Charles Oakley insists he did absolutely nothing wrong before he was ejected from Madison Square Garden Wednesday night, but the New York Knicks are telling a much different story.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Knicks’ public relations department said multiple people witnessed Oakley’s “abusive behavior” from the moment he walked into the arena. The team also said everything Oakley has said about the incident is “pure fiction.”
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 9, 2017
Those are some very strong words from the team, so they must be confident Oakley deserved what he got.
Several reports indicated that Oakley was yelling at Knicks owner James Dolan. When he was asked by MSG security to leave the premises, Oakley became physical. You can see some videos of the incident here.
Oakley played in New York for 10 seasons, but his relationship with the Knicks is clearly strained. He has been critical of Dolan in the past, and he claims he has tried to meet with Dolan for years and been shut down. There are rumblings that Oakley has been angry with the Knicks recently because they have not included him in their 70th anniversary celebration.
While multiple current players have already come to Oakley’s defense, the Knicks clearly feel their decision to eject him was warranted.
