Charles Oakley doesn’t think feud with James Dolan can be resolved
Former Knick Charles Oakley watches from courtside seats during the first half of Game 2 between the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats in the first round of the NBA l playoffs in Orlando, Florida,, on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Credit: AP / Phelan M. Ebenhack
Charles Oakley doesn’t expect his feud with Knicks owner James Dolan to ever end, saying “some things can’t be solved.”
And the former Knicks forward may have started a new feud of sorts with the NBA by saying commissioner Adam Silver’s meeting with Oakley and Dolan on Monday at the league office was an effort “to make themselves look good.”
Oakley’s latest comments, from an interview with Sports Illustrated on Thursday, were made three days after Silver summoned Oakley and Dolan together and then painted an optimistic picture of a future reconciliation at Madison Square Garden.
But on Thursday, Oakley criticized the league for giving the impression that a single meeting could resolve the issues that he said led to the Feb. 8 altercation with MSG security that resulted in his being dragged out, handcuffed and arrested.
“I told them I’d rather go to jail than them saying they did something for me,” Oakley said, referring to the meeting with Silver, Dolan and Michael Jordan, an Oakley friend, who was on a conference call. “That’s how bad this is for me. I’d rather go to jail.”
An NBA spokesman did not return messages seeking comment. A spokesman for Dolan declined to comment. Oakley also didn’t respond to messages Thursday afternoon from Newsday.
Silver released a statement hours after Monday’s meeting in which he said both Oakley and Dolan were “apologetic” and also that Dolan “expressed his hope that Mr. Oakley would return to MSG as his guest in the near future.”
But Oakley made it clear Thursday that he’s not ready to move on. “My life is going to change a lot because it’s just like getting a DUI sometime or going to jail for murder,” he said. “It’s something on my record. If you Google my name, it’s going to come up. And that hurts.”
Oakley said he told the commissioner that it was wrong to include Charlotte Hornets majority owner Jordan only because he’s friends with Oakley. The former Knick suggested that, instead, all 29 other team owners should have been involved.
And he was bothered that Silver gave the impression that reconciliation is near.
“I feel like I was pulled out of the meeting as I was pulled out of the Garden,” Oakley said.
Oakley criticized his former teammates who have not yet spoken up on his behalf in the wake of the incident at the Knicks-Clippers game. He also declined to say whether he will pursue a lawsuit against Dolan or MSG.
“I don’t know,” he said. “My team, we’re not going to expose our hand because we don’t have to expose our hand.”
Oakley also continued on the offensive against Dolan, who — in a radio interview two days after the altercation — raised the possibility that Oakley has a drinking problem.
Oakley compared Dolan to disgraced former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life from the league and forced to sell the team in 2014 after the revelation of his past racist comments.
“This man has been around for a long time,” Oakley said of Dolan. “I ain’t heard nothing good about him.” He also called Dolan “a control freak.”
Oakley acknowledged that his comments might bother some people at the league office, but he wasn’t concerned about the ramifications of that.
“Yeah, I might hear from the NBA about this,” he said. “But I ain’t saying nothing bad.”
Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.
