Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Charles Oakley: I want to talk about the series. I want to talk about the commissioner lying again. When the commissioner is talking about with him and Michael Jordan, he's throwing Michael Jordan under the bus. That's what he's really doing. He's trying to have a conversation like they just talked yesterday. He's coming back out with something from 2017 when we met with that guy from New York, Michael, and himself. And he's trying to act like they tried to solve a problem. And he went to the public in 2017 said we met and we came to an agreement that this is over with. And now you look in the paper he's making another statement about that, but you didn't solve the problem in 2017 cuz it's nine years later and it's still going on. Q. So, Charles, there was no new meeting between you, James Dolan, the commissioner of the NBA, Michael Jordan, nothing like that has happened. Oakley: No. He's lying again. It's two times in this case he has lied about. He lied about putting the statement out that what happened. And he’s lying now like they talked two days ago. No, he didn't. I haven't talked to James, I've been to court with James. And we tried to settle and he said no. So, this has been a whole thing of they ain't blackballing me from the NBA.
But in an interview last week, Mr. Oakley said he had no plans to return to the Garden to watch the finals. On Wednesday, the Knicks won the first matchup in the best-of-seven series against the Spurs in San Antonio. The series will shift to New York for Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday. Mr. Oakley did not say under which conditions he would consider being there. “He started it, he can make it go away,” Mr. Oakley said of Mr. Dolan. “He’s the boss.”
Mr. Oakley said he has enjoyed watching the play and leadership of the Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who delivered clutch baskets in the Knicks’ Game 1 victory. “Even though me and the owner are in a dispute, I hope the team has success, especially for the city of New York,” he said. “They’ve been waiting for it.”
What are your thoughts with the physicality in the league and what you're seeing and just watching Michael Jordan go through that and now with today's NBA where you got to go to a damn review if you blow on somebody. Charles Oakley: Well, I don't think they need to get physical now. I think that they need to get rid of that replay and this and that. If they going to have all that, they might just get two officials. I mean, keep one on each half of the court. But I don't know. The game has changed and it's a new time in life and we got to realize that as you get older, things going to change. But the game changed with the three-pointers. I don't like that. They don't have guys don't have the high IQ, but they get they getting the big money. And I'm glad they're getting the money because they hid the money from us but they got to pay for less talent.
Advertisement
Louis Williams: "I got to tell you Charles Oakley is he's a urban legend around here. I've heard stories about Oak. Man, give me something good. Give me something good about Oak, man." Derek Harper: "I got something for you. When I first got to New York, I had to be initiated, like we're in college or something. So Oak, (Anthony Mason), John (Starks), all of them. They had me on the elevator in Boston. He tells me, this is the best time for us to do it. I said, do what? Like, what you talking about? He says this is the best time to initiate you. You got to be initiated into the dog pound. I said, man, I hear the little game you all playing. I said, but somebody is going to get hurt. I don't know who, but somebody is going to get hurt. And when I tell you, I've never been locked up like this in a choke hold ever in my life than that particular moment. Because Oak grabbed me and I couldn't move, man. Couldn't move, could not breathe, and was trying to get through it, man. But yeah, Oak and that's a different breed. Ask Antonio and Dale Davis. They'll tell you better than anybody."
Oakley wasn't aware, but according to another MSG security source there were discussions about tracking Oakley, even as he traveled hundreds of miles away. “They wanted to have us doing covert surveillance operations on him,” the source says, referring to Oakley, “just to see where he was at, what he was doing at the time, to try to dig up something to use.” As a series of court cases would later allege, the Garden security’s staff viewed the surveillance of perceived enemies as a normal part of doing business.
Oakley was one of the few people willing to talk on the record. Years ago, he claims, he was attending a game at MSG with his friend Anthony McNair. His former Knicks teammate, Hall-of-Famer Patrick Ewing, was the associate head coach on the opposing squad, and sought out Oakley before tip-off. The pair embraced, chatted briefly, and made plans to talk at the game's conclusion. Oakley and McNair said they were soon approached by security, who informed Oakley he wasn't allowed to stray from his seat or venture into areas where fans are restricted. After the final buzzer, Oakley met Ewing alone near the visitors’ locker room. There, according to Oakley, Ewing warned him about talking because listening devices were everywhere. “Don't talk too loud,” Oakley said Ewing told him. “This place is supposed to be mic'd up.”
"Don't talk too loud," Knicks legend Charles Oakley recalls Patrick Ewing saying. "They got the whole building mic'd-up." Then, a source tells us + @WIRED , Garden security discussed tracking him across America. And that's just the start of our new collab on MSG's deep state. 🕳️🐇
"Don't talk too loud," Knicks legend Charles Oakley recalls Patrick Ewing saying. "They got the whole building mic'd-up."
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) April 17, 2026
Then, a source tells us + @WIRED, Garden security discussed tracking him across America.
And that's just the start of our new collab on MSG's deep state.… pic.twitter.com/aveI3O6NXx
Advertisement
Charles Oakley, the legendary Knicks forward known as the toughest man in the league recalls that Trump was a constant presence in that scene. I spoke with Oakley by phone throughout the afternoon and he told me that he remembers Donald Trump being around New York City and very cool with NBA athletes and other celebrities back then when he was a media mogul and worked in travel long before he became President of the United States. On this particular night the elevator at the Grand Hyatt was crowded. Inside stood Trump and Jayson Williams who was a 6’10” powerhouse for the Nets and Oakley. When the doors opened, Kobe Bryant walked in.
That search for respect hit a wall in the Grand Hyatt elevator. As the story goes Jayson Williams offered a casual greeting to the young Bryant. Kobe, perhaps distracted or simply possessing that singular aloof focus that would define his career gave a dismissive nod or a short response without making eye contact. Bryant was reportedly listening to a Walkman and while he heard the greeting he merely shrugged and slurred “Hey big man” without looking up. In the “Old School” code of the 90s NBA this was a cardinal sin. Williams was a man whose career was defined by both immense talent and a hair trigger temper and he took it as a personal insult. According to witnesses Williams lunged and shouted “Are you f—-n’ kidding me?” before landing a punch to Bryant’s cheek.
The confined space of an elevator is the last place you want to be when a 270 pound professional athlete decides to throw a punch. Williams reportedly swung at Bryant and the situation threatened to turn into a full blown brawl between a veteran who felt disrespected and a teenager who refused to back down. This is where the story shifts from a standard locker room scrap to a surreal piece of history. Donald Trump standing between the two giants didn’t head for the corner. He stepped into the fray. Trump later confirmed the lore during an interview with Jake Paul by stating that he was breaking up a fight. He noted that breaking up a fight is sometimes more dangerous than being in one. He liked Kobe and saw that Kobe was having a hard time with somebody but it worked out fine. Trump physically intervened and grabbed Williams and told Kobe to get out of there quickly. The doors opened and Bryant exited and a potential disaster for the NBA’s rising star was averted by the man who would eventually occupy the Oval Office. Interestingly when I spoke with Charles Oakley he mentioned that while he was there he does not personally remember the specific details of this elevator fight. However he noted that Jayson Williams tells the story often and he emphasized that Jayson is an awesome storyteller who brings these moments to life with incredible detail.
Former New York Knicks star Charles Oakley must pay more than $642,000 in lawyer fees to Madison Square Garden for deleting text messages during a court battle over his ejection from a game eight years ago, according to court documents. The 61-year-old former power forward — who filed a defamation lawsuit against the arena firm and its CEO James Dolan in September 2017 — is accused of sending the company’s high-priced attorneys on a wallet-busting wild goose chase.