So I know very little about basketball and even less about the NBA but a former Knicks player was physically removed from a game the other night for allegedly harassing the owner of the Knicks.
This former player, Charles Oakley, is a mountain of a man so his removal was quite an event.
So, what’s the straight dope on this?
Let me start off by saying that the New York Knicks are simply an embarrassment. They play in New York City, the so-called mecca of basketball in Madison Square Garden, the self-proclaimed “world’s most famous arena”. By playing where they do, they have a huge built-in advantage that they haven’t been able to convert into a championship for over 4 decades.
Charles Oakley was the rough and tough strong forward from the Knicks’ most recent heyday of the early 1990’s. Since that team played in the Jordan-Olajuwan-Jordan era, they never won it all, but they did give the Bulls their fiercest competition just about every year.
Oakley was a talented player, but was also essentially the “goon” of the team (along with Anthony Mason), defending the paint, his teammates and the boards as needed. He was actually a teammate of Jordan’s just prior to the Bulls elevating themselves to champions, and is still very close to Michael. But that didn’t stop him from fouling Jordan hard during big moments in big games, which made him a fan favorite. His jersey is still ubiquitous at the Garden to this day.
Over the past few years, Oakley or “Oak” as fans call him, has publicly criticized Knicks management for the litany of stupid decisions they’ve made. So the Knicks and owner Jim Dolan have stopped inviting him to special events that honor their legendary players. He actually had to purchase his ticket through Stubhub during the game from a couple of nights ago, from which he was kicked out.
There is some conflicting information about exactly what occurred prior to his ejection. He was sitting a few rows behind Dolan. some say he was heckling Dolan while he claims he didn’t say anything. Either way, he did end up pushing a security officer. But he feels that he paid for his ticket and has a right to do and say things that any fan would. Anyone whose ever sat near Dolan will tell you that heckling and harassing is something he deals with frequently.
The point is that the Knicks have been mis-managed forever, but still make a ton of dough due to where they play and their infinitely loyal and wealthy fan base. Former players usually refrain from speaking out, but not Oakley. He’s always worn his heart on his sleeve and genuinely wants success for his former team. Dolan is a little weasel who can’t take the criticism that he so richly deserves.
And that’s why Wednesday happened.
I rarely feel bad for fans of any NY team, but I do for Knicks fans right now. Phil Jackson is doing enough on his own to completely embarrass himself and the organization. This Oakley fiasco is just icing on the cake of what has been a miserable season.
It seems amazing that his seat would be so close to the owner’s seat.
The Knicks fired their Head of Security today. I suspect it wasn’t a coincidence. And Oakley was officially banned from the Garden. Not just Knicks games. The Garden, owned by Dolan. I guess Dolan has every right to eject and ban someone who’s annoying him. But he won’t get much sympathy from most fans. My co-worker saw a someone with a “Free Oakley” shirt today.
The real amazing thing is that such a sub-mediocre franchise is able to get such a large share of national sports media.
WELL, according to Oakley, he was just enjoying the game and Dolan turned around, saw him, and ordered him out of the arena.
In the same interview, Oakley claims Dolan stalked him with security guards whenever he attended a MSG game.
If that is true, it begs the question: why didn’t Dolan just throw him out on his ass those times too? What happened this week that was different?
Im fairly convinced Oakley, sober or ahem not, was launching some fairly offensive verbal tirades at Dolan, and as per protocol at ANY arena, was asked to tune it down whenever someone become verbally abusive. Instead, the “sober” Oakley resisted security, and the end result was he was thrown out and charged.
The problem here is no one roots for Goliath, and sports talk radio and sports media have turned this in to Oakley as David and a very unpopular owner like Dolan as Goliath, and hence the bad pub against the Knicks.
I would be completely shocked if the Knicks kicked out Oakley for absolutely no good reason.
The wild card here is that the head of security was fired. If it happened as you say, then he was doing his job, and should not have been fired. Dolan is pissed at the way it was handled, so maybe security was given different orders, but the head of security decided to eject him on his own? I am surprised that I have not heard stories from other fans that were sitting nearby as to the level of heckling from Oak.
I have no love for Dolan, but his claim, that Oak was drunk and verbally abusive at multiple points before getting to his seat, is plausible. He also claimed that his security chief was fired, not for kicking Oakley out, but for letting him get to his seat in the first place.
I’m a Pacers fan. This may be bad form, but I’m gonna point and laugh at this whole situation.