Knick great Charles Oakley branded team owner James Dolan a liar on Tuesday, and claimed a security tape from the night he was dragged out of the Garden — with the video soon to go public — will back up his claims.
Dolan had Oakley thrown out of the Garden during a Knicks game in February 2017, and the 54-year-old was charged with assault, harassment and trespassing. Garden security initially claimed Oakley had been heckling somebody in an elevator, and Dolan intimated the former power forward had a drinking problem.
But Oakley was cleared of all charges earlier this year, and he answered with a lawsuit for defamation and discrimination. Lawyers for Dolan and the Garden are trying to get that suit dismissed. According to Oakley, the video tape — Garden security footage he said he first saw two weeks ago — will not only strengthen his legal case, but could give NBA commissioner Adam Silver cause to fine Dolan.
“There should’ve been a lot more action by the commissioner to [Dolan],” Oakley said. “When the commissioner sees the tape, it’s going to be trouble for the NBA. The tape looked bad. It looked bad. Like I’ve been saying from the get-go it’s all a lie.”
Oakley insisted when Silver views the tape, if he hasn’t already, the commissioner will see him as the aggrieved party.
Charles Oakley during the Feb. 8, 2017 altercation at the Garden.Paul J. Bereswill“He’s going to see that [Dolan] lied and he took up for [Dolan] without seeing the tape,” Oakley said. “It’s evidence to show you. Like I told you, I was in my seat the whole time. … He can look at it today or tomorrow. He can look at it whenever. I haven’t heard from him since the meeting. But he can look at the tape and I’ll bet he’s going to call me the next day. We’re going to have problems.”
Oakley claimed the video shows him never leaving his seat. He added Dolan “should’ve been suspended or fined when that happened,” citing the league slapping Rockets owner Leslie Alexander with a $100,000 fine for confronting a ref during last year’s playoffs as precedent.
Oakley, who spoke at BTIG Charity Day in Midtown, added he hasn’t met Dolan since the sit-down with Silver and Michael Jordan. That did little to quell their feud, and Silver has publicly taken no sides. If Oakley gets no satisfaction in terms of Silver punishing Dolan, he’s hoping he gets some from his lawsuit.
“Hopefully we’ll know something in a month,” Oakley said. “He got to write a letter to the judge. You watch the tape, from what I see, fans will see sooner or later too, because it’s embarrassing.
“The same tape we get, the judge will get and you’ll be able to see it too. I don’t know if [the judge] got it but he’ll be able to see it before he gives the final notice of dismissal or keep going to go to court. If the judge dismisses this, there might be a riot.”
Asked if he expects to know within a month-and-a-half, he replied: “I wish it was tomorrow. I want the fans to know what’s going on. It hurt me. My mom has lost 30 pounds, can’t sleep at night. That bothered me, too. I’ve been stressed out. But I’m a grown man. I’ll handle mine, I’ll take mine. But it’s just sad to see this man is lying on me for no reason.”
