Patrick Ewing: Charles Oakley, James Dolan Should 'Get in a Room,' Sort Out Feud
Patrick Ewing has had enough of the feud between former teammate Charles Oakley and New York Knicks owner James Dolan.
"Whatever is going on with him and Mr. Dolan, like I've said before, it's something that needs to stop," Ewing said on ESPN Radio's Bart and Hahn Show (via SNY's Scott Thompson). "He's one of the best players that I've played with. He's a part of the Knicks' history. He and Mr. Dolan need to get in a room somewhere and figure that out."
Oakley has been banned from attending Knicks games at Madison Square Garden since Dolan ordered his removal during a 2017 home game.
An already tenuous relationship between Dolan and the Knicks faithful took a turn for the worse shortly before the NBA went on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While fans had been chanting "sell the team" repeatedly at the Garden throughout the year, those calls exploded after team officials confronted longtime season-ticket holder and celebrity director Spike Lee for using an incorrect entrance to the arena.
Lee said he was done with the Knicks this season after the incident and took his feud public with an interview on ESPN the following day.
That gave Oakley a chance to jump back into the fray by lobbing more insults at Dolan through the media.
"It's a plantation over there," Oakley said on ESPN's Golic and Wingo radio show on March 4. "It's bad. People don't want to talk about it. It's real bad over there."
All of it has made Ewing uneasy. The Georgetown head coach, who is a Knicks legend in his own right, is done seeing the franchise he once led become a laughingstock of the league. For that to happen, he needs Oakley and Dolan to settle their feud sooner than later.
That seems to be easier said than done since Oakley can't walk up to Dolan at MSG and try to fix things. Dolan likely won't be making the first move here, either.
"Charles Oakley was one of my best teammates. He was an enforcer. I enjoyed playing with him," Ewing said. "I have nothing but respect for him. That's all I want to say about that."
