The Knicks are three wins away from their first NBA championship since 1973, and Charles Oakley is using this moment to call former teammate Patrick Ewing a coward in public.
Oakley unloaded on Ewing in a recent TMZ Sports interview, saying their friendship is beyond repair and that Ewing is not the person he thought he was. The two were teammates for a decade in the 1990s, and Oakley spent most of that time as Ewing’s on-court protector.
“For Patrick not to be man enough to come and talk to me after having his back for 10 years, he’s a coward,” Oakley said. “I mean, I played with him for 10 years. He’s just not a good person. He might make money, All-Star, Dream Team, but that doesn’t make you a good person.”
Oakley pointed to a specific incident as the final straw. During the Knicks playoff run, the team played a game in Cleveland. Oakley is from Cleveland, and he was at the game. Ewing was also there. Ewing did not speak to him.
“The last straw was when he was in Cleveland, and he knows I’m from Cleveland, he knew I was at the game, and didn’t speak to me, as many times as he’s been to my mother’s house, he can’t speak to me? Naw. I’m drawing lines,” Oakley said.
The history here goes back to 2017. Oakley was ejected from Madison Square Garden during a Knicks game and arrested after a public dispute with team owner James Dolan. Oakley has long felt that Ewing should have stood up for him during that period and did not. The silence has eaten at him for years.
Ewing has not responded publicly to the latest comments, and based on the pattern, he is not going to. Ewing tends to keep his distance from controversy, which is part of what makes Oakley so angry. Oakley wears every feeling on his sleeve. Ewing buries them.
The timing of all this is awkward for the Knicks organization. New York just took Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. The franchise is closer to a title than at any point since the Walt Frazier era. The last thing they want is a reopened feud between two of their most iconic players.
Oakley is not wrong about his loyalty during his playing days. He was the muscle on those Knicks teams, the guy who set the tone every night and made sure nobody touched Ewing. Pat Riley built that team around the idea that toughness wins playoff games, and Oakley delivered.
What Oakley is missing is that not everyone wears their feelings the same way. Ewing’s silence might not be a statement at all. It might just be how Ewing handles tension. That does not justify everything, but it adds context.
The Knicks fan base is conflicted. Many fans love Oakley and consider him the spiritual leader of those 1990s teams. They also love Ewing, who carried the franchise through years that would have broken most superstars. Asking them to pick a side is unfair, and most of them refuse to do it.
What this whole story underlines is that the Knicks have a complicated relationship with their own history. The franchise is winning now, but the wounds from the past have never fully healed. Oakley keeps reminding everyone of that, whether the front office likes it or not.
The Knicks would love for all of this to go away while they chase a title. Oakley clearly is not done talking. Game 2 will get most of the attention, but this story is not going anywhere.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
