Time heals all wounds.
OK, some wounds.
Charles Oakley, the rugged power forward who was beloved by Knicks fans for his tough, blue-collar style in the ’90s, remains at serious odds with owner James Dolan more than a decade and a half since he called New York his NBA home.
“I’m tired of talking about Dolan, man. Y’all know how Dolan [is]. Y’all been around. … He’s saying what he said. He’s that type of dude,” Oakley said of the man who made recent headlines with an angry, venom-laced email responding to a fan. “He said things to people that he shouldn’t say. He did stuff to people that he shouldn’t do. He’s a billion-dollar guy.”
Oakley has one question about the whole matter: What did he do? Oakley, for years, said he must buy his own tickets to attend Garden events. Once a Knick, always a Knick. Or once a Knick, almost always a Knick.
“I want to know what I did to be hated so bad by the owner,” Oakley said.
“It ain’t just started,” Oakley said of the fallout following Dolan’s email. “I ain’t been on the team since [1998]. What happened? They had two good years since then.”
Oakley made his comments during a media event Wednesday at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Times Square to launch former teammate John Starks’ Zipway clothing line. In addition to Starks and Oakley, former Knicks Herb Williams, Mel Davis and Larry Johnson attended.
“When I was here I treated people with respect — the writers, everybody, I respect them,” Oakley said. “I’m like, ‘How can I be that bad?’ Everybody in New York liked me except for one guy. Why is this?
“Everywhere I talk to people, it’s like ‘Why aren’t you with the Knicks?’ and I said, ‘I tried to.’ And they say, ‘What is it Dolan?’ ” Oakley said. “I talked to maybe a million people and a million two say he’s a bad guy. … I just want him to talk to me. I don’t know if he’s good or bad.”
Oakley said he has tried to set up a meeting with Dolan to iron the matter out but has gotten nowhere. He tried through the NBA commissioner. He tried with former teammates.
“The dad, [Charles Dolan], I never heard him say nothing bad about me,” Oakley said. “I asked players I played with to go talk to [James Dolan]. They said he didn’t want to deal with me.”
Oakley insisted he’s not all that hurt, though. The ones who are hurting, he said, are “the people who are paying their money to watch.”
Oakley, who has his hands in several business opportunities and works with Starks’ foundation, wished the Knicks luck. But he stressed the current team lacks leaders.
And with all the talk of free-agent fixes, Oakley noted players must accept roles, something the 6-foot-9 bruiser sees lacking in today’s “gimme” game. He cited the example of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
“I don’t think guys like to accept roles no more. Now you look at J.R. and Shumpert,” Oakley said. “It’s amazing how they’re playing in Cleveland, how they didn’t play in New York.”
As for free agents, Williams, who had been a Knicks staple as a player, coach or front office employee almost non-stop since 1992, listed free agents he favors.
“I don’t work for the Knicks so I can name guys,” said Williams, who targeted Draymond Green (Golden State), Reggie Jackson (Oklahoma City) and Wesley Matthews (Portland). Green and Jackson, though, are restricted free agents.
“They are tough kids. Because to play in this environment, you’ve got to be tough. You can’t be weak at all. It’ll eat you up.”
Starks said he sees hope for the Knicks amid a “very tough” season. That hope, he said, is “Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher.”
“Now we have stability and that’s the most important thing,” Starks said.