Oak himself addresses the notion in yesterday's interview with Sam Alipour:
I can help the Knicks with leadership. With Eddy Curry and Stephon (Marbury), I can show them what it takes to be a winner. I know what it takes. In New York, I can get them in the mind-set, get them better and better. Every year (when I played) in Toronto, I made them better and better. It's not about me averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds. It's about leadership, on and off the court. It's about the little things now.
Being around for 20 years, I know the game is about mind-set. Like San Antonio, do the little things and be dedicated to your teammates. The problem with a lot of guys is they don't want to play in a system. If anybody gets fired, it's the coach. But players need to understand that, at the end of the day, do what the coach wants you to do.
You mentioned your friend Eddy Curry. How can you help him, specifically?
I played in Chicago with him. Eddy will listen to me. I worked with him after practice. I'll tell him this: "You got to get in shape, No. 1. You can't play basketball if you're not in shape. You're not in shape to do what you should for 82 games." He wasn't in shape all of last year. Ain't nobody telling him that. I'm not a friend. I'm going to speak my mind.
You have experience playing against Isiah Thomas. Can you play for Isiah? And have you spoken to him lately?
I don't know. I talked to Isiah about this a couple of years ago. I'm not saying Isiah will give me a deal. I might not be there, I might be somewhere else.
Yeah. Considering that the Knicks already have 17 players with no clear-cut solution (pun intended), Oakley coming to the Knicks as a player is pretty much impossible. Maybe he'll give in and return as a coach some day? Who knows, but it's always fun to hear Oak speak his mind. Except when he says Curry was out of shape. I resent that.