The drama never ends in New York.
A strange, ugly scene unfolded Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, where former Knicks forward Charles Oakley got into a physical altercation with arena security before being escorted from the building, taken to a police station and charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault.
It still was unclear what set off Oakley after the game — which the Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Clippers — although he reportedly mentioned Knicks owner James Dolan started the ordeal. Oakley finally cleared the air around midnight when he spoke to the New York Daily News after being released from the Midtown South police station.
“I was there for four minutes,” Oakley told the Daily News. “I didn’t say anything to (Dolan). I swear on my mother. They came over and wanted to know why I was sitting there. I bought the ticket. I said, ‘Why do you guys keep staring at me?’ Then they asked me to leave. And I said, ‘I’m not leaving.'”
Oakley added that security asked him to leave on Dolan’s request. Further complicating the matter, sources at MSG and police sources refuted Oakley’s story, telling the Daily News that the former Knick had been shouting at Dolan before security came over to him.
Oakley also reportedly told police he bought his own ticket to the game but later admitted someone else bought it for him.
The 53-year-old spoke again in impromptu interview outside a New York restaurant, claiming he “love(s) the Knicks” before adding, “I don’t know why I’m not welcome at the Garden.”
It’s unclear whether Oakley will face any charges beyond his three misdemeanors. But his bizarre incident is the latest in a line of many unfortunate distractions in New York.
