Former power forward / fashion plate/gourmet chef / fountain of insight Charles Oakley has long been a thorn in the side of Knicks ownership, despite remaining a fan favorite with anyone other than, y’know James Dolan. In a Tuesday NY Times profile, Oakley, whose business prowess now extends to $20,000 cooking gigs and $35 “Oakley’s Kitchen” snapbacks, addressed the subject with Scott Cacciola :
“The boss don’t like me,” Oakley said last week. “I wouldn’t mind having a sit-down dinner with Dolan. I wouldn’t mind cooking him dinner.”
Pause.
“Might put something in it, though!”
Pause.
“I mean, I had at least 15 people try to set up a meeting. He won’t meet. I want to sit down to talk to him. I want me and him in a room. And lock the door. Lock that door!”
Another pause.
“I mean, he can have the police outside the door.”
Barry Watkins, a spokesman for Madison Square Garden, said: “The Knicks have fabulous relationships with almost all of our alumni. But when it comes to Charles’s relationship with the organization, he is his own worst enemy.”