Why Is Charles Oakley Demanding Knicks Owner James Dolan’s Apology? Exploring NBA Veteran’s Controversial Feud

Charles Oakley spent a decade out of a phenomenal 19-season NBA career in New York. He’s pretty steeped in New York Knicks history. So for him to decline any sort of hospitality from the Knicks, the reason has to be huge. His feud with Knicks owner James Dolan is nothing short of that. Even Oakley’s Bulls teammate, Michael Jordan intervened. Though they seemingly buried the hatchet almost a decade ago, Oakley is not letting this die down. He’s not going to grace any Knicks events at Madison Square Garden unless James Dolan does right by him.

The feud was not related to Oakley’s career. Relations between the Knicks legend and the team’s owner soured over an incident in 2017.

The start of the feud

In February 2017, Oakley was at MSG watching the Knicks play the Los Angeles Clippers. Kristaps Porzingis was going to hit a free throw but the game had to be paused when an incident broke out in the stands. Oakley got into an altercation with The Garden’s security near James Dolan and even Phil Jackson had to intervene. Fans chanted Oakley’s name as he was ejected from the arena.

Another Knicks star, Carmelo Anthony, was on the opposite end of the arena and witnessed the commotion but couldn’t figure out what happened. Oakley’s teammate and fellow Knicks star, Doc Rivers, was coaching for the Clippers then and was disappointed at the way Oakley was manhandled by security.

He was arrested and charged with three counts of assault. A statement by the Knicks stated that Oakley had behaved inappropriately and was ejected from the arena. The wording of the statement implying Oakley needed help for some mental health issues, however, didn’t sit well with fans who vilified Dolan. He allegedly made some comments at Dolan while seated a couple of rows behind him but fans nearby didn’t hear him comment on Dolan when that altercation went down.

On Oakley’s part, he claimed that he sat down in his seat, Dolan looked at him and less than five minutes later, security made him leave the building. In the months leading up to this altercation, Oakley had made several caustic comments on Dolan’s mismanagement of the team. Oakley felt disrespected by Dolan but claimed he had no hatred for the team.

Charles Oakley’s old friend intervenes

Charles Oakley and Michael Jordan started their careers together with the Bulls. The Last Dance was a stark reminder of their friendship that MJ was mad when Oakley was traded to the Knicks. When the feud broke out and Dolan banned Oakley from the Garden, the NBA community appealed to Jordan for help.

Within the week, Oakley and Dolan were summoned to the NBA offices by Adam Silver with Jordan participating through a conference call. MJ himself mediated the truce, which resulted in Dolan lifting the ban. He even claimed he wanted Oakley to return to the Garden as his guest. They apologized for the public drama but all was not well between the two.

Oakley said on VladTV that he wished Jordan hadn’t intervened. Jordan was the Charlotte Hornets owner then, and Oakley felt he intervened as an NBA executive and not his friend. He said he thanked Jordan for having his back but this feud was between him and Dolan.

A ban works both ways

Dolan had not won any favor with Knicks nation banning one of its legends. The Knicks were not the best team in 2017 and had not been for a while and he was under a lot of heat already. Though he lifted the ban immediately, the list of transgressions had mounted. It got complicated when Oakley sued Dolan and MSG for defamation, assault, and false imprisonment.

His animosity with Dolan is higher than ever while the Knicks are enjoying one of their best seasons in years. “I guess their lawyer called my lawyer saying it’s a good time for you to come back to the Garden.” He had a figurative “no thanks” for Dolan’s standing invite. In fact, Oakley has no intention to return till the lawsuit is on, Dolan apologizes, or Dolan is no longer affiliated with the Knicks.

“They’ve got to apologize,” he told the media. “We’ll go from there. Can [Dolan] be man enough to say, ‘Mistakes happen.’ And he made one.” Oakley also called out Adam Silver for not taking a tough stand. But he’s grateful for New Yorkers and Knicks nation’s support.

Even if he doesn’t cheer them in person at the MSG, Oakley’s support for the Knicks is unwavering. He’s counting on Jalen Brunson to lead them to the Conference Finals. For that, he’s happy to stay out of the way and not be a distraction.