Charles Oakley is going to a Knicks game again, just not in New York
Charles Oakley reportedly plans to attend another New York Knicks game this season, but it’s not exactly an omen that the cold war between the bruising forward and his former team is thawing.
Oakley won’t attend Madison Square Garden again anytime soon, but he will be at Thursday’s game between the Knicks and Cavaliers at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, per the New York Daily News.
On my to LAND!!!!!
— Charles Oakley (@CharlesOakley34) February 23, 2017
You’ll recall the 53-year-old former All-Star was dragged to the ground and arrested by MSG security amid an alleged confrontation with Knicks owner James Dolan earlier this month. Dolan threw the next flurry of verbal jabs, calling Oakley a liar, suggesting he “may have a problem with alcohol” and banning him from the building he once played. Oakley countered by lumping the billionaire in with former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was ostracized from the league over racism.
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Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver called on Oakley’s former teammate and longtime friend, Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, to broker the peace between the two sides. Dolan lifted the MSG ban and invited Oakley to be his guest at another Knicks game this year. Oak declined the offer.
A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Feb 8, 2017 at 8:23pm PST
Cavaliers superstar LeBron James was one of the first players to come out in support of Oakley following the incident, calling him a “legend” and telling reporters, “Charles Oakley for president.”
LeBron makes brief statement, says he's done, then says, "wait, one more: Charles Oakley for President."
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) February 10, 2017
Even better: Oakley will reportedly serve as Dan Gilbert’s guest, sitting two rows behind the Cavs owner, which could be interpreted as a shot at Dolan for his treatment of Oakley by a fellow owner.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has invited Charles Oakley to sit two rows behind him for tonight's Knicks game…
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) February 23, 2017
There’s nothing like a good billionaire feud.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach