CLEVELAND — Charles Oakley pushed his hands into his pockets and peered at the small photo of himself on the street sign that bore his name. The younger version of himself in the photo was vintage Oakley: the high-top fade, the furrowed brow, the familiar blue and orange of his Knicks jersey.

“Not bad, huh?” Oakley said on an overcast afternoon last week.

A longtime enforcer on a Knicks team that leaned on his ferocious rebounding and lunch-pail attitude through much of the 1990s, Oakley is also a proud son of Cleveland, which honored him recently by feting him with the street sign — Charles Oakley Way — in front of John Hay High School, his alma mater.

When Oakley returned last week it seemed fitting that, just down the block, workers in hard hats were doing construction. Oakley, who still cuts an imposing figure at 52, did not see the symbolism. All he saw was the big mess on his new street.

“They making me look bad!” he said, deadpan.

It was a good time for Oakley to be back in Cleveland. He had tickets that night to see the Cavaliers, who were just months removed from their run to an N.B.A. championship, open their season against the Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. And the Indians were back in the World Series for the first time in 19 years and looking for their first title since 1948. The success of both teams had the city buzzing, and Oakley was glad to be around it.