Green slams Knicks owner over Oakley spat
Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) celebrates with teammates Stephen Curry (30) and Draymond Green (23) after scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green on Wednesday accused New York Knicks owner James Dolan of a “slave master mentality” over his handling of the Charles Oakley saga.
Dolan banned Knicks legend Oakley from attending NBA games at Madison Square Garden following an altercation with security before eventually relenting this week.
But the incident incensed Green, who said the Knicks had benefited from Oakley’s combative approach as a player but taken exception to his outspoken criticism now he has retired.
“The man is a legend. Treat him as such,” Green said on his “Dray Day” podcast for the Uninterrupted website.
“First off. This is Charles Oakley. Why is he buying a ticket?
“You doing it for me, it’s all good. You doing it against me — you speaking out against my organization — it’s not good anymore? That’s a slave mentality. A slave-master mentality. That’s ridiculous.
“It was all fine and dandy when he was laying people out, taking fines and all this stuff for your organization. But now, all of a sudden, when he says something that he feels, it’s a problem. I disagree with that. I definitely think, like I said, that that’s a slave-master mentality.”
Oakley was banned after being forcibly removed by security at Madison Square Garden last week. He was later charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and one misdemeanor count of trespassing.
Dolan also drew Green’s ire for subsequent remarks which suggested Oakley was battling alcohol problems — denied by the Knicks forward.
“That’s not something that you say to the world. That’s not classy at all,” Green said on his podcast.
“It’s not OK for you to go say to the world as a multibillion-dollar organization. How can you even pin that on someone? Just throw that out there. That’s grimy. I think that’s wrong.”
