Charles Oakley may have found another ally in his anti-James Dolan crusade.
Actor Ethan Hawke appeared this week on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” and revealed that he used to have free tickets to New York Knicks home games until Dolan took them away for his public criticisms of the team.
“I’ve been a Knicks fan a long time, but I got kicked out of the Garden. They won’t give me tickets anymore,” he said, per CBS Sports’ Pete Blackburn. “I’m being serious. I’m being dead serious. I really was vocal on some talk shows like this that I thought it was a huge mistake to let [ex-coach] Mike [D’Antoni] go and I would have bet on Mike before I bet on Melo [Carmelo Anthony].
“I have been left team-less,” Hawke continued. “The point is that I’m not wanted and I don’t go where I’m not wanted. It’s hard to be a fan for a place that doesn’t like you. One person who owns [the team] … I called up one night and they said it would be $7,800. I was like, ‘Oh, um, oh, why is this the first time you guys are charging me?’ They said that you should have thought of that before you went on The Jimmy Fallon Show. I was like, ‘Wow, this is real.’ So I’ve apologized publicly many times to try and get my seats again.”
Granted, Dolan was well within his rights to rescind the “Boyhood” actor’s tickets, especially since they were free to begin with. But for an owner who is known for his pettiness and thin skin, it’s a move that seems very true to form.
