Former NBA All-Stars Charles Barkley and Charles Oakley never liked one another. Never was that more evident than when they got into this fight during a preseason game in 1996:
Oakley's dislike for Sir Charles surfaced again during the 2016 playoffs, after Oakley warned Barkley to "stop talking s—t about Cleveland," adding, "You was never tough, you hide behind TNT."
While those two instances are examples that occurred in full-view of the public, Oakley also once open-hand slapped Barkley prior to a union meeting during the 1998-99 NBA lockout. That story was relayed by ex-NBA champion Chucky Brown on the Jerseys and Dress Shirts podcast on Monday. As Brown tells it:
So much for displaying solidarity. You may be wondering, how exactly did Barkley respond to that? Well, surprising non-violently. "Barkley just kind of started talking back to this guy that he was talking to," Brown said. "Derrick Coleman and Anthony Mason grabbed him and shoved him into the meeting where we was going."
That same tale was essentially confirmed when The New York Daily News reported on it, oh, about 18 years ago. As they put it back in 1999:
Brown's entire interview will air on Friday, Jan. 13, if you're interested.