Charles Oakley Says James Dolan Is Similar to Donald Sterling

The powwow Adam Silver and Michael Jordan facilitated between Charles Oakley and James Dolan doesn't appear to have fixed their fissured relationship. Oakley spoke to Sports Illustrated's Maggie Gray on Thursday and compared Dolan to former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

"He's definitely a control freak. He has everybody in the Garden on pins and needles," Oakley said. "The other owners know this; that's the bad thing about it. They're gonna let [something] happen like something happened to the L.A. Clippers. It's that bad, but they won't talk about it."

Sterling was forcibly ousted from the Clippers and banned from the NBA for life in April 2014 after private recordings where he made racially charged comments were leaked to the media. The former Clippers owner had previously been accused of racism by tenants of the buildings he owned and by employees, including NBA great Elgin Baylor.

"He's on that level. Level can mean you're building a house, or you're building a pyramid," Oakley said when asked directly if Dolan was a racist. "This man's been around for a long time. I ain't heard nothing good about him."

Oakley's comments come eight days after he was forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden and arrested on counts of assault and disorderly conduct after an altercation at a Knicks game. Sources told the New York Daily News that Oakley was ejected after shouting at Dolan and refusing security's requests to calm down.

Video of the incident shows Oakley pushing at least one security guard, and he was eventually taken into the tunnel and placed on the ground while arrested. Oakley has denied the team's account of events leading to his arrest.

The Knicks briefly banned Oakley from Madison Square Garden for life following the incident. A meeting set up by Silver and Jordan got the ban lifted, but Oakley has not publicly forgiven Dolan. Oakley categorized himself as "hurt" over the incident and told ESPN's Jeff Goodman he is not ready to return to MSG at this time.

Oakley also said on The Dan Le Batard Show: "I have never asked for nothing. I love the fans in New York. They've been supportive. One of the things I told the commissioner, I want to have a press conference and I want him to apologize to me and the fans. They've had my back and they've felt the pain. I really appreciate the people all around who've had my back."

The Crossover shared video where Oakley discussed the meeting:

Dolan has not made any public comments since the meeting with the NBA. He had previously insinuated Oakley had a drinking problem on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York 98.7 FM.