A decades-old story involving Charles Oakley and Kobe Bryant has resurfaced after Donald Trump recently claimed he once stepped in to stop a physical altercation between Bryant and another NBA player during the 1998 NBA All-Star festivities in New York. Oakley, who was reportedly present at the time, says he doesn’t remember witnessing the incident himself.
According to USA Today, the anecdote gained new attention after Trump referenced it during a recent interview with Jake Paul. According to his account, the confrontation took place in an elevator at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan during All-Star Weekend. The story centers on Bryant—then a rising star with the Los Angeles Lakers—and former New Jersey Nets forward Jayson Williams.
The alleged incident has circulated for years in NBA lore and was previously detailed in Jeff Pearlman’s 2020 book, Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.
In that version of events, Williams took offense to what he perceived as a dismissive greeting from the young Bryant after the two entered the elevator. The situation escalated quickly, with Williams reportedly throwing a punch before the altercation was broken up.
Oakley, who was a veteran power forward with the New York Knicks at the time, was also said to be in the elevator when the confrontation unfolded. However, when USA Today reached out, Oakley said he does not recall being present at the moment described in the book.
“He had told it to some people that I was around,” Oakley said, referring to Williams recounting the story over the years. “Jayson, he liked to be a story. He’s a storyteller. I told him, ‘Jayson, I mean, you 55, 57. You probably told that story 50 times.’”
Pearlman’s book describes Trump intervening in the situation at the hotel—which, at the time, belonged to him—grabbing Williams and urging Bryant to leave the elevator quickly as tensions rose. Bryant reportedly exited without further confrontation.
Williams, who spent nine seasons in the NBA, has not publicly addressed the story.