Opinion, Sports

Stronger than Oak

Live Mike

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you picked up a newspaper over the last week, the story was nearly unavoidable: a thin-skinned, vindictive and petty New York City-born billionaire embroiled in an embarrassing celebrity feud as the once-proud institution he oversees continues to be a laughingstock.

But before you think I’m getting political here, don’t worry; I’m only talking about the Knicks.

On Feb. 8, retired NBA star Charles Oakley was ejected from Madison Square Garden and subsequently arrested following a scuffle with security guards after allegedly directing a mid-game tirade towards Knicks’ owner James Dolan, in what is quickly becoming the biggest story in the NBA as the league gears up for its All-Star Weekend.

You probably know the rest: In the following days, Dolan—never one to let something go—banned the former Knick great from the Garden for life, and told anyone who would listen that Oakley had issues with alcoholism and offered his somewhat disingenuous hopes that, somehow, Oak would seek the help he needed.

On Feb. 8, former Knicks’ great Charles Oakley was arrested after tussling with security guards at Madison Square Garden. The feud between Oakley and owner James Dolan has been big news over the last week, and indicative of the problems facing the once-proud basketball franchise. Photo courtesy Knicks.com
On Feb. 8, former Knicks’ great Charles Oakley was arrested after tussling with security guards at Madison Square Garden. The feud between Oakley and owner James Dolan has been big news over the last week, and indicative of the problems facing the once-proud basketball franchise. Photo courtesy Knicks.com

If all press is good press, the struggling Knicks are certainly getting their fair share of it.

Now, before I go too far in on Dolan, I want to say that, in no uncertain terms, Oakley was in the wrong during the courtside melee. He was being combative—as the famed Knicks’ enforcer was wont to be during his playing days—and actually tussling with Garden security is indefensible to say the least.

But it just demonstrates how much ill will New Yorkers have towards the MSG chairman—and just how little self-awareness he possesses—to see the way the Dolan has become the bad guy in all of this.

And it’s not really surprising.

Oakley may not have been the most talented Knick to ever step on the court, but he remains, even 12 years after his retirement, one of the most beloved. As a physical presence and tenacious rebounder, Oakley provided some much-needed grit for the solid Knicks’ teams of the 1990s, which, coincidentally, was really the last time they were relevant in the NBA landscape.

Dolan’s time running the Knicks, on the other hand, has been marked by gross incompetence, baffling managerial blunders, sexual harassment scandals, and perhaps most importantly to Knicks fans, just three winning seasons since 2001.

On top of that, Dolan has been aloof with critics of his regime, blacklisting reporters who speak up about the team’s ineptitude and generally carries himself as someone who is deaf to the pleas of Knicks’ fans who just want to root for a contender.

Oakley may have been vociferous and abusive in his comments about Dolan at the game, but Dolan—himself a recovering alcoholic—should know better than to hypothesize about the perceived problems of others.

But for Dolan, that sort of response just seems to be par for the course.

I don’t know where the Knicks go from here. The team is halfway through another disappointing year, ticket prices remain ludicrously expensive, and whether Oakley is ever welcomed back to the Garden—Dolan recently met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Hornets’ owner Michael Jordan to reach some sort of compromise—remains to be seen.

But, like most fans, I don’t see the situation at MSG improving until Dolan finally sells the team and rides off into the sunset.

Maybe then, Oakley can come back. And so can the winning.