Michael Jordan and Adam Silver both tried hard but ultimately failed to end the feud between New York Knicks great Charles Oakley and team owner James Dolan, the NBA commissioner revealed Wednesday.
Oakley has been banned from New York’s Madison Square Garden since being violently ejected from a game nearly a decade earlier. A fan favorite of the Knicks, Oakley was a teammate of Jordan’s in Chicago before being traded to New York for Bill Cartwright in 1988.
Speaking at his annual NBA Finals press conference, Silver was asked about the ongoing feud and its chances of being resolved.
‘I tried, Michael Jordan tried, to broker peace between Charles Oakley and Jim Dolan,’ Silver said at his press conference before the NBA Finals opener in San Antonio. ‘Our efforts were unsuccessful. I think it’s unfortunate for the NBA… but it’s currently in litigation. I tried my best; I don’t really see anything else I can do at the moment.’
Contacted by The Daily Mail, an NBA spokesman said Silver’s efforts to end the feud occurred in 2017.
Oakley’s ongoing beef with Madison Square Garden began in February 2017, when he was arrested after an altercation with MSG security officials that began while he was seated near Dolan.
Oakley was charged with three counts that were later dropped over his 2017 ejection
Knicks owner James Dolan has banned Oakley from attending Madison Square Garden
Jordan befriended Oakley during their years together in Chicago before Oakley was traded
MSG has said in court filings that Oakley was asked to leave the game because of his disruptive behavior. Pictures from the night showed the retired power forward on the floor as security pinned him down.
Dolan, who identifies as a recovering alcoholic, reacted to the incident by accusing Oakley of having a ‘problem with alcohol.’
Oakley denied the accusation. He was later cleared of misdemeanor assault charges in 2018 and in the years since has tried to bring assault and battery claims against MSG and Dolan, with an amended lawsuit filed in May of 2024.
At the time, Oakley claimed he received an offer to join former Knicks players such as Stephon Marbury and Latrell Sprewell at the Garden in 2024.
Despite that, he refused, saying he would not step foot inside MSG until he’d received an apology from Dolan.
‘I guess their lawyer called my lawyer saying it’s a good time for you to come back to the Garden,’ he told the Associated Press.
‘They’ve got to apologize. We’ll go from there. Can (Dolan) be man enough to say, mistakes happen. And he made one.’
Oakley was accused by Dolan of having a drinking problem but denied that accusation
In a statement to ESPN, though, MSG officials hit back, insisting no such invites were extended.
‘This matter should be behind all of us at this point, but because of the ongoing legal maneuverings of Charles Oakley and his lawyers, this case will apparently now have to continue,’ MSG said.
‘Nevertheless, we fully expect this case to be dismissed – for the third time.’
The case remains outstanding.
In further comments about the incident, Oakley added: ‘Just be honest. Just be transparent over what you put someone through and how you changed their life. This definitely changed my life.
‘My daughter Googled me, they show them pulling me out of the Garden, that’s bad. That’s hell for a kid to see that.’
The 62-year-old Oakley played for the Knicks from 1988-98, helping them reach the NBA Finals in 1994. His relationship with the team remains poor even though Silver and Jordan worked to get the sides to reconcile in 2017.
‘It’s been a struggle the last seven years,’ Oakley said. ‘There have been things said that weren’t true. The league didn’t step in. The commissioner is pretty soft. He didn’t do nothing. The city got behind me and I’m always behind the fans. I love that.’
