligible for the annual league draft after high school. "You don't have to do everything right, but at least look a professional, look like you just got $100 million." Now, you have guys being paid $100 million who look like the next guy walking down the street. "I think if you're a professional, you should at least try to look like a professional at all times, no matter where you're at," said the six-foot-nine, 245-pound Oakley, an impeccable dresser who designs much of his own clothing. Oakley says professionalism often begins with how a person is attired in public. Oakley, the Raptors' co-captain with Carter who celebrated his 37th birthday Monday, said being a pro basketball player is much more than sporting gaudy jewellery and multiple tattoos. The suspension came at a bad time for Toronto, which also was without the injured Carter. Oakley's no-nonsense approach and tireless work ethic have made him the Raptors' locker-room leader and the team's conscience.Įarlier this month, Oakley was suspended without pay for three games and fined $15,000 by the NBA for punching Los Angeles Clippers guard Jeff McInnis during a morning shootaround. "I would go to playoff games but just to watch somebody play, I don't think I'd go because it doesn't interest me much, especially now." "If Shaq (O'Neal), Vince, (Kevin) Garnett or Allen were playing, I would (buy a ticket)," Oakley said. While the league boasts such young stars as Toronto's Vince Carter, Los Angeles's Kobe Bryant, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Milwaukee's Ray Allen, Oakley said he'd be very selective about what games he'd spend money to watch if he was a fan. Retired superstar Charles Barkley has also been quite outspoken regarding his displeasure with the direction in which the NBA is heading. ![]() Oakley's comments came in response to a question about a weekend New York Times story in which Malone said he was disgusted at how many of the league's younger players were running the game into the ground with selfish play and attitude. The talent level in the league ain't nothing." ![]() "I don't think fans are getting their money's worth because the talent level is not there. The best part of the league left when guys like Michael (Jordan), Magic, Isiah (Thomas) and (Larry) Bird left. "Tattoos, earrings and sagging jeans, that's the league now. "A lot of guys do the pretty things, they want to dunk. and I think these guys don't want to learn. "They have athletic ability, but they don't know the game. "Some guys just don't care," Oakley, a 16-year NBA veteran, said following Monday's practice at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto Raptors forward Charles Oakley has joined Utah veteran Karl Malone in pointing to selfishness and a lack of professionalism from some of the league's young stars as major problems facing the NBA. ![]()
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