Knicks willling to welcome back Charles Oakley to Garden if he drops lawsuit
INDIANAPOLIS — The Knicks have opened the door.
The ball is in Charles Oakley's court.
They would welcome him back with open arms as a celebrated team alumnus if he drops his lawsuit against owner James Dolan and Madison Square Garden, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Post.
The suit stems from his infamous ejection from the Garden in 2017 following an altercation with security guards.
3 Former NBA player Charles Oakley sits courtside before the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks at Quicken Loans Arena on February 15, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Getty Images
Oakley was initially banned from the Garden by Dolan, but that ban has long been lifted.
Oakley can purchase a ticket and attend any game he wants.
But if he drops the suit, he'd fully re-enter the Knicks family and get all the perks that come with that.
A legion of ex-Knicks attend games with courtside seats through the team, are shown on the jumbotron and regularly attend team events.
3 Charles Oakley of the New York Knicks shoots against the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1992 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Oakley played for the Knicks from 1988-98.
Getty Images
Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, John Starks, Larry Johnson, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Carmelo Anthony, Stephon Marbury and others are constant fixtures at games.
There are monetary opportunities through the team as well.
Oakley brought assault and battery claims against Dolan and the Garden, though the case has twice been dismissed.
It was reinstated again by an appeals court in September.
3 Charles Oakley and Ice Cube show support for the inaugural season of the BIG3 basketball league while attending New York Knicks Vs. Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on March 12, 2017.
GC Images
The main question centers around whether security used reasonable force.
Other claims have been thrown out.
Oakley, now 61, played 10 years with the Knicks between 1988-98.
He emerged as a fan favorite and key part of a core that was a perennial contender — the Knicks made the playoffs every year Oakley was with the team.
His tough, gritty style of play helped shape the Knicks' identity during those years.
The bad blood between Oakley and the team has lasted eight years and is still ongoing. But for their part, the Knicks are ready to put it all behind them.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Arsenal confirm early Jorginho exit as Flamengo seal signing before Club World Cup
Farewell: Jorginho has left Arsenal in order to join Flamengo for the Club World Cup (Arsenal FC via Getty Images) Arsenal have confirmed the early summer exit of Jorginho. The former Chelsea midfielder was originally due to depart the Emirates Stadium when his current contract expires at the end of this month. However, Arsenal have now moved to mutually agree a slightly premature departure for Jorginho, allowing him to become a free agent and join Brazilian giants Flamengo in time for the inaugural expanded summer Club World Cup, which begins in the United States later this month. Advertisement The 33-year-old - who plays for Italy at international level but was born and raised in Brazil - has now promptly been unveiled as a Flamengo player, signing a three-year contract to play at the world-famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Jorginho will come up against former club Chelsea at the Club World Cup, with Flamengo - currently managed by ex-Blues full-back Filipe Luis - scheduled to play Enzo Maresca's Conference League winners in Philadelphia on June 20. First up is a meeting with Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis at Lincoln Financial Field on June 16, with Flamengo closing out Group D against play-off winners Los Angeles FC in Orlando on June 24. 'We can confirm that we have reached a mutual agreement with Jorginho to end his contract with immediate effect to become a free agent,' Arsenal said in an official statement on Friday, before the player signed for Flamengo. 'He became a hugely respected member of the squad. His natural leadership skills, together with his control in midfield, intelligent positioning and extensive, high-quality passing, ensured that he was a valuable and integral part of the club. Advertisement 'Everyone at Arsenal Football Club would like to thank Jorgi for his contribution to the club and we wish him and his family all the best for the future.' Jorginho had already bid farewell to Arsenal last month with an emotional Instagram post which read: 'You know, sometimes the season is more than just football. It's about moments. People. Growth. 'It's about feeling part of something bigger than yourself. When I arrived at Arsenal, I wasn't just joining a club, I was stepping into a family. A team full of hunger. Passion. Purpose. 'I gave everything I had. Every day. Every match. Not just for the results, but for this shirt. For the fans. Advertisement 'Your support... it meant everything. Whether I was starting or on the bench, you made me feel valued. Loved. That's rare in football and I'll never forget it. Now, it's time to say goodbye. Or maybe a see you soon. 'When a place feels like home, a farewell is never easy. But I leave with my head held high and my heart full. To my team-mates, thank you for trusting me, for pushing me. 'To the coach, the staff, and the whole people behind the scenes, thank you for the support on the pitch, off the pitch, and for always being there for me with kindness and love. 'And to the fans, thank you for singing my name, for believing in me. Thank you, Arsenal. With love and respect, Jorginho. COYG.' Advertisement Jorginho is among 20 players leaving Arsenal this summer across the men's, women's and youth sides after the announcement of their retained list earlier this week, along with the likes of Kieran Tierney, who is rejoining Celtic, and loanees Raheem Sterling and Neto, who return to Chelsea and Bournemouth respectively. Portuguese full-back Nuno Tavares has completed a permanent move to Lazio, while winger Marquinhos will join loan club Cruzeiro on a full-time basis. However, the Gunners have offered a new contract to fellow midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been linked with a potential move to Barcelona.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wave GM says they approached 2025 as a building year, now they're chasing the NWSL Shield
For the past year, San Diego Wave general manager and sporting director Cami Levin Ashton has been commuting an hour and 20 minutes each way to work from Orange County, where she grew up and where her family still resides, to the team's offices 70 miles south. Her move to Southern California from Kansas City last summer, where she was the KC Current's general manager, had been swift, and it helped to be closer to home as she made the transition. It also didn't hurt to lean on family to help out with her one-year-old child. Advertisement Ashton Levin inherited a club in San Diego that was up against multiple challenges on and off the field, from the abrupt firing of former head coach Casey Stoney to the retirement of U.S. women's national team forward Alex Morgan. Four months after she started, the Wave ushered in new ownership in the Levine Leichtman family, who completed their purchase of the team for a $120 million valuation last October. Things only got busier in January. The Wave hired ex-Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall, transferred defender Naomi Girma on a world record fee to Chelsea, sent attacking player Jaedyn Shaw to the North Carolina Courage and brought on international players including Kenza Dali of France, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu of Nigeria and Gia Corley of Germany. They also tapped into the top tier of the NCAA's talent offering in the NWSL's first offseason without a draft, bringing on Trinity Armstrong from the University of North Carolina, and signed goalkeeper DiDi Haračić from SoCal rival Angel City FC. The newness was raw and plentiful heading into this season, and despite the Wave making history as the first club to reach the playoffs in its inaugural year back in 2022, expectations were reasonably low for a team that finished 10th last season under two interim head coaches. Advertisement 'With so many new pieces, you just don't know how long that's going to take for it to come together, for them to blend and mesh and find this cohesion,' Levin Ashton told , reflecting on the offseason four months later. Yet as they approach their 11th match of the 2025 campaign, they sit second in the league table, four points behind the Current and a point above 2024 NWSL champions and finalists, the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, respectively. They've scored 21 goals by 13 different players, and on May 25, set a new club record for most goals scored in a single match with their 5-2 comeback win over the Courage. 'With what we were building this year, we really believed in the group of players that we had, both existing from last season and the pieces we added,' Levin Ashton told . 'We also really believed in Jonas (Eidevall) and the staff that we brought on board to really build something special here.' One of the pillars of NWSL lore is the often abrasive introduction that managers from overseas experience during their first season in the league — and Eidevall, who arrived in San Diego after an underwhelming run with Arsenal, seemed especially primed for that quintessential rude awakening. But Levin Ashton said Eidevall's vision for the Wave throughout his interviews aligned with hers, sparking an interest in the possibility. Advertisement 'In looking at building the roster, if you see the way that we're playing, and obviously in hiring Jonas as the head coach as well, we want to be a team that possesses the ball.' But, Levin Ashton added, 'it's possession with a purpose, because we're not just possessing to keep the ball, it's ultimately to win games. We really emphasize recruiting players that really fit into the way we want to play the game.' Following that May 25 home victory over North Carolina, Eidevall, who was recently named NWSL Coach of the Month, spoke to the media about how the team learned from previous matches against NJ/NY Gotham FC and the Portland Thorns; both meetings exposed disparities between the degree to which they felt they controlled the game and the lack of goal-scoring opportunities they created. That was their primary mandate going into their game against the Courage, and he attributed part of the players' execution of that to the work of the Wave's technical staff. 'A week like this, they've been incredibly challenging in being like, 'What if we do that? That can be a problem,'' he said, reiterating the ways they first tried to imagine potential risks in the game to mitigate them. 'It's long days, and we go over film over and over and over again, but we play out the situation, we create a lot of clarity, and I think there is no shortcut to that, so I'm very blessed with having a strong technical staff that challenges and (supports), and I think that helps us as well, being prepared for the games.' Advertisement That club-wide buy-in also required Levin Ashton to dress some of the wounds from the previous season that needed tending to. As is typical for front-office staff getting settled in at a new team, she had frank conversations with veterans about where and how the club could improve. 'It's not a surprise and not something that we're shy to talk about, the disappointment at the club last season after successful seasons,' she said, referring not only to the team's performance but the jolt of Stoney's dismissal, and the ongoing discrimination lawsuit filed by former club employees, alleging multiple claims of discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and sexual harassment. Levin Ashton said that after a 'combination of my observations and my evaluations, and feedback I received from players, there was a need to raise some of the standards and that obviously comes with investment from ownership,' like upgrades to resources and facilities and expanding staff. Since then, the Wave have added dedicated meal and meeting spaces to their training center, and rather than constantly catering, the club hired a chef and is building out a kitchen. They're not direct responses to the broader issues exposed by last season's challenges — Levin Ashton did not delve into the specifics of conversations related to other aspects of players' dissatisfaction with the club — but they're attempts at reestablishing goodwill off the field to ensure sustainability on it. Advertisement It helps that soon, Levin Ashton will be moving to San Diego, reducing her commute from almost 90 minutes to 10 minutes to the Wave's training center, which will be crucial soon as she's expecting another child. But her vision and expectations of the team, no matter the distance traveled, remain unchanged. 'We set out this season knowing that this was a building year,' she said. 'But I don't mean we were going into the season with no expectations or no goals. I said this to the team and the staff from day one: Our expectation as a club is to be playing in November and fighting for a championship.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. San Diego Wave, Soccer, NWSL 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nets' Cam Johnson reacts to Knicks firing HC Tom Thibodeau
Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson has been on vacation for awhile with the Nets not making the postseason in any capacity following a 26-56 record in the 2024-25 regular-season. While Johnson is no doubt working on his game to be a better player for Brooklyn next season, he is also lending his voice on important NBA topics, including the New York Knicks firing head coach Tom Thibodeau. "It's kind of crazy to say this, but the initial thought now is not really shock," Johnson said during his recent appearance on "The Young Man and The Three" when asked by host Tommy Alter about the Knicks firing Thibodeau. ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that the Knicks fired Thibodeau despite leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. Advertisement "I guess he kind of adds to complete that every coach of the year, from '18 to '23 has kind of found degrees of success," Johnson continued. "Kind of in the midst of it, being let go, but you kind of got to look at it from a team-building perspective. That team is a really good roster, and they're really close. So, I guess maybe ownership, front-office is just looking at it like, What can get us over the hump? I guess that's the best solution they had." As Johnson alluded to in his reaction, Thibodeau continues a line of coaches that have been fired recently despite either having good track records in their career or with their team having a good record. Since the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign, Thibodeau joins Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, Mike Malone, and Mike Budenholzer as the coaches that were shown the door. While Thibodeau had his flaws when it came to distributing minutes amongst his rotation and adapting to adjustments made by opposing teams in real-time, he still took the Knicks farther than they had been in a quarter-century. Johnson, who is paying attention to the NBA outside of his involvement with the Nets, understands that Thibodeau may have needed to go, but also sees that the Knicks may be close enough that a coaching change could be all that is needed for New York to get to the Finals eventually. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Cam Johnson reacts to Knicks firing HC Tom Thibodeau
