Charles Oakley was unsuccessful with his civil lawsuit against the New York Knicks, and team owner James Dolan is hoping the two sides can now put the issue behind them and possibly move toward reconciling.
A judge dismissed Oakley’s lawsuit against Dolan and the Madison Square Garden Company on Wednesday, ruling that the former Knicks star “failed to allege a plausible legal claim that can meet federal legal standards.” Dolan issued a statement saying he is hopeful there can now be peace between Oakley and the organization.
Madison Square Garden statement on Charles Oakley’s civil suit being dismissed by a judge today: “We thank the court for its ruling. This was an incident that no one was happy about. Maybe now there can be peace between us.”
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 19, 2020
Oakley’s lawsuit stemmed from an incident in February 2017 in which he was escorted from Madison Square Garden and arrested. He was seen getting into a confrontation with security guards after he allegedly criticized Dolan in what the team described as a “highly inappropriate and abusive manner.”
Oakley ended up charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault, one misdemeanor count of aggravated harassment and one misdemeanor count of trespassing in addition to two counts of harassment. He agreed to a plea deal that gave him six months of probation and a one-year ban from MSG.
Judging by some of his more recent comments about the Knicks, we doubt Oakley will want to have a relationship with the team as long as Dolan remains owner.
