The Last Enforcer: Outrageous Stories From the Life and Times of One of the NBA’s Fiercest Competitors Hardcover – February 1, 2022 by Charles Oakley

Description

Author: Oakley Charles

Package Dimensions: 19x229x481

Number Of Pages: 288

Release Date: 01-02-2022

Details: Product Description
A memoir from Charles Oakley—one of the toughest and most loyal players in NBA history—featuring unfiltered stories about the journey that basketball has taken him on and his relationships with Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, James Dolan, Donald Trump, George Floyd, and so many others.

If you ask a New York Knicks fan about Charles Oakley, you better prepare to hear the love and a favorite story or two. But his individual stats weren’t remarkable, and while he helped power the Knicks to ten consecutive playoffs, he never won a championship. So why does he hold such a special place in the minds, hearts, and memories of NBA players and fans?

Because over the course of nineteen years in the league, Oakley was at the center of more unbelievable encounters than Forrest Gump, and nearly as many fights as Mike Tyson. He was the friend you wish you had, and the enemy you wish you’d never made. If any opposing player was crazy enough to start a fight with him, or God forbid one of his teammates, Oakley would end it.

“I can’t remember every rebound I grabbed but I do have a story—the true story—of just about every punch and slap on my resume,” he says.

In
The Last Enforcer, Oakley shares one incredible story after the next—all in his signature, unfiltered style—about his life in the paint and beyond, fighting for rebounds and respect. You’ll look back on the era of the 1990s NBA, when tough guys with rugged attitudes, unflinching loyalty, and hard-nosed work ethics were just as important as three-point sharpshooters. You’ll feel like you were on the court, in the room, can’t believe what you just saw, and need to tell everyone you know about it.
Review
“They don’t make ‘em like Charles Oakley no more. When the NBA was full of these tough guys, one guy was tougher than the rest. In
The Last Enforcer, Oak gives us insight into how it all went down when the game was won and lost in the paint, before flagrant fouls and three-pointers softened up the NBA. You had to be there, and he was right in the center of it, like an oak tree in the middle of a raging flood.”
—
ICE CUBE, award-winning rapper, actor, and filmmaker

“This is the book we’ve been waiting on: Oak with Isola, delivering the goods on the golden age of NBA tough guys and blood feuds. An incredible read on some incredible days and nights in the old association.”
—
ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI, ESPN Senior NBA Insider and
New York Times Best-Selling Author of
The Miracle of St. Anthony

“Mr. Charles Oakley is one of my guys from those great New York Knickerbockers of Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Larry Johnson, and Allan Houston. After all these years, Oak and I are still close friends. When you have Charles for a friend you have a loyal friend for life. The interesting thing is, he has a reputation as The Enforcer, but his book shows that Charles is funny AF – the humor is on point. On top of that, he’s a gourmet chef. You can never go wrong with laughter and food.”
—
SPIKE LEE, Oscar-winning director and writer

“In
The Last Enforcer, Charles Oakley, as fierce a competitor as ever stepped onto the hallowed floor in Madison Square Garden, tells the story of his career and life as he played: unflinchingly tough, honest, and ultimately endearing. An old-school warrior serves up a sizzling tale of life inside the paint in an era when that was where the game was won or lost. I couldn’t put it down.”
—
HARVEY ARATON,
New York Times bestselling author of
Driving Mr. Yogi, and
When the Garden Was Eden

“Basketball fans will enjoy Oakley’s stories about the game’s biggest stars and his opinions about them. . . The book is packed with Oakley’s plainspoken disdain for former players, most notably Charles Barkley, who gets a whole chapter: ‘Barkley and his Big Mouth.’ Among the other players and coaches on the receiving end of Oakley’s unforgiving eye include Lamar Odom, Dennis Rodman, Lenny Wil