Charles Oakley still has no love for his old NBA contemporary.
The retired former All-Star big man Oakley appeared this week on “The Art of Dialogue” podcast. During the episode, Oakley took some shots at Charles Barkley, his ex-NBA rival. Oakley specifically slammed Barkley for being a “hypocrite” and criticizing current NBA players for teaming up when he himself did the same thing.
“But you look at Barkley, who said everybody team up,” said Oakley. “He teamed up with Hakeem [Olajuwon] and Scottie Pippen in Houston. And he always talking about somebody teaming up … Just these guys, just some hypocrite on TV.”
“They commentate, [but] they’re not educating people about the game,” Oakley added. “[Barkley’s] just talking. If you listen to him, something else is wrong with you. Everyone thinks his opinion is so good … He ain’t saying nothing. TNT and them guys, they do more clowning around than they do telling people about the game.”
Here is the full clip.
Charles Oakley: "But you look at (Charles) Barkley, who said everybody team up. He teamed up with Hakeem and Scottie Pippen in Houston. And he always talking about somebody teaming up. You know, I'm saying, just these guys, just some hypocrite on TV." pic.twitter.com/Sf1xiRiDYg
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 4, 2025
Oakley is right that one of Barkley’s favorite barbs is to clown NBA stars for teaming up with one another (most notably, Kevin Durant, whom Barkley infamously called a “bus rider” rather than a “bus driver”). But Barkley did indeed team up with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler on the Rockets in 1996 (albeit while in his mid-30s and via trade instead of free agency). Pippen then later joined Houston in 1999 after Drexler had retired.
There is obviously a personal tinge to Oakley’s comments here on Barkley as well. The two were well-documented rivals during their respective playing careers (with Barkley and Oakley getting into separate on-court fights in both 1994 and 1996). In more recent years too, Oakley has taken other public jabs at Barkley in the press.
