MIDTOWN — Charles Oakley's indefinite ban from Madison Square Garden is over after the NBA intervened in the feud between the Knicks legend and team owner James Dolan, according to news reports.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and basketball legend Michael Jordan met with Oakley and Dolan Monday at the league's Manhattan offices in the wake of an incident that saw Oakley hauled out of Madison Square Garden in handcuffs and banned from entering the arena again.
Sources told ESPN that after the meeting, the ban against Oakley was lifted.
The dispute started during last Wednesday when Oakley was seen shoving security guards in the stands during the game against the Los Angeles Clippers, which was broadcast on national television, after he said the guards targeted him.
The images of him being dragged from the crowd by nearly a dozen security personnel and arrested by the NYPD drew swift and fierce condemnation from fans and other NBA players.
Two days after the incident, Dolan gave a radio interview in which he banned Oakley indefinitely from the Garden and suggested that the beloved former Knick might be an alcoholic.
"It is beyond disheartening to see situations involving members of the NBA family like the one that occurred at Madison Square Garden this past week," Silver said in a statement.
Silver called a meeting with Dolan, Oakley and Jordan, who is a close friend of Oakley's, to "find a path forward."
Jordan, who also owns the Charlotte Hornets, participated in the meeting by phone.
"Both Mr. Oakley and Mr. Dolan were apologetic about the incident and subsequent comments, and their negative impact on the Knicks organization and the NBA," Silver said.
"Mr. Dolan expressed his hope that Mr. Oakley would return to MSG as his guest in the near future."
Read Silver's full statement here:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement today regarding the situation involving Charles Oakley and Madison Square Garden pic.twitter.com/T8cmFx6tmV
— NBA (@NBA) February 14, 2017
It was not immediately clear when Oakley would next be seen at a Knicks game.
The team is on the road until Feb. 25.
Oakley and Dolan have had a longstanding feud and Garden officials have tried to bar the former power forward, who played in New York for 10 seasons, from entering games in the past.
The Garden's head of security was fired in the fallout, as DNAinfo New York first reported.
