Barkley: 'Charles Oakley hates me'

The ongoing feud between Charles Oakley and Charles Barkley - two of the NBA's top power forwards named Charles in the 1980s and 1990s - is a one-sided beef, according to the latter.

"Charles Oakley hates me," Barkley told ESPN Radio's Russillo & Kanell Friday. "We got into a couple skirmishes 30 years ago and he hates me ... every two or three years, this comes out and I just kind of sit back and laugh."

The two rough-and-tumble forwards from a much more physical era did tangle a few times on the floor, including once during a 1996 preseason game. But Barkley, rarely one to back off, wants to end the bad blood.

"Can you please let it go," Barkley said. "I don't have any animosity toward Charles Oakley, but the guy hates me. Charles Oakley needs to take up fishing to get rid of this anger towards me. I'll take him fishing ... (but) he might drown me."

While both players were well-known for not putting up with any BS during their careers, Oakley operated on a slightly different level. While playing for the Toronto Raptors in 2000-01, he was suspended twice and fined a total of $25,000 for two separate incidents where he punched opposing players during shootarounds.