It’s a sorry situation for Dolan & Co.
Oakley will accept statement; Draymond: ‘Slave mentality’
OKLAHOMA CITY — While Charles Oakley may be headed to the Big Easy for All-Star Weekend, he has left New York for his home in Cleveland without staging his press conference.
According to a person close to Oakley, the Knicks legend has yet to change his mind on his decision to decline owner James Dolan’s invitation to the Garden. Oakley, according to that person, is holding out hope the organization will at least release a remorseful public statement apologizing to him and the fans.
Oakley is not upset over the ejection/arrest as much as the aftermath. On Friday, Dolan officially banned the former Knick from the arena and the owner went on radio Friday, suggesting Oakley may have an alcohol problem, an anger-management issue and is a danger to the public.
Oakley said on ESPN Radio Tuesday he hoped Dolan would appear at a press conference to apologize, but that may no longer be necessary.
The Garden continues to remain quiet other than to acknowledge the ban has been lifted after Oakley and Dolan met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Monday.
Meanwhile, Warriors All-Star enforcer Draymond Green went on the attack Wednesday, saying Dolan displayed a “slave mentality’’ in handling the Oakley crisis.
Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams, who held a press conference on Oakley’s behalf, also is not satisfied this has been resolved satisfactorily.
A spokesman for Adams told The Post Adams is still “actively monitoring the situation’’ and wants to ensure the Garden will drop the charges against Oakley, who is facing three counts of assault stemming from the Feb. 8 incident in which he tussled with security guards after curs- ing them out.
The spokesman said the borough president is still interested in talking to the Garden about “de-escalation training,’’ suggesting the security force went overboard in ejecting Oakley without warning.
Following the lead of NBA stars LeBron James and Chris Paul, Green spoke out against the Knicks.
“It wasn’t a problem when he was protecting [the Knicks’] superstars then,” Green said on his “Dray Day” podcast. “So if it wasn’t a problem then when he was doing it for y’all, why is it all of a sudden a problem now when he speak out on something that he don’t like, and now you want to disown him from your entire organization? That’s a slave mentality. A slave-master mentality.”
Green also took issue with the Knicks’ initial statement.
“As an organization, can you come out and say, ‘We hope he get help?’ Get help with what?” Green said. “That’s not something that you say to the world. That’s not classy at all. If he does have an anger problem and he was OK with the world knowing that, he’d be speaking out about it. He’d be on boards of angermanagement type things.”
Oakley did not return messages Wednesday but he had plans to appear Sunday at the annual retired players luncheon during All-Star Weekend. He told The Post on Saturday he was particularly annoyed at Dolan about the alcohol accusations because he works at treatment centers in Florida with his friend Jayson Williams, the ex-Net who has battled the disease.
Green was relentless when talking about what he perceived as Dolan’s disrespect toward Oakley.
“Oakley is a legend,’’ Green said. “Treat him as such. “Why is [Oakley] buying a ticket to a game, first off ? ... It was all fine and dandy when he was laying people out, taking fines, and all this stuff for your organization.”