In a surreal and embarrassing moment for the franchise, New York Knicks great Charles Oakley was taken to the ground by security at Madison Square Garden and arrested after allegedly taunting team owner James Dolan, which should be worthy of a medal, not handcuffs.
After he was released, Oakley told the New York Daily News that he wasn’t yelling at Dolan.
“I was there for four minutes,” Oakley said late Wednesday night. “I didn’t say anything to him. I swear on my mother. They came over and wanted to know why I was sitting there. I bought the ticket. I said why do you guys keep staring at me. Then they asked me to leave. And I said I’m not leaving.”
Frank Isola of the same newspaper was told otherwise.
Charles Oakley was said to be yelling at James Dolan and was warned to stop, according to a source. He continued and was then asked to leave
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) February 9, 2017
Oakley also told his version of events in an Instagram post:
Video of Oakley being handcuffed was captured on a phone by a nearby fan.
https://twitter.com/SportBlogNYC/status/829514568288329728
“You’re not cooperating.” Why are authority figures always surprised someone isn’t cooperating when they’re getting thrown to the ground? You just tackled one of the only Knicks worth a damn over the past 20 years in his home building like 15 feet from the bench. You can’t expect him to just go along with it.
The Knicks released a statement about the incident.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 9, 2017
Oakley is probably less in need of help than the Knicks at this point.
