Charles Oakley was famously banned from Madison Square Garden in 2017. He blames his former teammate Patrick Ewing for this.
Despite the New York Knicks’ upcoming back-to-back elimination game against the Indiana Pacers, New York vibe remains pure white.
They comfortably won Game 5 at Madison Square Garden, beating Indiana 17 points. As always, there were many celebrities and former Knicks stars.
Patrick Ewing and John Starks were there. A wild moment with Jr Smith’s Jalen Brunson drew a response from Scott Van Pelt.
But the big name missing is Charles Oakley. And despite his legendary position with the franchise, talking about his absence is not the ownership he blames.
Oakley has always been a fiery character. He played with the Knicks on Ewing for 10 seasons. They even went to the NBA Finals together.
So it’s no surprise that Charles has harsh words to the Knicks legend and holds him responsible for his long-term absence.
“I thought the person I played with was Patrick, but he didn’t step up,” Oakley said.
“So I’m more responsible than anyone else, because he’s supposed to be our franchise player. I’ve played with him for 10 years… He’s not talking yet, so I’ll let him play it.”
“He should have called me and spoke to me like a guy when this happened. He never did that. I spoke with Reggie Miller, Brad Doherty, MJ (Michael Jordan) and everyone else I fought.
“I think it fits (Ewing’s) style of life. He wasn’t the guy who really is when we were in a situation, a playoff game, a regular season game, you know, you never stepped up, when you really disappeared.
“So you shouldn’t expect him to step up that much now. That’s what’s wrong with a lot of these people.”
The background to this situation is that oaks were banned from Madison Square Garden in 2017 due to his dropout with Knicks owner James Dolan.
Oakley filed a lawsuit against MSG and Dolan after the incident. It has not yet been resolved and is reportedly a driving factor that is causing hostility. But Oakley blames others.
“I want to be there,” he said. “I know my fans love me to be there. I love them. They have given me a lot of cheers over the years.
“But it all started with the NBA commissioners, owners and all other owners, because he’s gotten all the teams in the league because this kind of thing lasted for eight years.”
Oakley was known as an enforcer during his NBA career. As his trademark stubbornness continues, it appears he will never be seen again in the Knicks game.