Oakley’s Wearing Strange Clothes

Charles Oakley finally made it to Staples Center, although not in the uniform the Lakers pictured him in last summer.

They pursued the veteran power forward as a free agent, but could only offer him a $2.5-million, one-year deal. Oakley finally went back to Toronto for three years at $18 million.

“I been around a long time,” Oakley said before the game. “First decision I’ve ever had to make in 15 years. Just have to live with it.

“We have a good young team, mixed with veterans. We made some good trades over the summer. And hey, it’s up in the air. Ain’t nothing sure in the East, ain’t nothing sure in the West. We’ll see what happens in April. . .”

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Phil Jackson, asked to account for the Lakers’ start: “Shaq [O’Neal]. He’s played really dominant and we slow the game down to where we can maintain the tempo in most games. That’s helped us. . . . It’s real easy. The triangle is built for a post-in game and that’s real natural to him. Some of the other players haven’t got a feel for it yet, still learning the execution. That’s probably why he’s so dominant.”