Surprise! Charles Oakley thinks the NBA was better back in the day

In just the latest example of a retiree bemoaning the direction of his former industry, erstwhile NBA bruiser Charles Oakley had some choice words about the coddled, weak-minded, no-heart roundballers of today.

"Who do I like watching?" Oakley said Friday when he was honored by the Toronto Raptors as part of their season-long 20th anniversary celebration. "It's hard to watch. I don't know, it's just, it's a different game. It's some good games and a lot of bad games. More bad games than good games these days."

The epitome of a throwback, Oakley doled out no-nonsense fouls for five NBA teams, muscled his way to rebounds and loose balls for 19 seasons, and then spent the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats, forced to watch the hard-nosed game he loved turn to soft putty.

"Everybody says the game has changed, (and) instead of talking about the guys I got a chance to see 'em first hand," he said of his brief stint on the bench. "It was kind of bad."

Asked to elaborate, Oakley pointed to the way players' mindsets have changed.

"The mind is not - you don't have to be strong to play this game no more," he said.

"I don't know what it is. They just roll you out there like a basketball. That's why ... you see the same teams in the finals or winning 55 games. Strong teams, strong-minded coach. Just the players, they don't think it, they don't know how to play together. So that's one of the things I see the weakness is: Communication. The guys don't love the game. They play the game, but they don't play with their heart."

Oakley, who ranks 21st all-time with 1,282 regular-season games played, holds career averages of 9.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and approximately 800 scrappy, all-heart hustle plays per game.