James Dolan Looked Awful Reading From Notes Discussing Charles Oakley Ban
James Dolan has become Public Enemy No. 1 over the past few days following the Charles Oakley incident at Madison Square Garden. Today he emerged from his cocoon to discuss his decision to ban Oakley from MSG on the Michael Kay Show Friday afternoon.
Dolan had prepared notes in a binder labeled “preparation” that he continually referred back to as he sat in to discuss the situation and came across as completely clueless.
James Dolan was reading from this folder on The Michael Kay Show titled "Preparation"... pic.twitter.com/fXh1yhhxBx
— Tim and Sid (@timandsid) February 10, 2017
He claimed that the safety and comfort of fans at the Garden should come first, and that is absolutely correct. If he can prove that Oakley was completely out of control, then yeah booting him was the right decision. But Dolan provided no evidence of that. Frank Isola wasn’t buying that explanation either:
Jim Dolan is implying that he's banning Charles Oakley from the Garden to protect you, the fans. It's the sports equivalent of a travel ban.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) February 10, 2017
Additionally, the fact that he had notes he kept relying on shows that Dolan was obviously working from a playbook that was most likely set up for him by someone in public relations. This wasn’t just a guy talking openly and honestly about a situation. Either Dolan, or those around him were worried he couldn’t handle himself on the air, so they sent him in with notes.
Dolan also said he believed Oakley was a great Knick and that he loved watching him play. If that’s the truth, why has he been refusing to meet with him or acknowledge him for years? This appearance was clearly Dolan trying to put out the PR dumpster fire that has been going on for the past few days and he may have actually made it worse.
Watch part of the segment below:
" MSG Chairman James Dolan joins #TMKSonYES to clarify recent events regarding former Knicks player Charles Oakley. pic.twitter.com/7DSfcwGnUa — YES Network (@YESNetwork) February 10, 2017 "
Dolan also implied that Oakley has a drinking problem, which is completely unfounded:
" Look at the rat bastard Dolan reading notes while trying to talk with Kay pic.twitter.com/P59MWi1xLy — KFC (@KFCBarstool) February 10, 2017 "
If a random fan is unruly and acts up, they absolutely deserve to be throw out and even banned. Charles Oakley is not a random fan, and he certainly has a reason to be upset with Dolan.
As do NBA fans.