Federal judge rules in Knicks owner James Dolan's favor in dismissing Charles Oakley's lawsuit
A Manhattan federal court on Wednesday ruled in New York Knicks owner James Dolan’s favor in the two-year-old civil lawsuit filed by former Knicks forward Charles Oakley, according to reports.
The suit stems from a February 2017 scuffle between Oakley and Madison Square Garden security that led to his arrest during a nationally televised game between the Knicks and L.A. Clippers. Charges of misdemeanor assault, harassment and trespassing against Oakley were later dismissed.
“Oakley grossly misunderstands the law concerning a landlord’s right to remove a trespasser from its property,” Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Sullivan wrote in Wednesday’s verdict, according to the New York Daily News. “The law is clear that the MSG defendants had the right to expel Oakley from the Garden and that his refusal to leave justified their use of reasonable force to remove him.”
After the incident, Dolan publicly claimed Oakley suffered from alcoholism and banned the beloved former Knick from MSG. Oakley refuted Dolan’s claim, suggesting the billionaire told security to target him over his vocal criticism. NBA commissioner Adam Silver called on Michael Jordan in an attempt to broker peace between the two sides, but the mediation failed to resolve the dispute.
Long a critic of Dolan’s decades-long leadership of the once-proud franchise, Oakley declined Dolan’s invite to return to MSG as his guest, calling on the Knicks owner for a publicly apology to both him and the team’s loyal fans. The former All-Star compared Dolan to disgraced ex-Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banished from the NBA for his racism, and then sued Dolan and MSG for defamation, assault and false imprisonment, among other claims, in September 2017.
More from Sullivan on Wednesday, via the New York Post:
“From its inception, this case has had the feel of a public relations campaign, with the parties seemingly more interested in the court of public opinion than the merits of their legal arguments. That is perhaps understandable, given the personal and public nature of the dispute.
“But while basketball fans in general, and Knicks fans in particular, are free to form their own opinions about who was in the right and whether Oakley’s ejection was motivated by something more than the whims of the team’s owner, the fact remains that Oakley has failed to allege a plausible legal claim that can meet federal pleading standards.”
Oakley plans to appeal the court’s decision, according to his attorney, Doug Wigdor.
“Charles is not one to give up,” Wigdor told the New York Daily News after Wednesday’s verdict. “While we are disappointed with the ruling, it’s just the beginning of the fourth quarter and we are confident that we can turn this around with an appeal that we plan to file in the coming days.”
Meanwhile, Dolan called for a truce in a statement on Wednesday.
“We thank the court for its ruling,” the statement said, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. “This was an incident that no one was happy about. Maybe now there can be peace between us.”
Dolan may have won this day in court, but the incident has had lasting effects for fans of the Knicks and players around the NBA. After Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving spurned them in free agency this past summer, choosing the Brooklyn Nets instead, the Knicks have continued to be one of the league’s worst teams, culminating in repeated calls from the MSG crowd for Dolan to sell the team.
Attempts to mediate this public relations nightmare are reportedly ongoing. According to SNY TV’s Ian Begley, Dolan and Oakley have both been urged by their confidantes to repair the relationship amid the organization’s latest attempt to rebrand itself as a destination after decades of futility.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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