Most stories involving former NBA player Charles Oakley tend to take on a negative tone. However, former New York Knicks player Eddy Curry provided a positive account of Oakley from a time when he joined the team.
While speaking on the “Out The Mud” podcast with Tony Allen and Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry recalled how Charles Oakley helped him buy his first Bentley.
“Oak [Oakley] got me first Bentley, bro,” Curry said. “I was on Rush Street, Gold Coast Bentley. The GT Continental had just come out. It was a silver one right in the window. I went in there, and the dude was like, ‘Yeah, man. You ain’t really got no credit… You’re going to have to give me like 70 racks or something to put down.'”
“I knew my accountant wasn’t going for that,” he continued. “Just so happened, Oak was on the Gold Coast. He called me. He’s like, ‘Come outside.’ I come outside, get in the car with him. He was like, ‘What you doing down here?’ I was like, ‘S***, I was trying to get a Bentley, but I ain’t got the deposit for it.’ He’s like, ‘Get it out of the bag.'”
Eddy Curry noted that Oakley simply had $70,000 in a bag in the backseat, which he grabbed and promptly used to purchase the Bentley, adding that Charles Oakley never asked him to return the money.
“He probably don’t even remember,” Curry joked. “I hope he don’t be like, ‘Man, give me my money back.’ If you do, that s*** didn’t happen, Oak. I’m lyin’.”
Eddy Curry’s story is one of the rare moments when Charles Oakley hasn’t instigated a fight or argument with another player.
Considering that the former NBA player even went after Charles Barkley as recently as a few days ago, it is evident that he still has the same personality. However, this account presents a different side to the former two-time All-Defensive team member.
Curry was quite tight with Oakley. The story of how Oakley would force Curry to drive faster to chase down flights by placing a fake police light in the car is an example of this. Although the two were never formally teammates, given that the latter retired prior to Curry joining the Knicks, Oakley played the role of being his mentor.
Eddy Curry played for several teams over his NBA career, including the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat, and eventually the Dallas Mavericks before retiring. He won a ring with the Heat in 2012.
For his career, he averaged 12.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game on 54.5% shooting from the field. Over an 11-year-long NBA career, Eddy Curry earned roughly $69.5 million, earning his highest annual salary in 2010 with $11.2 million, the final year of his last major contract.
Meanwhile, Oakley made a name for himself playing for the Bulls and the Knicks. After an impressive NBA career, having made several investments, including a restaurant chain and a car wash business, Oakley is said to have an estimated net worth of $12 million after retirement.
