Fansided

Charles Oakley ready to fight Knicks in court

By John Buhler

Feb 23, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley, left, attends the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 23, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley, left, attends the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Don’t expect the Charles Oakley vs. the New York Knicks feud to end any time soon. Oakley rejected a chance to have his charges dismissed. He wants a trial.

We haven’t even gotten completely into the NBA offseason, but yet here we are talking about another reason that the New York Knicks are now undoubtedly the most dysfunctional team in basketball. No, we’re not talking about The Triangle, trying to trade Carmelo Anthony or even Kristaps Porzingis skipping out on his exit meetings. We’re back to the embarrassing Charles Oakley incident that is only getting worse.

According to ESPN.com’s Ian Begley, “Knicks legend Charles Oakley on Friday rejected an opportunity to have charges stemming from a February incident at Madison Square Garden dismissed and requested a trial to fight those charges.”

It’s no longer an issue of diplomacy between the Knicks and their former big man, it’s now a full-blown war in a New York courtroom. The incident involving Oakley was an absolutely, “I can’t believe this is actually happening” embarrassing moment for Oakley and the organization. He’s not a hall of fame player, but an organization shouldn’t treat a former player that poorly.

Begley would add that “Knicks owner James Dolan suggested that Oakley had a problem with alcohol and anger management issues,” as the genesis for Oakley’s well-documented outburst at Madison Square Garden. Many former players did not appreciate Dolan thrown Oakley under the bus in that instance. Oakley would deny both claims by Dolan.

Clearly Oakley wants to make Dolan hurt the most by hitting him in his wallet via lawsuit. It was public defamation and just a bad look for all parties involved, especially the NBA. Oakley wants to flip this around on Dolan for allowing the Madison Square Garden security detail to have his way with him.

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Given that we’re still talking about the Knicks, we can only assume that the litigation process between Oakley and Dolan will be a total grease fire. Hats off to Oakley for not taking the easy way out on this.

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