Charles Oakley played for 10 years with the New York Knicks and was one of the NBA’s foremost enforcers throughout his career. He was an integral part of the franchise reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 1993 and the NBA Finals in ’94.
But last night, the beloved former power forward got into an altercation in the stands of the team’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, which led to him being escorted out of MSG and arrested by the NYPD for assault and criminal trespassing charges.
Oakley got into a shoving match with Madison Square Garden security and reportedly said, “Dolan did this,” alluding to Knicks owner James Dolan, as team president Phil Jackson was trying to calm him down.
The Knicks released the following statement:
NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 9, 2017
The New York Times’ Scott Cacciola wrote in November that Oakley has been critical of the Knicks in recent years and also advised LeBron James against signing with the team when he was a free agent in 2010. As a result, his relationship with the franchise has become strained.
Stay tuned as more details become available and shed some light on what contributed to the incident.
