Lingering Oak, Dolan feud makes Silver sad

NEW ORLEANS — Adam Silver is “disheartened” that his meeting with Charles Oakley and James Dolan has not resulted in a reconciliation, but he is hopeful that the apologies from both sides five days ago will ultimately result in a Knicks legend returning to MSG.

“I do not regret having that meeting. And if there is a constructive role I can play going forward, I’m available to do that. I didn’t compel them to meet with me. I did it because I thought it was helpful. And frankly, I still think it was helpful and I am still hopeful that Charles sort of will come back into the family,” Silver said Saturday in his AllStar weekend press conference.

“When Jim Dolan invited Charles back to MSG, Charles did not say, ‘Wonderful, take out the schedule and let’s pick out a game.’ In fact, he was very emotional in the meeting. He said he wanted to think about it. And in my subsequent conversations with him, I said you should continue to think about it and whether that’s a month from now, six months from now, a year from now. The fan in me and somebody who has known Charles for a long time, I hope he does decide to return to Madison Square Garden. But ultimately that’s his decision.”

Silver served as a mediator following Oakley’s ejection and arrest, and Dolan lifted his ban on the former Knicks power forward. But Oakley is still refusing to return to the Garden because, in a subsequent interview on ESPN Radio, Dolan suggested Oakley was an alcoholic with anger management issues.

The two have been engaging in mudslinging through the media, with Oakley comparing Dolan to racist former Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

“When I left the meeting I didn’t think things were resolved,” said Silver, who was assisted in the meeting by Michael Jordan, who was involved via conference call. “I thought they were on the right track. As I said in the statement, I thought the meeting was important because I think it’s important they deal with each other directly, and I thought it would be helpful if Charles and Jim sat across from each other and poke directly to each other rather than through the media or through surrogates.”