Charles Oakley weighed in on the Spike Lee incident at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, pressing the NBA to look into the embarrassing episode.
“It’s got to be stopped in some kind of way,” says Oakley, who had his own infamous run-in with New York Knicks arena security back in 2017.
Lee, meanwhile, vows to avoid MSG until next season, but isn’t holding his breath that things will change under team owner James Dolan‘s regime.
Per The AP:
“It’s got to be stopped in some kind of way,” Oakley told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday night. “The NBA has got to take a look at this. You can’t keep closing your eyes to this. This is like, turn your head if you see someone beat somebody up and you just keep walking. It just keeps happening in New York. People are not going to come here because it’s the same thing over and over and over. They got a new president and all everyone is talking about what happened between Spike Lee and the Garden.”
The incident occurred on the first night on the job for Leon Rose, the longtime player agent who was hired Monday as team president.
“I know Leon. He’s a great guy,” Oakley said. “But hey, this is something probably (former President Barack) Obama can’t fix.”
Oakley’s lawsuit against Dolan and Madison Square Garden, stemming from his ejection from a game and ensuing arrest three years ago, was dismissed last month.
“This doesn’t damage Spike Lee,” Oakley said. “This does damage to the fans at the game. The fans who watch on TV. And of the NBA. To see one of the franchise owners keep acting like this, it’s just bad.”
